Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler.
Carolina had a flawed roster for the second time in three years.
Despite the preseason confidence shown by Hubert Davis, the attending media reported from Day One that the Tar Heels were just too small. Two 6-foot guards in Elliot Cadeau and R.J. Davis and no true big man to succeed Armando Bacot.
Two years ago, the UNC staff never figured out how to replace power forward Brady Manek and coach 6-9 transfer Pete Nance to be a more reliable scorer. Once that was obvious, opposing defenses could double team Bacot in the pivot and the rest of the lineup became easier to defend. So Hubert pretty much revamped the whole roster.
Despite coming off an ACC regular season championship in 2024, this season’s lineup had size problems from point guard Cadeau to shooting guard Davis. And with Bacot gone after five years and transfers Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan one-and-dones in Chapel Hill, the Heels became even easier to cover from the perimeter to the paint.
Now that starters Cadeau (transfer portal) and Davis and Jae’Lyn Withers (out of eligibility) are gone, Hubert and new general manager Jim Turner need to turn over the roster again. Jalen Washington, a reserve, was the tallest regular on the team and he, too, portaled. We still don’t know about part-time starters Ian Jackson and Drake Powell and reserve Cade Tyson, who never played enough to find his shooting groove.
Positively, Seth Trimble implied he was returning for his senior year and, hopefully, Ven-Allen Lubin will come back as a senior. But there are either a few starting holes to fill or a cavern to sign and pay to play whoever will be the bridge to other ACC and NCAA tournament runs.
All over college basketball, young players are harder to develop because they don’t stay around long enough. Some of them are paid handsomely to join teams that realistically are looking to win a national championship. Caleb Love went 4-3 in his first seven games against Duke, when he averaged 20 points and made some memorable shots. He went to Arizona and split games with the Blue Devils the last two seasons. Another is tonight.
D’Marco Dunn, Dawson Garcia, Puff Johnson, Justin McKoy, James Okonkwo, Tyler Nickel, Will Shaver and Dontrez Styles went on to play elsewhere with varying degrees of success. Guard Simeon Wilcher was released from his letter of intent after Cadeau reclassified and started for St. Johns. Zayden High, a 6-10 forward the Tar Heels could have used and who left school and the 2024 team, has returned to Chapel Hill and may be trying to rejoin the Tar Heels.
In bygone days, most would not have transferred and sat out a season elsewhere, worked their way into the lineup and proved valuable. With new NCAA money coming in, the best players will still get the highest salaries while others may stick around, ironically, and re-stabilize rosters more like they used to be.
Featured image via Todd Melet
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines