The last time we saw the University of North Carolina basketball team play, there was dancing in the streets of Chapel Hill and dancing on the floor of Ford Field in Detroit, after Carolina won its fifth NCAA title by defeating Michigan State 89-72.

Soon, we'll see dancing again, only this time it will be with the players goofing around at Late Night with Roy on Friday at the Smith Center. The annual tip-off to the start of basketball practice is here, and along with it a new season.

Once the dancing stops and Coach Roy Williams' rigorous preseason practices start, what can be expected from this team?

Sophomore point guard Larry Drew played barely enough to be called a part-time contributor last season. But, for those Carolina fans who are worried, just think about this: Williams has proven through the years to be one of, if not the best, evaluators of talent in the game; if he chose Drew to be his point guard, which he did, then the kid has a lot more to him than we've seen.

"Last year ... if I ever did start to get into a rhythm, I would come right out of the game. It was kind of frustrating," Drew said. "You have to put your faith in the coaching staff. They know what they're doing. In my situation, I realized I probably wouldn't get that many minutes."

Drew knows he's going to have some gifted -- and large -- teammates receiving a lot of his passes.

Sophomore Ed Davis is listed at 6 feet 10, but his reaching height is well beyond 7 feet. Just ask anyone who tried to drive to the bucket on him last season, especially down the stretch in the NCAA Tournament.

"Ed Davis is going to be a great player," Williams said. "What stage of great or when that happens remains to be seen. But he's going to be a great player. He's a unique young man.

"He's another one of those guys, when you mention Ed's name, the coaching staff, we just start smiling. 'Easy Ed' is anything but easy if you try to score over him. 'Easy Ed' is anything but easy if you try to get the same rebound that he wants. So, defensively and rebounding, he is a big-time player right now. ... Hopefully with a little more work in the off-season with his offensive game and his touch, he'll be able to do that. I do think that he is part of the reason people are saying good things about us."

Deon Thompson is listed at 6-9, but, like Davis, his reach extends beyond that. He also has three seasons of collegiate experience and another summer of international play on his resume after this trip to Europe this summer.

"I'm definitely a lot more confident," Thompson said. "I have grown as a leader on and off the court."

Tyler Zeller is 7 feet tall -- again with a reach extending past that. It's hard to say if people outside the program understand how talented this sophomore is. He was just starting to assert himself when he broke his wrist against Kentucky last season. When he returned, he received limited minutes.

If he stays healthy this season, he will almost certainly have a major impact on this team because of his ability run the floor, score, rebound and block shots.

Then there is freshman John Henson, who is listed at 6-10 but has a reach of 7-4 or even more. Some shots this season will be flying back into the faces of opponents, and there should be plenty of lob passes for dunks as the Tar Heels run the court.

Henson is a spectacular athlete. Drew said that in UNC's annual run, a pre-season fitness qualification, the big fellow caught the entire team's attention.

"He's super long and super athletic," Drew said. "And you should have seen him on that run we have to do. Every stride he took, it would probably have taken me three strides. Everybody was cheering him on. I want to see how this is going to translate onto the basketball court."

The wildest possibility for Henson is that he could play some at the three spot. Now, a shorter man might get around him, but what will that guy do if the next two players he runs into are Davis and Zeller?

"When we recruited him, we asked him to spenda lot of time working onsliding his feet so he would be able to guard a perimeter guy," Williams said. "Initially that will be our plan."

But first, we'll find out how these new kids can dance.