Heels’ drama has PG rating

North Carolina’s Joel Berry II jogged around the court in the middle of a cavernous stadium yesterday, casually lofting shots and playfully jousting in the post with teammate Theo Pinson.

There were no obvious signs of distress — neither awkward gait nor grimace of pain after landing on a jumper — from the ankle injuries plaguing him as the Tar Heels prepare to face Oregon in the Final Four.

Sure, Berry looks set for tonight’s national semifinals. But it’s unclear how much those injuries will affect his play, and that has the Tar Heels in the awfully familiar position of dealing with injury drama surrounding their floor leader at the season’s most critical time.

This is the third time in nine seasons that North Carolina (31-7) has prepared to play NCAA tournament games with questions about the status of a top-flight point guard on a No. 1-seeded team.

In 2009, speedy junior Ty Lawson — that year’s Cousy Award winner as the nation’s top point guard — was dealing with a jammed toe that sidelined him for the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and the NCAA opener, but he returned in the Round of 32 and propelled UNC to Roy Williams’ second national championship.

The results weren’t so positive in 2012. The Tar Heels lost Kendall Marshall — a Cousy winner, too — to a broken wrist in the second round and UNC lost in a regional final to Kansas.

Now Berry — himself a Cousy finalist — is dealing with drama, too, though Williams dismissed any notion of deja vu.

“No,” Williams said this week. “Can’t worry about all that junk.”

Wichita St. to AAC?

Wichita State and the American Athletic Conference are in serious talks to have the school join the league as a non-football member as early as next fall, a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations said.

No move would be announced before the end of the NCAA tournament, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the negotiations.

Any increase in membership would have to be approved by the presidents of the schools in the league, of which UConn is a member.

AP PHOTO LOOKS LIKE HE’S A GO: Joel Berry II takes some shots during North Carolina’s practice yesterday as he prepares to return from ankle injuries and play in tonight’s national semifinal vs. Oregon in Glendale, Ariz.