When North Carolina beat Kentucky en route to ending last season with a national title, Jackie Manuel had all sorts of jokes for his Erie BayHawks teammate Erik Daniels. Kentucky found itself in the NIT and its coach, Billy Gillispie, got fired.

The tables have turned this season.

With the Wildcats beating North Carolina last week, Manuel said he got a couple of voice messages from Daniels, who decided to play overseas this season after earning first-time D-League honors last season.

“He said, ‘how about them Wildcats,’” Manuel laughed after practice earlier this week.

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Remember when I showed you the dunk John Wall smashed on Jerry Stackhouse this summer? If you didn’t, just do a search on the blog.

The young fella can ball.

So I wasn’t surprised he did his thing in leading No. 5 Kentucky to a 68-66 win Saturday against No. 10 North Carolina at Rupp Arena.

Early in the game, he crossed over Larry Drew II in the open court for a two-handed dunk and then followed that up with a reverse lay up and a perfect lob pass to Patrick Patterson for a two-handed cram to help the Wildcats build a 19-point first-half lead.

Then he overcame a leg injury and hit two free throws with four seconds left to secure the win and stem off a great North Carolina comeback. Wall finished with 16 points.

Again, the young fella can ball.

Just continue the countdown for him declaring himself for the 2010 NBA Draft. He’s 6-4, got crazy handles, swagger and athleticism, can knock down the 3 and is only going to get better defensively.

Yep, John Wall is definitely in the building.

Can this year's North Carolina team win a national championship like the 2004-05 squad did with Jackie Manuel? He sure thinks so as the Tar Heels are in the Sweet 16.

They came from two of most storied college basketball programs.

Jackie Manuel played at North Carolina. Erik Daniels did his thing at Kentucky.

Now with the NCAA Tournament underway, the two Erie BayHawk veteran leaders are in a playful, but piercing war of words.

Why?

Well, the top-seeded Tar Heels (30-4) are gearing up for a Sweet 16 game against fourth-seeded Gonzaga (28-5) on Friday while the Wildcats (22-13) barely scraped by Creighton (27-8) in the second round of the NIT on Monday night.

The Wildcats take on Notre Dame (20-14) in the NIT quarterfinals Wednesday.

“I’m rubbing it in all time,” Manuel said with a wide grin. “I told him they’re playing for 66th.”

(The NCAA Tournament has 65 teams. So in essence, Manuel is saying Kentucky isn’t better than any team in the NCAA Tournament.)

“Even if they win the (NIT) championship, they’re playing for 66th.”

Ouch!

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