UNC BASKETBALL: SETTING REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS FOR THE HEELS’ NEXT CENTER

Things have been pretty rough in Chapel Hill this offseason. The Tar Heels continue their search for a big man capable of giving them quality minutes in the transfer portal after striking out on yet another big in Cliff Omoruyi, who recently announced his commitment to Alabama. Omoruyi stated that he felt like the Crimson Tide gave him his best chance to get into the NBA, and unless information comes out later to the contrary, it doesn’t really get any deeper than that. Do you know what UNC hasn’t done since 2017? Gotten a true big into the NBA.

Of course this now puts Hubert Davis into a tough situation — Jalen Washington may or may not be able to play closer to 30 minutes a game next fall, but it’s hard to bet money on that working well. This isn’t to say that he couldn’t do it, but the problem is that he hasn’t done it yet, and naturally that makes fans nervous. I will say this: Davis will find somebody to fill the open center position, but I think it’s time to adjust the expectations of who may walk through the door. While that sounds like a bad thing, the reality is that the Heels are in a position that they haven’t been in for quite some time.

You see, Hubert Davis will go into the 2024-25 season with a healthy mix of proven, and unproven, players. Elliot Cadeau, RJ Davis, Jalen Washington, and Seth Trimble give the Heels a healthy amount of veteran experience that is valuable during tournament time. Ian Jackson, Drake Powell, James Brown, and Cade Tyson have all in some way shape or form shown that they are capable of some really good things, they just haven’t done it in a Carolina jersey yet. Hubert Davis probably doesn’t need a big that can get him 15+ points per game, but really just needs someone who is a capable scorer in the paint, someone who can pull down boards, and potentially someone that can be a threat from deep. They don’t need to shoot 35% from three-point range, but someone closer to Jalen Washington’s skills would be more than enough.

Armando Bacot exhausting his eligibility left a huge hole on this roster, but really this has opened the door of opportunity for the Tar Heels. Gone are the scouting reports to crowd the paint and setting up double-teams (for now), and now UNC has a chance to finish their transition into a more modernized scheme. It likely isn’t terribly tough to find a big man in the portal that is capable of of both shooting further away from the rim and capable of cleaning the boards, but the question is who will they finally land? That is a question that is hard to answer at the moment, but one way or another, Hubert Davis and his staff will figure it out. As far as big names go, however, that sounds like a ship that has pretty much sailed.

The transfer portal is a brutal entity, but ultimately Tar Heels fans shouldn’t worry too much about the depth at the center position. If the roster was set today, UNC would still have one of the better rosters in the country, but the name of the game is still to find a capable big that will be a net positive for the team. Hopefully they will find him soon, because this transfer portal stuff is getting old fast.

2024-05-07T15:06:10Z dg43tfdfdgfd