UNC Basketball: Top 10 moments for Tar Heels in 2020-21
By Zack Pearson
Kerwin Walton’s emergence
by Zack Pearson
Roy Williams was able to turn in a top-two recruiting class for the 2020 cycle, headlined by five-star recruits Caleb Love, Day’Ron Sharpe, and Walker Kessler. But also included in that class were four-star recruits Puff Johnson, R.J. Davis and Kerwin Walton. While Johnson was sidelined for most of the year, both Davis and Walton took advantage of their opportunities this season and should be building blocks for the future of the program.
The future is especially bright for Walton, a Minnesota native that developed into UNC’s best perimeter shooter this season.
The 6-foot-5-inch, 205-pound Walton got off to a slow start on the season, scoring just six total points in the first six games of the year. But during the CBS Sports Classic against Kentucky, Walton introduced himself to UNC fans in a big way. The freshman scored 13 points on 3-of-3 shooting, all of those from the three-point line. From there, Walton would go on to score in double-digits in nine games for the season.
On the year, Walton averaged 8.2 points per game, while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 42 percent from the three-point line. He did have a stretch where he struggled toward the end of the season, but he established himself as UNC’s best perimeter shooter and should be a huge key for their rotation moving forward.