Keeping It Heel
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UNC Basketball: Tar Heels’ projected 2021-22 starting lineup

By Blake Cockrum

CHAPEL HILL, NC - DECEMBER 12: Garrison Brooks #15, Caleb Love #2, Armando Bacot #5, and Leaky Black #1 of the North Carolina Tar Heels talk during a game against the North Carolina Central Eagles on December 12, 2020 at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina won 67-73. (Photo by Peyton Williams/UNC/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NC - DECEMBER 12: Garrison Brooks #15, Caleb Love #2, Armando Bacot #5, and Leaky Black #1 of the North Carolina Tar Heels talk during a game against the North Carolina Central Eagles on December 12, 2020 at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina won 67-73. (Photo by Peyton Williams/UNC/Getty Images) /
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UNC Basketball
Jan 12, 2021; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Kerwin Walton (24) shoots as Syracuse Orange forward Quincy Guerrier (1) and forward Marek Dolezaj (21) defend in the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

Kerwin Walton

Kerwin Walton had a terrific freshman season at North Carolina that virtually no one expected him to have — and that’s no slight to his skill set or abilities. They simply didn’t expect him to log 21 minutes per game, and end up in the Tar Heels’ starting lineup just a month into the season.

But the 6-foot-5-inch, 205-pound guard out of Hopkins, Minnesota earned his way into Roy Williams’ starting five, and he did it with an absolutely lethal three-point shot. He was the team’s most consistent threat from beyond the arc, hitting 42 percent of his attempts on the season (58-for-138). That was vital for a UNC squad that shot just 31.7 percent from three for the season, and couldn’t throw a stone in the ocean most games.

Walton appeared in all 29 of the Tar Heels’ games last season, and shot 44.4 percent overall. His 58 three-pointers were 24 more than that of Caleb Love, who was second on the team in made threes — and Walton did so in just 10 additional attempts. He also converted 84 percent of his attempts at the free throw line, and turned the ball over less than the team’s other four starters, and top reserves R.J. Davis and Day’Ron Sharpe.

Walton will be back in the Tar Heels’ starting lineup in 2021, looking to expand on his somewhat one-dimensional game from a season ago. While he was unquestionably the team’s best long-range shooter, he and the Tar Heels would benefit from him expanding his offensive prowess.

He’ll definitely have help on the perimeter this season thanks to the addition of Oklahoma transfer Brady Manek and newly-signed Marquette transfer Dawson Garcia. Manek is a career 37.4 percent three-point shooter in four seasons with the Sooners, and Garcia hit nearly 36 percent of his shots from long-range as a freshman.

Although I like Walton to begin the season as the Tar Heels’ starting shooting guard, there’s a chance that R.J. Davis does instead. That would either move Walton to the bench, or shift him over to the three. If Walton does move to the three, I have concerns about him guarding big, athletic opposing wings. Defense was not Walton’s strong suit in year one, though we hope to see improvements to that just as much as we do with his short-to-mid-range game on offense.

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