Carolina is about to embark on another offseason that will require extensive player movement. Two starters for the Tar Heels, Cormac Ryan and Armando Bacot, will undoubtedly graduate. RJ Davis and Harrison Ingram must make important choices that will affect players like Seth Trimble and Zayden High in cascading second and third order consequences. What form will Hubert Davis’s core take? What gaps have to be filled, and how will he go about doing so?
Coach Davis has been a fairly dependable recruiter in the transfer portal throughout his three years at Carolina. Although no one is a 100% success rater, he has assembled three teams with strong starting players who have contributed significantly: one team finished first in the national championship game after a scorching run, and the other that helped Carolina regain its footing by winning the ACC regular season title and securing a #1 seed.
Armando Bacot has been one of Hubert Davis’s constants. Bacot, whose massive presence compelled a particular kind of play, exits Carolina as the franchise record holder in both rebounds and double-doubles. Is Coach Davis going to try to duplicate it or go beyond Bacot?
Let’s talk about some of the issues that the team will need to address this summer through the transfer portal.
With 380 total boards (10.3 rpg) in his final season, Armando Bacot led the team in rebounding, and UNC is already looking at a massive vacancy in their starting lineup for the upcoming year. A comeback announcement from Harrison Ingram would allay a lot of anxieties. Despite being slightly small (6’7″) at the four, he was second on the team with 327 total rebounds (8.8 rpg), at times playing like Dennis Rodman. Remember his 19-rebound performance against NC State and the 17 rebounds he pulled down from Florida State’s trees?
Jalen Washington, if he returns, may not be able to clean glass to the extent that Carolina requires. Washington made steady progress toward being fully healthy following surgeries on both knees in high school. Although the sophomore scored 2.6 points per game in limited action, his lack of strength made it difficult for him to snag the tough boards from smaller opponents. This puts Washington in an awkward position where his value to the team is not great enough to deter players from pursuing better options in the portal.
Although Tim Hardaway dislikes Allen Iverson’s crossover dribble, he does not despise Iverson himself. The crossover was Hardaway’s defining move, and for years he looked like the tiny superstar point guard of the 1990s. However, Iverson arrived to usurp Hardaway’s position at the same time that Hardaway was injured and had to start over in his career. To make matters worse, Iverson had a spectacular crossover. Hardaway became enraged about that crossing right away and harbored a unique, petty rules-based feud about it for decades afterward.
Bacot is a player that Hubert Davis has had success with; he can dominate a game and set up a big-time play for a player like RJ Davis. Which brings us to our next query.
During his first season in charge, Hubert Davis made some dramatic changes to the Roy Williams double-pivot scheme and added two stretch fours in Brady Manek and Dawson Garcia. It altered UNC’s style of play in a way not seen in a generation.
So, with a blank canvas, does Hubert Davis try to recreate Bacot or try something different?
Whatever the case, he needs bulk. Carolina needs a big guy with some bulk because Harrison Ingram cannot guard opposing fives for very long if he stays. Does HD have an eye for a traditional big guy like Oumar Ballo of Arizona? A big, athletic man like Aaron Bradshaw of Kentucky? perhaps a stretch five similar to Maxime Raynaud of Stanford?
Whatever route Hubert Davis takes, it will restrict the kinds of things his attack can accomplish while presenting interesting if inconsistent advantages.
The starting backcourt will not change if RJ Davis comes back. With a summer to work on his jumpshot, Elliot Cadeau—who was too valuable as a floor general and playmaker to leave out of the starting lineup—should become an even more potent offensive threat.
Developing into a more formidable offensive threat is one thing Cadeau cannot achieve. RJ forms a short stack of guards with Elliot. That might be problematic against teams that try to isolate themselves offensively or in the incorrect matchup.
Despite his perseverance and determination, Seth Trimble is just 6’3″. Where will Carolina find the size to compete with the world’s Hunter Sallises and Tristen Newtons?
[Note: Just before it was announced that Seth Trimble had accessed the transfer portal, this was written.]
Hubert Davis doesn’t have the same issue as he did after Bacot was replaced if RJ decides to end his career at UNC. Although RJ was excellent, the group could reasonably split his score contributions. This is particularly true if Cadeau is allowed to cook and gets the ball into the shooters’ and cutters’ faces, spraying it all over the floor. It will be fascinating to observe what Cadeau can accomplish if he assumes a more pivotal role on offense.
He needs to be surrounded by shooters for this scenario to work. He also needs to be the shortest player for UNC on the floor at all times in order to assist on defense.
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