Tag: Justin McKoy

Hubert Davis provides injury update for UNC basketball program

After taking care of business in their exhibition game against Johnson C. Smith, we get an update on the four players who were listed OUT.

The North Carolina men’s basketball program cranked up the season with an exhibition blowout win over Johnson C. Smith despite being down four significant players.

Those four players are forwards Puff Johnson, Justin Mckoy, Jalen Washington, and starting guard RJ Davis. The excellent news is that UNC will not be without these players for long, with all four of them expected to be back for the season opener in under 10 days.

Head coach Hubert Davis met the media following the Tar Heels exhibition game, and revealed that he does expect all four to be back for the opener:

 

UNC opens the season as the team to beat with their number one overall ranking. They are looking to repeat an appearance at the national championship game with just a different outcome.

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Four UNC basketball players to sit out Friday’s exhibition game

The UNC basketball program announced that four players will miss Friday night’s exhibition game in the Dean Dome.

The UNC basketball program will hit the court for the first time in the 2022-23 season as they host Johnson C. Smith in an exhibition game.

Hubert Davis and the squad enter this season as one of the favorites to win it all come April but they need to start strong this year. And looking good in the exhibition game will be a good start.

When UNC does hit the court, they will be without four players. The program announced that [autotag]R.J. Davis[/autotag] (sprained right hand), [autotag]Justin McKoy[/autotag] (Non-Covid illness), [autotag]Puff Johnson[/autotag] (Knee soreness), and [autotag]Jalen Washington[/autotag] (rehabbing injured knee) will NOT play in the game.

We don’t know the extent of these injuries in terms of it being severe or not but the two that obviously stand out are Johnson and Davis right now. Davis is expected to be the starting point guard and this could just be precautionary for him.

As for Johnson, he’s expected to play a big role off the bench on the perimeter for UNC. The knee soreness doesn’t sound great and this could also be precautionary.

Still, these are something to monitor moving forward as the regular season begins in under two weeks.

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Armando Bacot on Jalen Washington: ‘He has a chance to be really special’

UNC basketball big man Armando Bacot discussed the role and potential of freshman forward Jalen Washington this season at ACC Media Days.

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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Five UNC basketball players named to NABC honors court

Five UNC Basketball players earn NABC honors court for the 2021-22 season including Armando Bacot.

The UNC basketball program achieved a lot last season while on the court and making their Final Four run under Hubert Davis. But they also achieved off the court, which is just as important.

Five Tar Heels were named recipients of the 2021-22 NABC Honors Court this past week, as they represent outstanding achievements in the classroom for men’s basketball student-athletes. The five Tar Heels that were selected were [autotag]Armando Bacot[/autotag] , [autotag]Duwe Farris[/autotag], [autotag]Justin McKoy[/autotag], [autotag]Rob Landry[/autotag] and [autotag]Jackson Watkins[/autotag].

To qualify, basketball teams must complete the 2021-22 year with a team GPA of 3.0 or higher. The court honors those who had a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.

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Tar Heels named top team after Nance transfer

Hubert Davis and the UNC basketball program were named the top team in Sports Illustrated’s early top 25 rankings for the 2022-23 season.

The UNC basketball program added the final piece of their roster last week when forward Pete Nance announced he was transferring to Chapel Hill for his final year of eligibility.

UNC is returning four of their five starters from a year ago on a team that made it to the title game as well as returning players like [autotag]Puff Johnson[/autotag], [autotag]Dontrez Styles[/autotag], [autotag]D’Marco Dunn[/autotag], and [autotag]Justin McKoy[/autotag]. Plus, are adding Nance as well as a 2022 recruiting class that was Top 20 in the cycle.

With that, one publication believes that the Tar Heels will be the team to beat early on going into next season. Sports Illustrated updated their way too early rankings for the season and UNC jumped up seven spots from April’s rankings from No. 8 to No. 1. Here is what they had to say about UNC going into next season:

The late addition of Northwestern transfer Pete Nance pushes the Tar Heels into the No. 1 spot with rosters mostly set. The 6’10” forward is a perfect fit to replace Brady Manek at the power forward spot for Hubert Davis: While not the elite shooter Manek is, Nance is a capable outside threat and is more versatile defensively, a better passer and a more gifted post scorer than Manek was for the 2021–22 Heels. He also gives Davis a chance to rest star center Armando Bacot at times, a necessity after Bacot averaged over 35 minutes per game in the season’s final 13 games. The pairing of Bacot and Nance is the nation’s best frontcourt, and the backcourt duo of RJ Davis and Caleb Love includes a pair of potential All-Americans if each plays up to its potential. Add in a fifth-year senior defensive whiz in Leaky Black, and no team has a better starting group than these Heels.

For UNC fans, this is really nothing new. The Tar Heels have been put atop multiple rankings for next year early on and rightfully so.

Returning four of five starters and now adding an impact transfer like Nance is huge for Hubert Davis and his staff. Now let’s see if they can capitalize on it and make another deep run.

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