Key Departures: Cole Anthony, Brandon Robinson, Christian Keeling, Justin Pierce, Jeremiah Francis, Brandon Huffman

Projected Starting Lineup:

PG: Caleb Love (Fr.)

SG: Anthony Harris (RS Fr.)

SF: Leaky Black (Jr.)

PF: Garrison Brooks (Sr.)

C: Armando Bacot Jr. (So.)

Key Reserve Players:

PG: R.J. Davis (Fr.), C: Day’Ron Sharpe (Fr.), C: Walker Kessler (Fr.), SG/SF: Puff Johnson (Fr.), SG: Kerwin Walton Jr. (Fr.), SG: Andrew Platek (Sr.), C: Sterling Manley (RS Jr.)

Discussion:

What a disaster season it was for the Tar Heels in 2019-2020. We even saw Roy Williams say that it was the least gifted team he has coached since his return to Chapel Hill. The last time Williams had less than 20 wins in a season as the head coach at UNC was his first year at the helm in 2003-2004. There were injuries and chemistry issues throughout the season, but it is safe to say that last year was the worst of Williams’ career. On the positive side, when you have a brand name like North Carolina, you are going to attract big time recruits to your program, regardless of having a poor season. A top two recruiting class has arrived in Chapel Hill, headlined by four McDonald’s All-Americans.

Cole Anthony is gone, but insert Caleb Love into that starting point guard spot. Love, one of the four incoming McDonald’s All-Americans, will take the reigns at the point. The Saint Louis native is capable of playing on or off ball and should form a nice tandem with fellow McDonald’s All-American, R.J. Davis. With Love and Davis both able to play either guard spot, you will probably see them together on the court fairly often. Davis can really score the basketball. Hopefully, Anthony Harris will be fully healthy when the season begins, but if not, expect Love and Davis to start for the Tar Heels. Harris is another combo guard who has been extremely unlucky with knee injuries dating back since high school. He had a left knee injury that carried over from high school, which forced him to miss the first eight games of his freshman season. He was then limited to only five total games due to a torn right ACL, forcing him to redshirt.

I expected Leaky Black to make a big leap as a sophomore, but that never really happened. He really struggled to shoot it last season. He has talent and size at 6’8″ and shows flashes of being able to make plays for others, but he can never seem to put all of the piece to his game together. I am interested to see what his role will be as a junior with all of this incoming talent around him.

When it comes to shooting, the Tar Heels will have guys like Puff Johnson (younger brother of Cam Johnson), Kerwin Walton, and Andrew Platek to fill that role (although Platek did not shoot it well at all as a junior). These guys should hopefully be a nice punch off the bench. The 3-point shooting was a real struggle for North Carolina last season, the consistency was never there.

What may be the most interesting decision for Roy Williams is how he plays his bigs. Garrison Brooks and Armando Bacot return as starters, but two McDonald’s All-Americans enter the picture as well. Brooks had a sensational junior season, averaging 16.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, while earning ACC Most-Improved Player. He figures to be the leader of this group and will contend for ACC Player of the Year. As far as the other three, I am curious to see how the minutes are distributed. Walker Kessler is one of my favorite incoming recruits in college basketball because I love his skill level for his size. And Sharpe is expected to be an absolute force. Not to mention, Sterling Manley will be back, after redshirting last season due to left knee surgery. It will be fascinating to see how Roy Williams finds time for all of these guys.

North Carolina is going to be young, especially their bench. After a disappointing season in 2019-2020, Roy Williams and company will look to have a huge bounce back year and get back to battling it out at the top of the ACC. I don’t expect the Tar Heels to find themselves at the bottom of the conference for two straight seasons.

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