As the NCAA Tournament comes to a close, GMS likes to review some of the power conference or power program teams that made it to the Big Dance and ask whether or not they’ve got a shot to return to the show next season. We continue on with last team eliminated in the tournament.
Recruit and Reload: North Carolina Tar Heels
Key Losses: Marcus Paige, Brice Johnson
Key Returners: Justin Jackson, Kennedy Meeks, Joel Berry II, Nate Britt, Isaiah Hicks
Key Newcomers: Seventh Woods, Brandon Robinson, Tony Bradley
Breakdown: We’ve talked a lot about the impacts that Paige and Johnson had on this program the past few years, helping guide UNC through a period where it felt like a new report came out about possible punishments every other week. Head coach Roy Williams battled through negative recruiting and still found his way to another NCAA Championship game, only to see a buzzer-beating three take away his dream of adding another title to the Dean Dome rafters. But UNC returns plenty next year, providing an experienced, talented, and hungry core to build around.
Berry II had become at least UNC’s third most important player as the season wound down last year, and some would argue that he was more valuable than Paige when it was all said and done. He’ll have Jackson and Meeks to distribute to, along with three four-star prospects that might indicate that Williams is coming out of the recruiting Woods, especially with news that the men’s basketball program likely is out of the woods with regards to the NCAA as well.
