It’s never too early to start thinking about next year in college basketball, and with how Monday’s national championship game ended, that’s especially true for the UNC basketball program.
Minutes after the confetti fell down on Kansas, ESPN released their way-too-early Top 25 projections for the 2022-23 season. And they think highly of North Carolina.
The Tar Heels check in at No. 5 on Jeff Borzello’s list for next season, a high ranking for a team that has some big decisions in terms of their roster in Hubert Davis’ second season in charge. Here is what Borzello said about the Tar Heels in his piece:
Before the NCAA tournament run, it’s highly unlikely Carolina would have been at this spot in the rankings. But Hubert Davis clearly found something that worked with his quartet of stars and proved his coaching chops on the biggest stage in the sport. The only negative for the national runners-up is that Caleb Love might have played himself out the door after his outstanding performances. Armando Bacot might have already been heading in that direction. But for now, both are included in this projection — and a trio of Love, R.J. Davis and Bacot would be as good as it gets in college basketball next season. Throw in the development of some returnees and the addition of two top-50 recruits, and Davis will have plenty of talent again.
Projected starting lineup:
Caleb Love (15.2 PPG)
Seth Trimble (No. 45 in ESPN 100)
R.J. Davis (13.4 PPG)
Dontrez Styles (2.0 PPG)
Armando Bacot (16.5 PPG)
Now, Borzello does note that Bacot and Love could be gone next year via the NBA draft and both are expected to test the waters. If both do end up leaving, this projection would look a lot different and the Tar Heels would slip in the rankings.
The good news is that UNC is expected to get R.J. Davis back as well as Dontrez Styles and Puff Johnson. Leaky Black could also return and if that’s the case, he would slide into the starting lineup as well.
The Tar Heels do welcome in a good freshman class featuring Seth Trimble, Jalen Washington, Will Shaver, and Tyler Nickel. However, you don’t want to rely on all of those players right away in their first years. But UNC might have to do that pending some big decisions.
Buckle up folks. This list and projection is likely to change.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01fvdcv0v20j1dne5g player_id=none image=https://tarheelswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.