The UNC basketball program brought in Pete Nance last offseason, with hopes the Northwestern transfer would immediately replace the production of Brady Manek.
Nance had his moments, but never played up to his preseason hype. He struggled immensely, scoring single-digits 13 times and failing to score in two additional games.
Nance is gone now, so who are the Tar Heels going to start at power forward?
It’s likely going to be Stanford transfer Harrison Ingram, but there’s another transfer who could push for valuable minutes at the 4 – North Carolina native Jae’Lyn Withers, who’s coming in from Louisville.
Withers enters a significantly better situation in Chapel Hill. The Cardinals won just four games – FOUR – a year ago. Withers was one of Louisville top players, averaging 8.9 points (third) and 5.3 rebounds (second) per game. He’ll bring a much-needed perimeter shooting touch to UNC.
Granted, Carolina experienced just as much – if not more – disappointment than Louisville. UNC missed the NCAA Tournament entirely, becoming the first Preseason Number One to do so.
With a slew of transfers and young reinforcements, Carolina is in a good position to have a much-needed bounce-back season. Let’s take a look at Withers, one of those transfers expected to contribute immediately.