LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- If, by chance, you thought that new rules prohibiting the NBA from drafting kids out of high school solved recruiting headaches for college programs, think again.

Brandan Wright announced this week he is leaving the University of North Carolina after one year, just as Marvin Williams did in 2005. Both young men absolutely did the right thing because their spot in the draft and the money that comes with it is just too great to ignore.

Coach Roy Williams was certainly happy to have both kids for a year. UNC might not have won the national championship without Marvin Williams, and Wright played an enormous role as the Tar Heels won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and reached the round of eight in the NCAA Tournament.

Nevertheless, UNC's situation is not without its difficulties.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said it best one day when he was discussing Luol Deng and Shaun Livingston. Deng played one year at Duke and turned pro. Livingston never even made it to campus after signing with the Blue Devils. He came along before the new rule and jumped straight from high school to the NBA.

Krzyzewski said that he and his staff put in the work to get eight years from two players and wound up with one season.

Roy Williams seems resigned to this new cycle.

He would rather have a Wright or Marvin Williams for one year than not at all. He has said this on more than one occasion.

So, he will just continue to recruit and try to fill the void.

As he has done so often throughout his coaching career, Williams has once again gone to California in search of talent.

The two big men who will take Wright's place next year are both from southern California: Deon Thompson and Alex Stepheson. They will be UNC sophomores in the fall.

Now, Williams is after two guards from the same area around Los Angeles.

Jrue (pronounced Drew) Holiday is a 6-foot-4 combination guard from North Hollywood, and Larry Drew Jr., who is listed at 6 feet but appears taller, is a classic point guard.

Drew is from Taft High School in Woodland Hills, Calif., which is 10 miles further down U.S. Highway 101 from Campbell Hall, the Episcopal college preparatory day school that Holiday attends in North Hollywood.

Larry Drew Sr. is an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks and a former NBA player who played with Carolina's Phil Ford when there was a team in Kansas City in 1979.

Drew Sr. has researched Roy Williams and the Carolina program, and he has come away thoroughly impressed. After observing him at a club-team tournament in Houston this past weekend, Drew said the way Williams carries himself makes a strong impression.

"You know when Roy Williams is in the building," said Drew, who attended a Carolina practice back at the start of the season.

Being a coach himself, Drew came away from that practice feeling Williams is the kind of man who could care for a son in many ways.

"You know how nice and calm he can be on the phone," Drew said. "But practice time, he can get up 'in' a player when he has to. That is a side Larry hasn't seen. [Williams] knows when to pull the reins and when to just let them go.

"I can tell he really cares about his players. His whole demeanor, the whole way he goes about his business, it's very professional. There is a level of class about him that, me as a parent, I would want to stop and listen to what he has to say."

Toya Holiday, Jrue's mom, is a dean and a teacher at Campbell Hall. She and her husband, Shawn, have four children and a grounded family. She played basketball at Arizona State, which is where she met her husband. And she has a son, Justin, a 6-6 player who will be attending the University of Washington this fall and playing basketball.

With so much experience, she understands all of this very well.

Jrue grew up a Carolina fan and was mesmerized when he made an unofficial visit to attend last season's game against Wake Forest, when UNC's 1957 and 1982 national championship teams were honored at the Smith Center.

Mrs. Holiday has been just as impressed with Williams as Larry Drew has been.

"I just love him," said Mrs. Holiday, who has an effervescent personality. "The man is wonderful. When you talk basketball, Roy Williams' name is up there. But I like him because his character is outstanding. He is just a wonderful man.

"When I talk to him on the phone, we talk about how he is a teacher. He talks about his family, his wife. My husband and I think about it, what is it that I'm looking for? They will be pretty much raising my child for the next four years. I want someone he can look up to rather than making it all just a business."

Williams seems to fit the profile of what the Holidays are seeking in a coach.

"I just need a coach who is going to have an open-door policy," Mrs. Holiday said. "My child will be leaving home for the first time. He might need to just come in and sit there and look at you. Or he might have to come and tell you his crazy thoughts, and you tell him, 'You're crazy and those thoughts are crazy.'

"I really do believe talking to Roy Williams on the phone, he has great character. It's important to us to have a male involved in the family, and he talks about his family; he talks about his wife. He dearly loves his wife. Every time we talk, that is who he talks about. I'm not even sure he knows that. I want Jrue to grow up knowing his help mate, knowing that he loves her and knows her. I see that in Roy."

There is no guarantee Williams will get both, or either, of these young men. Being a college coach in today's world requires recruiting more players and going at it harder than ever before.

Judging from these families' reactions, it's apparent that Williams is the man for the job.