Charlotte, N.C. ? With North Carolina’s basketball program losing its third player in five months this week, there have been renewed reports that all isn’t right in the realm of second-year Tar Heels coach Matt Doherty.

But Doherty said he’s met with his players in recent weeks to resolve their concerns about the direction of the Tar Heels program  one of college basketball’s most storied, but one that slipped to an 8-20 record last season.

Doherty met with freshman forward Jawad Williams and freshman guard Melvin Scott two weeks ago, and again Wednesday and Thursday. He also said he met with freshman swing man Jackie Manuel separately because of class conflicts.

“This can certainly cause you to sit down with your players and talk about things, to see what are the issues and look for ways to improve things if problems are there,” Doherty said. “I asked the freshmen what was going on, and they’ve been very open and candid. It’s been good for our team.”

Although Doherty wouldn’t elaborate, Williams said the major problem was a lack of communication between the players and the coaching staff.

“It was everyone not feeling they had the place to talk with the coaching staff,” Williams said in an interview this week with the Daily Tar Heel, North Carolina’s student newspaper. “(The players) felt like they didn’t have a say.”

The departures of sophomore guards Brian Morrison and Adam Boone  as well as the December transfer of 7-foot-6 sophomore Neil Fingleton  leaves the program with nine scholarship players for next season, eight of whom will be freshmen or sophomores signed by Doherty.

“We’ve just been through the biggest transition this program has ever seen,” said Doherty. “It’s been a tough environment; you can’t just snap your fingers and say everything’s going to be perfect. We were new, and the kids were thrown at us, and we were thrown at them, and things don’t always mesh.

“Throw an 8-20 season in after that, and it’s difficult.”

Williams told the Daily Tar Heel that when Fingleton  a good friend  announced his transfer, Williams considered leaving.

Doherty also took a hit from Louis Boone, Adam’s father.

“The basketball program is not a respectful environment, based on a lot of inconsistencies we’ve seen,” said Louis Boone. “I’m not going to get into individual points. It’s the program itself; the basketball program was not respectful. It goes real deep.”

Louis Boone said that his son had enjoyed the social and academic aspects of his time at North Carolina.

“It’s the program itself,” he said.