UNC Basketball: A Rebuilding Year

Last season was a season that many of us felt would be a National Championship year. It was the best performing team Chapel Hill had seen since the dominate 2009 Championship team. Granted, that was only a three year difference. Sadly our hopes ended when Creighton, for some unknown reason (probably jealousy) took our our key player, Kendall Marshall out with a vicious knock down. Just note that Gregory Echenique has one coming if Creighton happens to come across our paths this season! After the dust settled, we gave it out best, but fell short. Now we have a new season quickly approaching and many things are not set in stone. So I’d like to just discuss a few things beginning with who is leaving, is returning, and is coming in.

Yes, we’ve already admitted that after this season it hurt to see four starters leave, but we have some stellar recruits coming in too. It may not be the best recruiting class, but I believe this team will be better than what people are predicting it will be. I’d like to say that Duke doesn’t even have a Top 25 recruiting class and many “good” players returning and they rank 14th in early pre-season polls. We have many great players returning that haven’t had a chance to start and make some noise as well as a Top 10 recruiting class, and yet rank only 12th. I’m sorry but I disagree with these non-sense early pre-season polls. The Tar Heels will be better than that and better than what most people are expecting us to be.

For those worried about losing Marshall…don’t. Paige is rated and ranked higher than Marshall was coming into Chapel Hill. And over time, Marshall got better so can you imagine how good Paige will be heading into March Madness next year?! Of course this is all subject to him living and performing up to the hype, which is something Harrison Barnes didn’t do.

Now the thing that is really up in the air is who will start? Nobody really has a clue on what Roy Williams is thinking and we probably won’t know until that first game. The line-up he uses for the Late Nite scrimmage more than likely will change after he sees how it works out. However I’ve done some brainstorming and read some other people’s predictions on our line-up for this season and have come up with my own.

So here is what I predict to be the starting five and the rotation:

C – Joel James > Desmond Hubert > Brice Johnson

F – James Michael McAdoo > Brice Johnson

F – Reggie Bullock > JP Tokoto > PJ Hairston

G – Leslie McDonald > PJ Hairston > Dexter Strickland

G – Marcus Paige > Dexter Strickland > Luke Davis

Dexter Strickland won’t start because he will still be nearing the completion of his recovery, and should be okay to play, but I don’t see Roy wanting to start him. He will be productive off of the bench. Clearly being the number one point guard, and Carolina without a returning point guard who is ready to start it is no doubt that Marcus Paige will be the starter at point guard. Joel James will be the tallest guy on the team next year and even if there is a walk on that is taller, Roy would not start him. Leslie McDonald and Reggie Bullock should be automatic lock-ins for starters as both are great perimeter shooters if not the best on the team. I also expect James Michael McAdoo to be the leader of this team, and only for one reason: He is our best returning player! Of course that stands as my opinion, but Roy may look elsewhere for a leader because there is no doubt in my mind if McAdoo stays healthy that he is on his way out of Chapel Hill for the draft next spring.

These are my opinions and how I predict the team will start as well as how the team will look heading into Late Nite with Roy in October and the regular season in November! How do you think our Tar Heels will look? Let us know in the comments!

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