By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — Not only will Carolina’s roster be drastically different this season, with numerous potential lineup combinations, but a rebooted style of play has players excited. Armando Bacot says that the offense is “completely different.”
The five transfers and two freshmen give Coach Hubert Davis plenty of options that some may not expect, depending on the opponent.
“We’ve kind of really changed up everything, and I think it’d be fun for the fans to see because it’s a lot of fun-style offense, and there’s more movement and a lot of guys getting involved,” Bacot said. “We’ve added a lot of secondary stuff again, kind of what we ran the first year — but with a twist a little bit — so it’ll be great.”
In No. 19 UNC’s easy win in a closed scrimmage on Saturday, No. 10 Florida Atlantic started four guards. In that case, RJ Davis said he started with Bacot, Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan, Stanford transfer Harrison Ingram and Brown transfer Paxson Wojcik.
RJ Davis said that the preseason vibe has been overwhelmingly positive.
“I think what makes that vibe feel that way is because I think the new players — the transfers, the freshmen — they’re excited to play here, and they’re excited to put that jersey on and run out that tunnel.”
Davis says there was plenty to be happy about with the scrimmage, in which UNC reportedly won 79–63 against an Owls team that made the Final Four last season.
“The ball movement was there; we were there with the defensive rotation,” he said. “So, it was definitely encouraging because you can see the potential that we have.”
There was a lot of angst last season from UNC fans about the small rotation, which ultimately contributed to six players transferring. While it was a jolt to fans to see many people leave, Bacot said he could sense toward the end of the season that several would move on.
“I kind of expected a lot of it,” he said. “For some of the guys, you can kind of get a feel like they would transfer. It’s just great that they all got to go where they wanted it to be and not have to be at UNC if they didn’t want to be here. I think they all are in good situations, and they’ll all excel.”
Hubert Davis always says that the players determine the rotation by how they play in practice and follow up those performances in games. Bacot says that he could see the Tar Heels going to an eight-to-10 player rotation if players are “doing what they’re told” and are effective.
“Judging off the first scrimmage, I think we’ll go pretty deep. That’s what it feels like,” Bacot said, adding that sophomore Jalen Washington and freshman Zayden High will play a lot, and West Virginia transfer James Okonkwo will also get his minutes. “I definitely think my minutes would go down a lot, which I don’t have a problem with.”
Could a Blue team with five new players entering the game at once? RJ Davis suggested that it’s possible.
“We have a lot of great players who are able to play a lot with minutes, and I think that’s what’s so good because it makes it such a dynamic team,” he said. “You can have a starting five in and then have a new fresh five come in and ready to impact the game as well. I don’t know how the rotation may look, but I definitely see that we go deep this year.”
Bacot says that coaches frequently have pushed during the preseason for more post-entry passes.
“The coaches, they’ve been making a huge emphasis on it,” Bacot said. “So, it’s really the guards’ and the wings’ job is to give me the ball. I think I’ll probably get a lot more shots this year.”
On a podcast earlier this week, Coach Davis said that he needs Bacot to dominant, and the fifth-year center embraces that sentiment.
“I think I can do it,” Bacot said. “That’s been a message, and I think that’s why they’ve been on me so hard. I think they want me to dominate every game and just be the best that I can be. I love it, because that’s what I want to do. Just them continuing pushing that in my head, I think it’ll definitely work out. I want to do it, and it’ll help me out to get to my goals and dreams.”
There are plenty of other differences in UNC’s style this season, thanks to plenty of guard talent with Ryan and freshman Elliot Cadeau joining RJ Davis and Seth Trimble.
“I think there will definitely be a lot of ball momentum,” Bacot said. “You add an Elliot Cadeau and the way he can really move the ball and get everybody involved? I think he’s gonna play a huge role in building a great continuity with everybody in terms of sharing the ball and creating movement and getting a lot of guys involved.”
The ball got stuck a lot in the half-court offense last season, but don’t expect that to happen much this season. The style didn’t look like what fans expect from UNC but RJ Davis said that it will be different this season.
“I think we’re getting back into Carolina in terms of the pace running in transition, getting the ball out and running,” he said. “I also think the ball movement is going to be there this year. We have a lot of players who are able to space the floor out and not have to rely on Mondo in double-teams or triple-teams each game.”
Having more good 3-point shooters, including Ryan and Wojcik, will also help Carolina spread the floor.
RJ Davis says that having more playmakers — including Trimble, Ingram and Ryan — will help UNC get the ball up quickly.
“I think that will be different from last year in terms of playmaking ability and kind of spread the floor out,” he said.
All of that promises to add up to produce a fun team to watch, and one likely to win more.
| Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
| Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
| 22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
| 24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
| ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
| Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
| 5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
| January | ||||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
| 10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
| 20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
| 22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
| 27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
| 30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
| 6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
| 13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
| 17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
| 26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
| 5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
| 9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
| ACC tournament Washington | ||||
| 14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
| 16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
| 28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 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. | 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 by Nell Redmond/theACC.com
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