OZARKSFIRST

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) Cameron Johnson is grateful for something simple entering his final season at North Carolina: the ability to spread his feet in a wide defensive stance without the mix of pain and limited motion in his left hip.

It's been roughly six months since the 6-foot-8 graduate student had an arthroscopic procedure to correct issues that had plagued him back into his high school career. And that has Johnson feeling free to "just do more" in conditioning and preseason drills.

"I feel like I'm in a much better place to build, especially on skillsets and movement and playing in the system," Johnson said Tuesday during the Tar Heels' preseason media day. "I feel like I can keep building rather than taking steps one day and then the body kind of hits me saying, `Whoa, slow down.'"