Tag: player preview

UNC Basketball 2023-2024 player preview: R.J. Davis

In today’s edition of UNC basketball player previews, we take a look at starting guard R.J. Davis, the Heels’ best perimeter shooter.

Exactly 20 days from today, the Dean Dome will be rockin’ with Tar Heel fans.

Exactly 20 days from today, the UNC basketball team opens its 2023-2024 campaign at 7 p.m. against the Radford Highlanders. With all the hype Carolina has ahead of the season, including a Preseason AP Poll ranking of 19th, there’s a lot to be excited about in Chapel Hill.

One of many reasons to be excited about Tar Heel basketball is the return of starting shooting guard R.J. Davis, who holds the highest scoring average (16.1 points per game), three-point shooting percentage (.362), three-pointers made (63) and free throw percentage (.881) among returners.

If it weren’t for Davis’ scoring production, UNC probably wouldn’t have won a lot of games last year. The season was disappointing nonetheless, but at least we had Davis.

You guessed it – Davis is also the highlight of today’s player preview. Let’s take a deeper dive in what he brings to the Tar Heels this year.

UNC Basketball 2023-24 player preview: Jalen Washington

One of the UNC basketball team’s most valuable bench players is Jalen Washington, the sophomore backup center from Gary, Indiana.

We’re just over a month away from the highly-anticipated start of UNC’s basketball season, which debuts on Monday, Nov. 6 against the Radford Highlanders.

The Tar Heels were expected to make noise last year. Despite squandering a 15-point halftime lead to Kansas in the 2022 National Championship, they instead missed the NCAA Tournament entirely. This was further disappointing by UNC being the first Preseason Number 1 to miss the Big Dance.

Carolina returned four-fifths of its starters – Armando Bacot, R.J. Davis, Leaky Black and Caleb Love. There was rumored friction between Love and Davis, but no confirmations that was ever true.

One of the main speculations UNC struggled in games was the lack of bench utilization. It seemed like every game, Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis would only play his starters. There were a few bench guys who saw court time, but not a significant amount.

A bench guy who did see a good bit of court was center Jalen Washington, the sophomore from Gary, Ind. He’ll be the focus of this player preview – read what we have to write about him!