UNC's Harrison Barnes & Creighton's Doug McDermott describe relationship: In their own words

GREENSBORO - During their playing days at Ames High in Iowa, Harrison Barnes and Doug McDermott won 53 consecutive games and back-to-back state championships. They never lost.

Now they'll meet again here on Sunday - Barnes the North Carolina sophomore forward, and McDermott, the Creighton sophomore forward, reunited again. The Tar Heels, the top seed in the NCAA tournament Midwest region, and the No. 8 Bluejays play one another on Sunday afternoon in the third round.

They spent plenty of time talking on Saturday about their relationship, and their past. Here they are, in their own words:

Doug McDermott: Me and Harrison, we have talked back and forth a lot these last couple years, just checking on each other. I was his way of transportation in high school. He didn't have his driver's license, so I took him from place to place quite a bit and it's going to be cool being able to match up with him. I think once we step on the floor, it's just going to be a competitive game. I think all that stuff will be set aside and we're both competitive dudes, so I think it should be a really fun game.

Harrison Barnes: His growth has been tremendous, just having the ability to go to Creighton, go to a system where he's able to grow and develop. And now everyone's starting to see that, see his efficiency magnified, and see him get the shots he needs and the right location he needs them in, and it's been great. And as a former teammate, it's been fun to watch. Fun to watch him grow as well.

DM: I think you guys probably know it all. He just -- he's a good kid. In high school he was 4.0 all the way throughout high school, just strictly basketball, he's all about his business. So I really looked up to him and how hard he worked. I think part of the reason I'm where I'm at right now is just because the kind of role model he's been working hard and to get where he's at.

HB: I don't know if I necessarily set the example for him, but just being his teammate we all kind of fed off each other. Just the work that he put in on his shot, I wasn't necessarily the best shooter on the team, so kind of I looked at him for that. And he probably saw the way that I came in the gym and worked out did certain things like that. He definitely dedicated himself to the weight room I think during high school and that really shows now. So I think we both kind of fed off each other.

DM: I think I was pushing a Nissan Murano in those days. I remember taking him   we went and played with the Iowa State guys quite a bit after school, so we would immediately when the bell rang we'd go straight to play with those guys. And I just remember    I got something strange about Harrison is he was in the choir and the band, so every once in awhile I would take him to those places. But he usually hit us up, any of our teammates up to take him rides around the town.

HB: Oh, yeah had one of the nicest cars I think on the team at the time, so it was a luxury to be able to ride shotgun in that. But Doug was always there. Any time I needed a ride to the gym, we would always go shoot together, stuff like that, always go out to eat. So he was a great teammate and a good friend.

DM: We had a couple close games. I think the closest our senior year was a 12 point game. Actually on our senior night Des Moines Hoover came in played us really tough, so that was a little bait of a scare. But other than that we had some pretty big blow outs, but it was a bunch of fun. Just everywhere we went people were giving us their best shot and each place was packed, sold out, so it was a blast. I'll never forget those days.

HB: We were close friends. We used to hang out a lot off the court. That was kind of how our whole team worked and that's what gave us the chemistry on the court. But no, we would hang out at his house. I don't think it was NCAA violation because we were teammates, you know, with his dad and everything, but    um, that was always fun. No, we were close friends on and off the court.

DM: I just remember going to our senior year. He would be at the gym at probably 6:00 a.m. lifting and then getting shots up afterwards. So that's something our whole team kind of looked up to him, and every once in a while there would be a day where we had a day off of practice and he would send us a group text to come work out with him. So he was just a great leader all the way through, throughout high school. And it's pretty cool to see how far he's come and a lot of that has to do with the hard work he put in in high school.

- Andrew Carter