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)
Key events, dates
Saturday, April 27, was the deadline for players to submit their names to the NBA draft
Wednesday — Transfer portal closes
May 11–12 — NBA G League Elite Camp in Chicago
May 12–19 — NBA Combine in Chicago
May 17–19 — Evaluation for high school players at NCAA-certified events (EYBL in Indianapolis is one of those)
May 29 at 11:59 p.m. — Deadline to withdraw from NBA draft and maintain college eligibility
June 16 at 5 p.m. — Deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft
UNC schedule so far
Nov. 8 — at Kansas (final AP rank No. 20; final NET ranking No. 19)
Nov. 22 — at Hawaii (final NET ranking No. 172)
Nov. 25–27 — Maui Invitational — Auburn (final AP rank No. 18; final NET ranking No. 5), Colorado (unranked; No. 25), Connecticut (No. 1; No. 2), Dayton (No. 24; No. 23), Iowa State (No. 8; No. 6), Memphis (unranked; No. 75), Michigan State (unranked; No. 24)
Dec. 14 — vs. La Salle (final NET ranking No. 195)
Likely in late November — Opponent TBA in ACC/SEC Challenge
December — vs. UCLA (final NET ranking No. 107) in CBS Sports Classic (date, location TBA)
December — vs. Florida (final NET ranking No. 29) in Jumpman Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center (date TBA)
— Games home and away against Duke, N.C. State and Pittsburgh
— Home games vs. Boston College, California, Georgia Tech, Miami, SMU, Stanford and Virginia
— Road games vs. Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest
Note: 2024 NCAA tournament teams are in bold.
Potential 2024-25 UNC roster
| No. | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Freshman | James Brown (4 star) | 5 | 6–8 | 225 |
| — | Freshman | Ian Jackson (5 star) | 2 | 6–4 | 180 |
| — | Freshman | Drake Powell (5 star) | 2 | 6–5 | 185 |
| 2 | Soph. | Elliot Cadeau | PG | 6–1 | 180 |
| 1 | Soph. | Zayden High | 4 | 6–9 | 225 |
| — | Junior | Cade Tyson | 3 | 6–7 | 203 |
| 13 | Junior | Jalen Washington | 5 | 6–10 | 230 |
| 0 | Junior | Seth Trimble | 2 | 6–3 | 195 |
| 5 | Graduate | RJ Davis | PG | 6–0 | 180 |
| Eligible for fifth season | |||||
| 24 | Graduate | Jae’Lyn Withers | 4 | 6–9 | 215 |
| Walk-ons eligible for 5th season | |||||
| 14 | Graduate | Creighton Lebo | PG | 6–1 | 180 |
| 22 | Graduate | Rob Landry | 2 | 6–4 | 190 |
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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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