By R.L. Bynum
RJ Davis, as expected, announced on social media on Friday morning that he is returning for his senior season at North Carolina.
“Tar Heel for life,” he wrote on Twitter in announcing his decision.
Davis averaged 16.1 points and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 36.2% from 3-point range last season. He scored at least 20 points seven times, including 27 in an 88–79 Jan. 4 home win over Wake Forest and 26 in an 80–69 Jan. 21 home victory over N.C. State. He scored at least four 3-pointers six times, topped by five in that win over the Deacs and dished out five assists in nine games.
“It’s not a great feeling,” Davis said after scoring 24 points in UNC’s season-ending 68–40 loss to Virginia in the ACC tournament. “Not the expectations that we had coming into the year. It was definitely frustrating and disappointing, but one thing I can say about this group is we fight to the end. We’re a resilient group. We may get kicked down, but we always get back up, and that’s something that has been a major theme for this whole team.”
Davis put up double-doubles with 10 rebounds three times, all in home victories: in a 22-point game on Dec. 10 against Georgia Tech (75–59), in a 16-point game on Feb. 25 against Virginia (71–63) and in a 14-point game on Nov. 15 against Gardner-Webb (72–66).
During the Tar Heels’ run to the 2022 national championship game, he had a career-high 12 assists in the win over Marquette, a career-high 30 points in the overtime victory over Baylor, a career-high four steals in the win over Saint Peter’s and a career-high 12 rebounds in the loss to Kansas.
Earlier this week, Armando Bacot also announced that he would return for a fifth season at Carolina. There is still no word from Caleb Love about his plans for next season.
RJ Davis career-highs
Points: 30 vs. Baylor (March 19, 2022)
Field goals: 9 vs. Brown (Nov. 12, 2021), at Duke
(March 5, 2022), vs. Wake Forest (Jan. 4, 2023), vs. Miami
(Feb. 13, 2023)
Three-pointers: 6 vs. Brown (Nov. 12, 2021)
Free throws: 14 vs. N.C. State (Jan. 21, 2023)
Offensive rebounds: 6 vs. Kansas (April 4, 2022)
Rebounds: 12 vs. Kansas (April 4, 2022)
Assists: 12 vs. Marquette (March 17, 2022)
Blocks: 2 vs. Florida State (Feb. 12, 2022)
Steals: 4 vs. Pittsburgh (Feb. 16, 2022), Saint Peter’s
(March 27, 2022)
| No. | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Freshman | Caleb Wilson (5 star) | 4 | 6–10 | 215 |
| 5 | Freshman | Isaiah Denis (4 star) | CG | 6–4 | 180 |
| 3 | Freshman | Derek Dixon (4 star) | CG | 6–5 | 200 |
| 40 | Sophomore | Ivan Matlekovic | 5 | 7–0 | 255 |
| 11 | Sophomore | Jonathan Powell | G | 6–6 | 190 |
| 2 | Sophomore | James Brown | 5 | 6–10 | 240 |
| 1 | Sophomore | Zayden High | 4 | 6–10 | 230 |
| 44 | Junior | Luca Bogavac (BO-guh-VAHTS) | W | 6–6 | 215 |
| 4 | Junior | Jaydon Young | 2 | 6–4 | 200 |
| 13 | RS junior | Henri Veesaar (VEH-sar) | 5 | 7–0 | 225 |
| 0 | Junior | Kyan Evans | 1 | 6–2 | 175 |
| 15 | Junior | Jarin Stevenson | 4 | 6–10 | 215 |
| 7 | Senior | Seth Trimble | 2 | 6–3 | 200 |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 25 | Sophomore | John Holbrook | 4 | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Junior | Evan Smith | 2 | 6–1 | 195 |
| 6 | RS senior | Elijah Davis | 2 | 6–3 | 205 |
Former UNC players who transferred
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elliot Cadeau | Junior | PG | 6–1 | 180 | Michigan |
| Jalen Washington | Senior | C | 6–10 | 235 | Vanderbilt |
| Ian Jackson | Sophomore | G | 6–4 | 190 | St. John’s |
| Cade Tyson | Senior | F | 6–7 | 200 | Minnesota |
| Ven-Allen Lubin | Senior | C | 6–8 | 230 | N.C. State |
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 13 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 14 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 7 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 17 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | ESPN |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 20 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 22 Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
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Improvise, adapt, and overcome. This is UNC, expect more of yourselves. Put in the work follow the process, everything else will follow. Tar heel for life.
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