UNC Basketball: Pressure on for Tar Heels freshman point guard?

The UNC basketball program lost its starting point guard and leading scorer from a season ago. Is pressure mounting for incoming freshman Caleb Love?

Any competitive Roy Williams-coached team isn’t complete without a dynamic lead guard. All of his best teams at the University of North Carolina have been led by some of the game’s best point guards.

In 2005, it was Raymond Felton that paced the Tar Heels to their first national championship in 12 years. Four years later, it was Ty Lawson that guided North Carolina to its fifth NCAA Tournament title in program history. In 2012, the Tar Heels boasted the nation’s best passer in Kendall Marshall, and many still believe that UNC would have won the national championship that season had he not been sidelined with a season-ending injury in the NCAA Tourney’s second round against Creighton. All three were recipients of the Bob Cousy Award, a distinction set aside for college basketball’s top point guard.

And that’s not to say that other UNC point guards weren’t terrific in their own right. Joel Berry was a terrific score-first point guard that helped North Carolina to an NCAA title in 2017, the third of Roy Williams’ illustrious career. He was a third team All-American, and named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Coby White set records during his time at North Carolina, and Cole Anthony led the Tar Heels’ in scoring during his lone season at UNC.

So, what does that mean for incoming freshman point guard Caleb Love? Like it or not, expectations will be high for Love to come in and make an immediate impact for the Tar Heels. With Anthony gone to the NBA, Love is the obvious choice for Williams to start in the lead guard role, and the Tar Heels would be in bad shape without him. Yes, they’re got other players who could step in and play point guard for a spell, but R.J. Davis, Anthony Harris and Leaky Black are all better suited for other positions in the UNC lineup.

In a recent roundtable discussion, Rivals’ recruiting analyst Eric Bossi named Love as the 5-star freshman with the greatest load on his shoulders in 2020.

"“The most obvious choice is at the top with Cade Cunningham, but go ahead and give me Caleb Love at North Carolina,” Bossi said. “The Heels are coming off of a dreadful season and freshman point guard Cole Anthony is gone. Hopes are high that Love and the rest of his No. 3 ranked recruiting class can restore order in Chapel Hill.He’s a talent with size, length and athleticism but he’s also played as much off the ball as he has on it during high school and it doesn’t look like he’s going to get the benefit of a summer on campus. The opportunity for major minutes are there and UNC could very well go how Love goes as a freshman.”"

There’s no doubt that Love is talented and athletic enough to shoulder the load for Roy Williams and the Tar Heels next season. And to his benefit, he’ll have a sensational supporting cast to pass the ball to, and take pressure off of himself. Unlike a season ago when the Tar Heels went just 14-19 for a last-place finish in the ACC, Love shouldn’t ever have to carry his team offensively the way that Anthony did.

A 6-foot-3, 170-pound guard out of Christian Brothers College in St. Louis, Missouri, Love joins the Tar Heels as the No. 12 prospect in the nation according to the 247Sports Composite. The Top247 has him ranked even higher at No. 6, while Rivals has him pegged as the 18th overall player in the class.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the Tar Heels’ 2020 freshman class, and everything UNC basketball.