The North Carolina Tar Heels are looking to avenge last season’s disappointing end, falling short in the NCAA Tournament with a Sweet 16 loss to Alabama. The Tar Heels did win the ACC regular season and are hoping to take it a step further this year.
From that team, the Tar Heels return a few players including two starters in RJ Davis and Elliot Cadeau. And ahead of this new season, both earned a spot on CBS Sports’ Top 100 and 1 players list.
Davis checked in at No. 2 overall on the rankings from Kyle Boone, Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish. Only Mark Sears of Alabama ranked higher than Davis as he checked in at No. 1. Here is what they had to say about Davis:
The only returning CBS Sports First Team All-American, Davis was highly regarded a year ago — he ranked No. 19 on last year’s list — then proceeded to outshine all expectations by putting up 21.2 points, sinking 39.8% of his 3-point attempts, grabbing 3.6 rebounds and dishing 3.5 assists. He is North Carolina’s engine and the Tar Heels have Final Four hopes because he opted to come back. Davis has 2,088 points to his name, ranking fifth in North Carolina history. Tyler Hansbrough holds the all-time record at 2,872.Davis would need to log 35 games and averaged 22.4 to catch him. He’s got a shot. Davis is also the program’s all-time free-throw percentage leader (85.8%) and is the only player in program history to notch 2,000 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists, 250 three-pointers and 100 steals. His 113 treys last season set the Tar Heel record. Will he break it in 2025? A quintessentially great college basketball player. Big buckets, big confidence, big program, done it all at one school. Easy to root for.
Joining Davis on the list was fellow guard Elliot Cadeau, also a starter on last year’s team. Cadeau checked in at No. 85 on the list.
The talented point guard had an impressive freshman season overall and looks to continue to bring that momentum into this season. Here is what they wrote on Cadeau:
While his freshman season didn’t necessarily live up to expectations, North Carolina was a better team when he was on the floor, and his presence undoubtedly made the game easier for RJ Davis. This year, it sounds like Hubert Davis is expecting a significant bounce-back from what was previously one of high school basketball’s best point guards.
Let’s hope UNC can land some more players on this list when the season is complete.
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