By R.L. Bynum

When Carolina makes the national championship game, it used to be a good bet that a few key players from that team would be around two seasons later.

That may have been the conventional wisdom in the past, but in an era when players can transfer and not sit out a year, you can’t assume much from year to year.

For the second time in program history — and first time since the Tar Heels won the 1957 national championship — only two scholarship players remain on the UNC roster two years after making the NCAA final.

Senior guard RJ Davis may have been the only one on the roster from the team that lost 72–69 to Kansas in 2022 if not for pandemic eligibility rules that allowed center Armando Bacot to return for a fifth season.

That happens when seven players transfer.

In addition to Davis and Bacot, who both started against Kansas, three walk-ons from that team — Creighton Lebo, Rob Landry and Duwe Farris — are expected to be back.

That’s dramatically different from two seasons after Carolina beat Gonzaga 71–65 for the 2017 national championship, when five players from that team were on the 2018–19 season roster. None of the five started the title game: Luke Maye, Kenny Williams, Seventh Woods, Brandon Robinson and Shea Rush. Only Maye (10 minutes) and Woods (three minutes) played in the title game.

Here’s where there is a positive contrast. Next season will be the third time in program history that at least two players who started a national championship game will start two seasons later.

Two seasons after Carolina beat Georgetown 63–62 for the 1982 NCAA title in New Orleans, starters Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins and Matt Doherty were starters for a 28–3 team that lost in the Sweet 16 in 1984. Two seasons after UNC lost in its first NCAA championship game appearance in 1946 (43–40 to Oklahoma A&M), starters Bob Paxton and John “Hook” Dillon still were on the roster.

Gehrmann Holland and Danny Lotz were on UNC’s 1957 and 1958–59 rosters, but only Lotz played in the 54–53 triple-overtime victory over Kansas (with no points and two rebounds). Holland played 12 games in 1956–57, missed the following season, and then played eight games in the 1958–59 season. Lotz played 24 games for the championship team and 25 games two years later.

Two seasons after the other 10 championship-game appearances, at least three players were still on the roster.

The most came after Carolina lost 67–59 to Marquette in the 1977 NCAA championship game in Atlanta. Eight players were still on the roster for the 1978–79 season: Mike O’Koren, Dudley Bradley, Dave Colescott, Rich Yonakor, Jeff Wolf, Ged Doughton, Randy Wiel and John Vigil.

Only O’Koren and Yonaker started against Marquette. Bradley played five minutes, Wolf played three minutes, Wiel didn’t play and the other three only played one minute.

Those were the days when rosters were huge, though. There were 16 scholarship players on the 1976–77 team and 14 on the 1978–79 team.

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Two years after making NCAA final

UNC lost 43–40 to Oklahoma A&M (now State) in the 1946 NCAA championship game.
1947–48 (4 from ’46 team still on the roster; went 19–8, didn’t make NCAA field)
Y — Bob Paxton
Y — John “Hook” Dillon
Taylor Thorne
Roger Scholbe
UNC beat Kansas 54–53 in triple overtime in the 1957 national championship.
1958–59 (2 from ’57 team; went 20–5, lost in NCAA first round)
Gehrmann Holland
Danny Lotz
Carolina lost 78–55 to UCLA in the 1968 NCAA championship game.
1969–70 (3 from ’68 team; went 18–9, lost in the first round of NIT)
Y — Charlie Scott
Eddie Fogler
Jim Delaney
Carolina lost 67–59 to Marquette in the 1977 NCAA championship game.
1978–79 (8 from ’77 team; went 23–6, lost in NCAA second round)
Y — Mike O’Koren
Y — Rich Yonakor
Dave Colescott
Dudley Bradley
Ged Doughton
Randy Wiel
Jeff Wolf
John Vigil
UNC lost 63–50 to Indiana in the 1981 NCAA championship game.
1982–83 (4 from ’81 team; went 28–8, lost in NCAA Elite Eight)
Y — Sam Perkins
Jim Braddock
Cecil Exum
Timo Makkonen
UNC beat Georgetown 63–62 in the 1982 NCAA championship game.
1983–84 (5 from ’82 team; went 28–3, lost in NCAA Sweet 16)
Y — Michael Jordan
Y — Sam Perkins
Y — Matt Doherty
Buzz Peterson
Timo Makkonen
UNC beat Michigan 77–71 in the 1993 NCAA championship game.
1994–95 (4 from ’93 team; went 28–6, made NCAA Final Four)
Pat Sullivan
Pearce Landry
Dante Calabria
Ed Geth
UNC beat Illinois 75–70 in the 2005 NCAA championship game.
2006–07 (3 left from ’05 team; went 31–7, lost in NCAA Elite Eight)
Reyshawn Terry
Quentin Thomas
Wes Miller
UNC beat Michigan State 89–72 in the 2009 NCAA championship game.
2010–11 (3 left from ’09 team; went 29–8, lost in NCAA Elite Eight)
Larry Drew II
Justin Watts
Tyler Zeller
UNC lost 77–74 to Villanova in the 2016 NCAA championship game.
2017–18 (4 left from ’06 team; went 26–11, lost in NCAA second round)
Y — Joel Berry II
Theo Pinson
Kenny Williams
Luke Maye
UNC beat Gonzaga 71–65 in the 2017 NCAA championship game.
2018–19 (5 left from ’17 team; went 29–7, lost in NCAA Sweet 16)
Shea Rush
Brandon Robinson
Seventh Woods
Kenny Williams
Luke Maye
UNC lost to Kansas 72–69 in the 2022 NCAA championship game
2023–24 (2 scholarship players left from ’22 team)
Y — RJ Davis
Y — Armando Bacot
X — Rob Landry
X — Creighton Lebo
X — Duwe Farris
———
X — Walk-ons
Y — Started championship game two years earlier.

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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

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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.

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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

Photo via @UNC_Basketball