DETROIT — Oh, craps!

One of the NCAA’s greatest concerns was realized yesterday when North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson revealed he had already visited the casinos that dot the Detroit area.

“We got in [Tuesday] night, and Coach [Roy Williams] gave us a curfew of 1:30,” Lawson said. “I went over to Greektown and won about $250. So I already had my time there. It’s probably the last time I go there before the games start.”

The NCAA took some heat when it awarded the Final Four to Detroit, which has several casinos downtown and many across the river — and the Canadian border — in Windsor, Ontario. The NCAA considers gambling one of its most pressing concerns.

NCAA president Dr. Myles Brand, unaware of Lawson’s revelations, discussed the organization’s gambling concerns at his annual address to the media.

“We do not permit anyone connected with intercollegiate athletics to gamble on sports, pro or college sports,” said Brand. “What a student does, plays Bingo in his church, for example, while we discourage that, we prefer not to try and regulate that particular kind of activity. But it’s highly discouraged.”

It’s almost as difficult to discourage Lawson from hitting the craps tables as it is to keep him from going to coast to coast for one of his breathtaking layups. Lawson said he once won $1,800 at the tables on a trip to the Bahamas.

“The only time I lost was in Reno; that’s when everybody on the team lost,” Lawson said. “It’s the only place I lost. The other five or six times I did gamble, I won at least $500. Last night, it was all craps. It was like within an hour.”

North Carolina played in the Las Vegas Invitational last season. The Tar Heels (32-4) face Villanova (30-7) tomorrow night in one national semifinal game at Ford Field. Carolina is a 7½-point favorite.