Keeping It Heel
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UNC Basketball: Projecting Tar Heels’ starting lineup for next season

By Blake Cockrum

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 24: (L-R) Kerwin Walton #24, R.J. Davis #4, Day'Ron Sharpe #11, Leaky Black #1 and Garrison Brooks #15 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during their game against the Marquette Golden Eagles at the Dean Smith Center on February 24, 2021 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Marquette won 83-70. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 24: (L-R) Kerwin Walton #24, R.J. Davis #4, Day'Ron Sharpe #11, Leaky Black #1 and Garrison Brooks #15 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during their game against the Marquette Golden Eagles at the Dean Smith Center on February 24, 2021 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Marquette won 83-70. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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UNC Basketball
Mar 4, 2021; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners forward Brady Manek (35) watches an introduction video before a game against the Texas Longhorns at Lloyd Noble Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports /

Brady Manek

Brady Manek will be the lone member of the Tar Heels’ starting five that wasn’t there a season ago. He’s only been with the team since mid-April, having committed to North Carolina just a week-and-a-half after the Hubert Davis hiring.

Manek brings with him one year of eligibility — that thanks to the NCAA granting an additional year of eligibility to all student-athletes due to the Covid-19 pandemic that affected so much of the 2020-21 season — and an uncanny ability to knock down shots from the perimeter. In his 122 games with the Sooners, 111 of which he started, Manek knocked down 235 three-pointers.

https://twitter.com/UNC_Basketball/status/1385322520023293952

He averaged 12 points per game in four seasons, and pulled down at least five boards a game each of those seasons. He’s also a greatly improved free throw shooter, having connected on no less than 76.4 percent of his free throws in any of his last three seasons after shooting just 60 percent from the foul line as a freshman.

Manek’s inclusion on the team, and the starting lineup, in particular, should be a welcomed sight for Tar Heel fans. He’s a versatile player with the ability to spread out the floor on offense, and guard multiple positions on defense.

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