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Daequan Cook's hoop dreams used to be in vivid, North Carolina Tar Heel blue.

"When he was younger, much younger, he just said he wanted to go there because of Michael Jordan," said Cook's mother, Renae. "He used to watch his tapes over and over again."

Before he got to Dunbar High School, Cook could be seen wearing that baby or sky blue.

"Yeah, but I don't think that was North Carolina," she said. "I think that was a fashion thing. He does like the color blue."

Along with his scarlet-and-gray-clad Ohio State teammates, Cook invades Chapel Hill tonight. OSU plays the Tar Heels as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge (9 p.m., ESPN).

Ohio State (6-0) is ranked No. 1 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll and No. 3 by the AP. Carolina (4-1) is ranked sixth and seventh, respectively.

In the offseason, OSU coach Thad Matta added what's been considered one of the best recruiting classes ever.

The so-called "Thad Five" of Cook, Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., David Lighty and juco transfer Othello Hunter was then passed by the Tar Heels' freshmen on some recruiting lists.

Cook, Oden and Conley played with and against three of those guys — Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson and Brandan Wright — in the McDonald's All-American game in San Diego.

If North Carolina coach Roy Williams had his way, Cook would have been a Tar Heel.

"We recruited Daequan; I went to Dayton at least a couple of times myself," Williams said during a teleconference Tuesday. "I think that he's an outstanding scorer. He's extremely athletic and he can take the ball to the basket and finish with authority. He can really shoot the basketball."

Those lists don't mean much, but . . . "At first they were naming us the No. 1 recruiting class and now it's Carolina," Cook said recently. "When we play them, we'll really see who has the best recruiting class."

Of course, it's not a true test because Oden still is out, recovering from wrist surgery.

"You can't compare a lot of people to Greg," Cook said. "He's the No. 1 player in the country regardless of age, height, years. It's just politics."

Cook's Carolina dreams have turned into Ohio State reality.

He leads OSU in scoring (17.8 points per game), is second in rebounding (7.0) and third in assists (1.7) despite coming off the bench.

Renae, who will be at the game, said tonight is special.

"It's something he'd like to do, either play for (the Tar Heels) or against them," she said. "He's very happy with his choice (of school). He has no regrets. It's just going to be exciting for him — to get that experience."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-6951 or mgokavi@DaytonDailyNews.com.