Photo by Scott Taetsch/NCAA Photos via Getty Images Carolina remains in contention for the athletic department-wide award. While we’ve technically been in spring for a little while now, the end of the college basketball season last week officially marked the end of the winter sports season as designated by the NCAA. The end of winter sports means that the spring sports season is now in full swing. It also means it’s time for a check-in on the Learfield Directors Cup standings. The Directors Cup is a competition than spans a school’s entire athletic department, awarding points for championships and others high finishes in every sport’s postseason. They recently released their post-winter sports standings, so let’s check in on how North Carolina athletics are doing. After a national championship in field hockey and good seasons in a couple other sports, UNC led the competition through the fall sports season. While a Sweet 16 in men’s basketball and a couple other decent postseason runs kept Carolina fairly high up in the rankings, they have slipped down to third. The men’s basketball run and a fifth-place finish in men’s indoor track and field were the high water marks for the Tar Heels in winter sports. However, that wasn’t enough to keep hold of the overall lead. Both Stanford and Texas surpassed UNC, dropping Carolina down to third, although still within striking distance going into the spring. Their 361.00 points was the seventh best of any school in the winter sports season, but it wasn’t enough to keep hold of the slim lead they held after the fall. In total, UNC picked up points for men’s indoor track and field, men’s and women’s basketball, fencing, men’s and women’s swimming, and men’s wrestling during the winter season. UNC now sits 69.25 points back of first place going into the spring season, during which they should have several sports in contention to cut into that deficit. Carolina is traditionally pretty good at tennis, lacrosse, baseball, and more, all of which represent chances to put up some deep finishes and some points on the board. Of course, both Stanford and Texas are pretty good at some of those, as well as other spring sports. This may make closing the gap difficult. After all, Stanford is the most dominant school in Directors Cup history, while Texas has won it in two of the last three years. While it’s been far from perfect, it’s generally been a pretty good sporting year for UNC. Hopefully, the spring season can add onto that with a couple more good runs.

Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The productive linebacker could be a mid-draft steal. Over the past three seasons, linebacker Cedric Gray has been the stalwart of the North Carolina Tar Heels defense. From a 59-39 victory over Virginia on September 18, 2021, to last year’s regular season finale, the Charlotte native started each game at linebacker. During that time, Gray became a back-to-back All-ACC First-Teamer by piling up tackles with his length and speed. In fact, the NFL rates Gray as the most productive linebacker of all assessed during the combine. Gray led all Power Five players in tackles (145) and solo tackles (82) in 2022, and was second in the ACC in tackles (121) last season. Will this production on Saturdays translate into production on Sundays? Vitals Height: 6’ 1 1/2’’ Weight: 234 lbs Arm: 32 1/2’’ Hand: 9’’ Combine Results 40-Yard Dash: 4.64 Seconds (10th of 15 LBs) 10-Yard Split: 1.59 Seconds (8th of 15 LBs) Vertical Jump: 35.5’’ (4th of 17 LBs) Broad Jump: 10’ 0’’ (6th of 17 LBs) Bench Press: 17 Reps (5th of 7 LBs) Strengths One of Gray’s greatest strengths is getting to the ball, especially when he is moving downhill. Gray is a force to be reckoned with when he has a beeline to the ball. His length is an asset in pursuit, and his agility helps him with sideline-to-sideline coverage. You simply do not put up Gray’s tackling numbers without having a nose for the ball and the willingness to make plays. Gray played both sides of the ball in high school. As a wide receiver, he racked up over 2,400 receiving yards and 27 touchdowns in three years of varsity football. Gray’s hands will make him competitive in passing situations, especially with his projected fit on the weak side. Weaknesses Time and again, two frustrations caused by the UNC defense were stopping the run and missed tackles. Unfortunately, Gray—although certainly a net positive on defense—was not immune to these issues. Gray will need to increase his physicality on run defense. The most important part of this will be getting off blocks to make the tackle. Gray had 57 missed tackles in the span of three seasons. Part of the reason for this was his explosiveness to the ball; Gray’s over-pursuit led to missed tackles. The other part is his play-reading ability. There are some questions about his reaction time to plays and waiting too long on reads—perhaps this was a factor in the missed tackles. Comparison Devin White, CJ Mosley, Bobby Wagner Draft Projection After his 2022 performance, Gray was found in some mock drafts in the late first or early second round. The most likely factor for the drop in his draft stock was missed tackles. There was simply not enough improvement in that area from 2022 to 2023. Gray’s combine was underwhelming as well. His 40-yard dash and 10-yard split speeds do not match what has been seen on the field. Gray seems poised for a third or fourth round draft pick. However, his upside seems much higher. Gray could be a starter in the league with more time spent in the film room and the right coaching staff. Potential teams: Buccaneers, Commanders, Chiefs, Raiders, Seahawks, Steelers, Vikings