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RALEIGH — To hear coach Roy Williams tell it Wednesday night on the stairs leading up to North Ridge Country Club in Raleigh, the sky isn't falling on the North Carolina basketball team.

Yes, Williams admitted he was surprised last week when forwards David and Travis Wear told him they were transferring, leaving the Tar Heels with just two post players on scholarship.

No, there aren't a lot of quality big men available in May who will be eligible to play immediately. But Williams sounded confident that the team will survive its latest personnel loss.

"They're great, great kids," Williams said of the Wears. "But North Carolina basketball will still be here after they're gone and after Roy Williams is gone, too. So we're looking at some options. There's not many options right now."

Williams talked to reporters for a couple minutes before entering the country club to address a Rams Club gathering of about 350 boosters. NCAA rules prevent Williams from talking publicly about specific recruiting targets, but he has been working to find somebody to add depth in the low post, where junior Tyler Zeller and sophomore John Henson are the only scholarship players currently available for 2010-11.

Justin Knox, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound rising senior forward who's transferring from Alabama could be one option. He may be able to play immediately as a graduate student if he graduates this summer as expected.

Kadeem Jack, a 6-8 high school senior who's yet to sign with a college, might be another option. But Williams isn't going to sign somebody just for the sake of filling a roster spot.

"There's not many people available," Williams said. "We try to check and find out as much as we can about those people. But I'm not going to take somebody just because we need a body. We need a year where guys stay healthy, and if we get a year where we stay healthy, we'll be fine."

Football coach Butch Davis also spoke to the Rams Club gathering, which was closed to the media, Wednesday night. Before the event he talked to reporters about the ACC spring meetings earlier this week in Fernandina Beach, Fla.

In meeting rooms and the hallways at the Ritz-Carlton resort, Davis said, coaches and athletic directors discussed the ACC's options for a new TV contract (which has yet to be announced) and the buzz about expansion of other conferences that might affect the ACC.

In December, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany gave a timetable of 12 to 18 months for an expansion of his conference that could have a domino effect on other conferences throughout the country. Davis said ACC commissioner John Swofford talked to his constituents about expansion.

"All indications from Commissioner Swofford were that all 12 members of the ACC were pretty much committed to being in the ACC," Davis said. "I think a lot of the buzz around the country certainly centers around the Big 12 and the Big East Conference and certainly what the Big Ten does is going to dramatically affect both of those conferences."

While the Wears' decision was significant, it wasn't quite so dramatic for North Carolina basketball.

Williams said it's too soon to tell if he will have to make any on-court system adjustments because he needs to see what his players will look like when they report.

They will need to improve and stay healthy.

"All of them have to get better, but I think that's what it is every year," Williams said. "We had great meetings (with the returning players. . .. I had great meetings with David and Travis, too. But we had great meetings with all the guys and talked about the things they needed to work on, but it's going to be a big summer for everybody."