North Carolina has a rather solid reputation as a so-called "Public Ivy," and I suppose Hakeem Nicks did his part to reinforce that reputation by doing the smart, if not painfully obvious thing that would make him wealthy in the manner a proud alum would expect- not taking that up north trip for an i-banking job, but making sure a 217-yard, 3 TD performance in a game on national TV (but a loss! Selfish!) would be the last time NFL scouts would see him in a Tar Heels uniform.Given a 2nd-round projection by the draft committee, Hicks leaves UNC as the single-season record holder for receiving yards (1,222) and touchdowns. Overall, he holds 14 total records, but then again, Damien Durant has more and is arguably the most productive Tar Heel WR of the past couple of years with an even worse QB in his college years.
It's a double-edged sword for Butch Davis, though, who totes understood Hakeem's point of view- UNC's been an increased player in recruiting wars, but on the flipside, that might mean you lose more people in the manner of Nicks. He's part of what's looking to be a pretty big outflux in the receiver corps, but knowing Davis, I'm sure he'll be able to restock.
