Players evacuate national champion

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- North Carolina players Sean May, Raymond Felton and Marvin Williams are entering the NBA draft, leaving the NCAA champion Tar Heels without their top seven scorers for next season.

"I've coached a lot of great players and these three here are at the top of the list," coach Roy Williams said during a news conference Friday on the floor at Dean Smith Center.

Junior guard Rashad McCants already decided to leave early and Jawad Williams, Jackie Manuel and Melvin Scott completed their eligibility.

North Carolina now has only one player on its roster who started a game last season -- point guard Quentin Thomas, who replaced the suspended Felton in the opener. Thomas attended the news conference, along with little used point guard Wes Miller.

Roy Williams said he looks forward to the challenge of rebuilding the Tar Heels.

"If the program was devastated, I'd be leaving with them," the coach said. "We're still going to show up on game night."

Felton, May and McCants were part of a heralded class recruited by former coach Matt Doherty. But the team sputtered during their freshman year and Doherty resigned under pressure.

In their second season under Roy Williams, who left Kansas to coach his alma mater, the Tar Heels won the NCAA crown, beating Illinois 75-70.

The Tar Heels have one of the best recruiting classes coming to campus, and Williams will need as many top players as he can get. Forward David Noel, mostly a reserve during his career, is the leading returning scorer with an average of 3.9 points. Noel and Thomas are the only players from the regular rotation coming back.