President Obama might have to thank a North Carolina player's mother if the Tar Heels make his NCAA tournament prediction come true.
After a disappointing regular-season, P.J. Hairston turned to his coach to fix his jump shot. No, not Roy Williams; it was his dear old mom, Wendy Poteat.
"She knows," Hairston told the Greensboro News & Record. "Since I was in ninth grade, when I became a shooter, she's always told me she knows when I'm missing a shot. She told me: 'You have to shoot straight up, you can't lean back. If you’re going to fade, make sure you’re not leaning out a little bit.' She knows the type of shooter I am: I fade back on my shot a little bit. She knows when I fade too much."
Hairston, one of the top prep outside shooters in the country at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia, shot just 21 percent from the floor and 16 percent from 3-point range during his freshman ACC conference season. However, after that conversation with mom, Hairston made 4-of-12 three-pointers in the ACC tournament and is feeling comfortable again.
"She told me I was fading too much. I’m doing this. I’m doing that,” Hairston said. "She’s telling me all these things that I didn’t know. Once I worked on it, and started getting used to the way I changed my shot a little bit, I started hitting shots."
We'll see how effective mom's coaching turns out to be as the Tar Heels begin their road to the Final Four Friday against Vermont.
Follow Ben Maller on Twitter @BenMaller.
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