With the college basketball season under four weeks away, a lot of preseason conversations are beginning. Whether it’s about expectations, incoming players or rotations, its a conversation every fan base and program is talking about. For the UNC basketball program, that is the case as well.
One of the questions for the Tar Heels is how deep this team can be and how deep it really will be. Last year, Hubert Davis kept it right around seven guys. This year, the expectation is that will grow in large part to the jump Dontrez Styles will make as well as the incoming freshmen.
One freshmen that has been a question mark so far this offseason is [autotag]Jalen Washington[/autotag]. A four-star forward, Washington has dealt with a few knee injuries in his high school career. Still working his way back from one during his senior season, there hasn’t been a lot of true ‘live action’ five-on-five play.
But, he’s started to participate more in that setting and fellow big man [autotag]Armando Bacot[/autotag] sees the potential.
“I think he has a chance to be really special,” Bacot said of Washington at ACC Media Days last week. “I really couldn’t see him being here for longer than maybe two, three years, just because how good he is. He’s got the measurables, he’s got the long arms, he can really shoot the ball. He can defend. He can score.”
Washington is a 6-foot-9 forward who was ranked the No. 48 overall prospect in the 247Sports Composite rankings for the 2022 class.
Bacot, a preseason All-American by numerous outlets, went on to discuss what Washington’s role could be this year and if he’ll see a lot of minutes..
“Oh, definitely. I think he has the chance to be the sixth or seventh man. He’s really good.”
Last season, UNC didn’t have a lot of bodies in the front court, even for spot minutes for Bacot. Now, with the addition of Washington and the expected jump of Styles and extra depth with Justin McKoy, the UNC front court will once again have a lot of pieces.
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