UNC Basketball: Tar Heels’ projected 2020-21 starting lineup

Caleb Love

With Cole Anthony now gone, it’s 5-star freshman and McDonald’s All-American Caleb Love that will step into the Tar Heels’ starting point guard role. The 6-foot-3, 170-pound St. Louis native committed to North Carolina in early October, and Tar Heel fans have been excited about his arrival to Chapel Hill ever since.

Not only does Love offer an immediate plug-and-play option for UNC to move on from Anthony, but he provides the Tar Heels with a score-first lead guard that can get buckets from anywhere on the court, while adequately facilitating the ball to teammates. He can comfortably man either guard position, which bodes well with fellow back court running mate R.J. Davis, whose skills and style of play are similar.

Depth like that will be a welcomed sight for the Tar Heels and their fans next season after limping to a 14-19 mark in 2020 that included multiple injuries to back court personnel. Love and Davis will be backed up by Jeremiah Francis and Anthony Harris, assuming both players are at full health by the time the season rolls around in the fall.

There’s no telling how long Love will remain at the collegiate level, so enjoy it while it lasts. His skills and trajectory aren’t too dissimilar to former Tar Heel Coby White, who left Chapel Hill just one year after arriving on campus, thanks to a terrific freshman season that led to him being a lottery pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the UNC basketball program, because, let’s face it, you don’t have much else to do right now anyway.