UNC Basketball: Five reasons why UNC can win a National Championship

1. Experience

The Tar Heels are always one of the most experienced teams in the country, and this year is no different.

Despite having two freshman projected to go in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft, Carolina basketball has some of the best seniors in the country – and who have been through national championship runs before.

Luke Maye and Kenny Williams were just freshman when the Tar Heels lost in the 2016 National Championship game. Being just freshman, and not major contributors, they played a combined nine minutes in the NCAA Tournament their freshman season, but were part of the practices each day on a national runner-up team.

Fast forward a year later, and they were both crucial members of the title run for the ‘redeem team’. Most notably, it’s when Luke Maye hit the shot heard around the country, beating Kentucky on a last-second game-winner to send the Tar Heels back to the Final Four. Kenny Williams, who averaged 6.2 points in 23.7 minutes per game, missed the second half of the season with a knee injury.

Though the Tar Heels were eliminated in the second round last year, the addition of Cameron Johnson proved to be a good one.

A second team All-American this season, the fifth year senior has played over 3,000 minutes of college basketball, more than a lot of teams put together.

With the addition of a third NCAA Tournament appearance a year ago, the combination of Luke Maye, Kenny Williams, and Cameron Johnson, combined with a total of six other rotational players who have seen action in the postseason is something most, if not all, teams in the country don’t have.