North Carolina is back in action as they strive to make another push for an ACC title and a national championship. The Tar Heels are expected to be a great team all season long, but navigating the waters that is the ACC is always tough. There is some elite talent here, but the question remains is if head coach Hubert Davis can get them to play so cohesively and consistent that they get themselves to the promise land. Losing Armando Bacot is going to be extremely hard to replace, but this is the nature of college basketball and North Carolina has to find a way to replace him as well as Cormac Ryan and Brandon Ingram.
Guards
RJ Davis
Elliot Caudeau
Seth Trimble
Ian Jackson
Guard/Forwards
Cade Tyson
Drake Powell
Forwards
Ty Claude
James Brown
Jalen Washington
Ven-Allen Lubin
Jae'Lyn Withers
While this is not the full roster, this is likely to be the main players on the court every night as there will be lots of rotation. Davis (21 ppg, 4 rpg, 4 apg) is hands down the best player on the roster as he was the ACC Player of the Year last season and should be the main scorer for the Tar Heels, plus his three point shooting improved last season which could be key this campaign. Caudeau (7 ppg, 4 apg) stepped up into a starting role last season and proved to be a great tandem with Davis, but he's prime to be the next star on the roster. Seth Trimble (5 ppg) is likely to be the sixth man, but he could rotate out of the starting lineup and off the bench as he's a very valuable piece. Ian Jackson is a five-star recruit who is primed to make this team deeper and better especially in the backcourt as he should be getting a lot of minutes.
Tyson is a transfer from Belmont who put up some pretty nice numbers and should be a key piece to North Carolina's success (16 ppg, 6 rpg), however, the numbers from him that are going to be key this season is his shooting ability as he shot 46.5% from beyond the arc and 49.3% overall. Powell is another five-star recruit who should be another key piece like Tyson as they both have the ability to play in the backcourt and down in the paint.
Then comes the question marks of the roster. There isn't a question about talent and ability, it's just how will the inexperience play a role here as lot of players will have to step up. Withers (4 ppg, 4 rpg) and Washington (4 ppg) are going to have to fill in the shoes that Bacot left and that will be hard to do. Claude (5 ppg, 5 rpg) is expected to be great depth off the bench as he is a transfer from Georgia Tech and having his familiarity of the ACC will help a lot too, but he will be depended on for his rebounding abilities. James Brown is a four star recruit who should get some minutes off the bench to help get some players a breather, but he's a very talented player who probably will be more of a factor in the future for the Tar Heels. Allen-Lubin (12 ppg, 6 rpg) is another transfer who also seem to factor into the rotation of starting and coming off the bench as his experience will be valuable especially when trying to get some similar contribution from what Bacot was leaving. Allen-Lubin will be depended on a lot especially when rebounding the ball.
What is helping North Carolina here is that they are a fast team, have lots of depth, excellent defensively, and a complete starting five. That being said, and again this cannot be stressed enough, losing Bacot will be huge, but also the team doesn't seem to have a great rebounding group, which is critical and most likely will be the difference in losses. That will be something this group will have to overcome. So, with that being said, defensively the Tar Heels will have to press a lot more than they'd like to and will have to rely more on transition which is something they are elite at, but have to keep teams on their toes more if the team wants to win a lot of games. Depth is not going to be an issue, but there will be struggles early on until North Carolina's roster gets into a groove and find their identity. That being said, expect the Tar Heels battling it out for an ACC title this season and a possible deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
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