Where does one national writer see UNC stacking up in ACC men’s basketball?

By R.L. Bynum

After a flurry of departures and arrivals in the offseason, where does Carolina’s men’s basketball team stack up against the rest of the ACC?

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports and College Hoops Today projects that the Tar Heels will finish third, with Duke winning the league and Miami finishing second.

Rothstein wrote his ACC offseason breakdown Tuesday, which includes predicting that fifth-year 6–11 center Armando Bacot will make All-ACC first team, 6–0 freshman point guard Elliott Cadeau will be one of 10 impact freshmen and two transfers — 6–7 junior wing Harrison Ingram from Stanford and 6–5 fifth-year guard Cormac Ryan from Notre Dame — will be two of the 10 impact transfers.

The story also lists former Tar Heel Tyler Nickel of Virginia Tech as one of 10 “under-the-radar” transfers.

He projected the starting five for UNC as 6–0 senior guard RJ Davis, Cadeau, Ryan, Ingram and Bacot.

His projected order of finish in the league after Carolina is Virginia at No. 4, followed by Clemson, Virginia Tech, N.C. State, Florida State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Louisville, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Boston College and Notre Dame.


DateMonth/dayScoreOpponent/event
(current ranks)
Record
October
27FridayW, 117–53vs. St. Augustine’sExhibition
November
6MondayW, 86–70vs. Radford1–0
12SundayW, 90–68vs. Lehigh2–0
17FridayW, 77–52vs. UC Riverside3–0
Battle 4 Atlantis
in the Bahamas
22WednesdayW, 91–69Northern Iowa4–0
23ThursdayL, 83–81, OTVillanova4–1
24FridayW, 87–72Arkansas5–1
ACC/SEC
Men’s Challenge
29WednesdayW, 100–92vs. No. 6 Tennessee6–1
December
2SaturdayW, 78–70vs. Florida State7–1,
1–0 ACC
Jimmy V Classic
in New York
5TuesdayL, 87–67No. 1 Connecticut7–2
CBS Sports Classic
in Atlanta
16SaturdayL, 87–83No. 12 Kentucky7–3
Jumpman Invitational
in Charlotte
20WednesdayW, 81–69Oklahoma8–3
—————————
29FridayW, 105–60vs. Charleston Southern9–3
January
2TuesdayW, 70–57at Pittsburgh10–3, 2–0 ACC
6SaturdayW, 65–55at Clemson11–3, 3–0 ACC
10WednesdayW, 67–54at N.C. State12–3, 4–0 ACC
13SaturdayW, 103–67vs. Syracuse13–3, 5–0 ACC
17WednesdayW, 86–70vs. Louisville14–3, 6–0 ACC
20SaturdayW, 76–66vs. Boston College15–3, 7–0 ACC
22MondayW, 85–64vs. Wake Forest16–3, 8–0 ACC
27SaturdayW, 75–68at Florida State17–3, 9–0 ACC
30TuesdayL, 74–73at Georgia Tech17–4, 9–1 ACC
February
3SaturdayW, 93–84vs. No. 13 Duke18–4, 10–1 ACC
6TuesdayL, 80–76vs. Clemson18–5, 10–2 ACC
10SaturdayW, 75–72at Miami19–5, 11–2 ACC
13TuesdayL, 86–79at Syracuse19–6, 11–3 ACC
17SaturdayW, 96–81vs. Virginia Tech20–6, 12–3 ACC
24SaturdayW, 54–44at Virginia21–6, 13–3 ACC
26MondayW, 75–71vs. Miami22–6, 14–3 ACC
March
2SaturdayW, 79–70vs. N.C. State23–6, 15–3 ACC
5TuesdayW, 84–51vs. Notre Dame24–6, 16–3 ACC
9SaturdayW, 84–79at No. 13 Duke25–6, 17–3 ACC
ACC tournament
Washington
14ThursdayW, 92–67Quarterfinals:
Florida State
26–6
15FridayW, 72–65Semifinals:
Pittsburgh
27–6
16SaturdayL, 84–76Final:
N.C. State
27–7
NCAA tournament
21ThursdayW, 90–62First round in Charlotte:
Wagner
28–7
23SaturdayW, 85–69Second round in Charlotte:
Michigan State
29–7
28ThursdayL, 89–87Sweet 16 in Los Angeles:
No. 19 Alabama
29–8


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.ClassPlayerPos.HgtWgt
FreshmanJames Brown (4 star)56–8225
FreshmanIan Jackson (5 star)26–4180
FreshmanDrake Powell (5 star)26–5185
2Soph.Elliot Cadeau PG6–1180
1Soph.Zayden High46–9225
JuniorCade Tyson36–7203
13JuniorJalen Washington56–10230
0JuniorSeth Trimble26–3195
5GraduateRJ DavisPG6–0180
Eligible for fifth season
24GraduateJae’Lyn Withers 46–9215
Walk-ons eligible for 5th season
14GraduateCreighton LeboPG6–1180
22GraduateRob Landry26–4190

Photo via @UNC_Basketball

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