Clippers’ John Wall is still having issues with Tyler Hansbrough

There were few highly touted prospects in m’s one-and-done eraen’s college basketball as John Wall. Born and raised in Raleigh, NC, it would make sense that he would want to attend the University of North Carolina. However, Wall claims that meeting 2008/09 International of the Year – Tyler Hansbrough – changed his mind.

Wall appeared on Dallas Mavericks guard Theo Pinson’s podcast – drive your race. He spoke about being traded by the Washington Wizards cut off from his high school basketball team and, of course, from his time in Kentucky. A time he claims would never have happened had Hansbrough been nicer to him when he visited Chapel Hill.

“Tyler Hansbrough has his own department, him and his homeboys,” Wall said on the podcast. “I’m the recruit. I go and say, ‘What’s going on?’ He said, ‘I don’t talk to recruits.’”

How did Hansbrough react?

Hansbrough has since taken to Twitter not only to deny he ever snubbed Wall, but he also clearly holds onto the same opinions he had about John Calipari when the Wildcats head coach took the job in 2009. An opinion he ruthlessly dismissed, just as a person with eyes could ruthlessly say similar things about the program they played for and all the other good programs down the ages.

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“I’m sure the Bank of Calipari had nothing to do with him going to Kentucky.” Hansbrough tweeted.

He’d better be in denial about what happened, because the season after he, Ty Lawson and an loaded North Carolina team crushed all comers en route to a second national championship in five seasons, the Tar Heels’ title defense delivered poor results .

What a North Carolina team it could have been

The main players of that 2008-09 championship, who were drafted by the NBA, and the Tar Heels finished the ACC game 5-11 the following season. Surely if Wall had fed Tyler Zeller, John Henson and Ed Davis the ball, that record would have been different.

Whenever Hansbrough takes a trip back to Chapel Hill, he has to shout from the highest vantage points on campus that he didn’t snub a recruit who was a YouTube star before he ever set foot on one university campus with this sensational mixtape from 2009.

It could have been students from North Carolina who misnamed “The Dougie”, “The John Wall”. They all could have performed the dance — without spice — across campus and on the beaches of Spring Break when UNC finally matched rival Duke’s feat of winning back-to-back national championships.

Instead, one of the greatest players the state of North Carolina has ever produced became Coach Cal’s first whale in Kentucky.

We need to find a way to bring this case before the court of public opinion. Make it a Verzuz battle where witnesses present that night testify to what happened.

We deserve answers because this is one hell of a sliding doors moment.