North Carolina’s Five Most Important Players For 2014-15

Mar 23, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Brice Johnson (11) reacts in the first half of a men

2. Brice Johnson

Since landing in Chapel Hill with just 187 pounds hitched to his 6-foot-9 frame, Johnson has added over 40 pounds to his gangly build.

Now the UNC junior forward appears poised to add to his workload in the Tar Heels’ interior.

Despite playing primarily a sixth-man role, Johnson posted a 10.4 points-per-game average and is North Carolina’s only returning double-digit scorer other than Paige. His 6.1 rebounds per game ranked among the ACC’s 20 best, and his 1.3 blocks a game placed him among the league’s top 10.

The real attention-grabber, however, comes when Johnson’s figures are extended to per-40 minute averages. Then you find numbers totaling 21 points, 12.4 rebounds and over 2.5 blocks a contest. If Johnson nears that sort of production, he’ll throw himself into national player of the year discussions, and with Meeks would form one of the nation’s more prominent front-court combinations.

Key to Johnson’s effectiveness will be simply remaining on the court. An injured ankle in the first half of the Tar Heels’ third-round NCAA Tourney matchup with Iowa State showed just how vital Johnson was for UNC, ending with only two points in the 85-83 loss to the Cyclones. And if he wasn’t hampered by injury, foul trouble often took a bite out of his minutes, with Johnson saddled with four fouls or reaching the five-penalty limit in nearly 30 percent on North Carolina’s games last season.