UNC Basketball: Should Tar Heels pursue Creighton transfer?

Could the UNC basketball program get some revenge on Creighton by recruiting one of their top players who was just entered the NCAA transfer portal?

We don’t want to hold any grudges, but most UNC basketball fans remember what occurred on March 18, 2012.

On that day, the Tar Heels defeated the Creighton Blue Jays 87-73 in the Round of 32. And although the decisive victory should’ve been the headline, it ended up being that the Tar Heels’ national championship hopes took a major hit.

Point guard Kendall Marshall suffered a wrist injury that would sideline him the rest of the tournament, and just a week later, the Tar Heels went on to lose to Kansas in the Elite Eight.

Still to this day, the history between the Tar Heels and Blue Jays has not been remembered fondly by fans of the Carolina Blue. Is it possible that the UNC basketball program could be in for some revenge in the near future?

On his social media accounts, Creighton forward Christian Bishop announced that he will be entering the NCAA transfer portal. This is a major blow for the Blue Jays, as Bishop was a starter for all 62 of the program’s games over the past two seasons.

Creighton utilized Bishop as an undersized center, a role in which he’s thrived in. As a junior last season, Bishop averaged 11 points and 6.4 rebounds per-game. His 68.1 percent shooting percentage ranks as second-best in single season program history.

Given his skill-set, Bishop should be an interesting transfer portal option for programs in need of additional big men. Is Bishop a player that the Tar Heels should ultimately target?

Now, we don’t know what to expect with the UNC basketball program, given that Roy Williams recently announced his retirement. What we do know is that the Tar Heels have lost a handful of big men recently (Walker Kessler, Day’Ron Sharpe, Sterling Manley and Walker Miller), and could definitely use the depth.

Why does Bishop fit? Well, he could be utilized not only in the forward position, but can serve as a center in some rotations as well. Although he measures at just 6-feet-7-inches tall, Bishop plays big enough, and has the versatility to handle both the forward and center positions.

Along with being considered a solid defensive player, Bishop’s offensive game has also improved drastically over the last two seasons. Once he was inserted into the starting lineup and saw an increase in minutes, his offensive production began to rapidly improve.

The Tar Heels’ interest in Bishop will definitely depend on who is chosen to replace Roy Williams as the program’s head coach. It’s also possible that Bishop may find a home prior to that announcement being made.

However, if the UNC basketball program shows interest, it is possible that they could be major players in his recruitment. And I’m not going to lie — it would be rather sweet to see the Tar Heels lure one of Creighton’s best players to Chapel Hill.

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