UNC Basketball: 5 Early storylines for 2018-19 season
By Zack Pearson
Will Nassir Little start?
Freshman Nassir Little is the highlight of UNC’s 2018 recruiting class that was ranked in the Top 10 this year. The five-star recruit out of Florida is one of UNC’s most important commits in a long time and has the opportunity to make a big impact right away for the Tar Heels.
With Little likely being a one-and-done player, the question going into the season will be what his role is.
The wing likely won’t start at point guard with either Woods or White earning that spot, either Kenny Williams or Cam Johnson will start in one wing spot and Luke Maye at power forward. That leaves another wing spot open and the center position if Williams goes with a traditional lineup.
It’s very possible Little would grab that other wing spot open, with Johnson or Wiliams coming off the bench.
The other option is UNC going with a small lineup, starting a point guard, Williams, Little, Johnson and Maye. It could be the updated “death lineup” that we saw at times last season. Now, there’s a big risk in losing the rebounding margin to the opponent which is something you don’t really see with a Carolina team.
It will be interesting to see if Williams goes with a traditional lineup first, rather than jumping into that death lineup. We will get an early indication of what Williams is thinking when the Tar Heels play exhibition games in the Bahamas in September.
There’s the possibility that Williams switches it up a bit as well and uses the first few games of the season to test out the lineup. Either way, the Tar Heels will have a solid sixth man coming off the bench in Williams, Little or Johnson.