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

Additional Lineup Options

Below are just a few of the other options that Hubert Davis and company could go with in the starting lineup. As previously stated, the Tar Heels have a lot of roster options this year, and far more firepower on offense than they did a season ago. That gives them the ability to put five players out on the court to begin the game that can score 100 points, or five that combine offense and defense, and leave other scoring options on the bench to come in and give the starters a breather when necessary.

G – Caleb Love
G – R.J. Davis
G – Kerwin Walton
F – Dawson Garcia
C – Armando Bacot

This lineup features both Caleb Love and R.J. Davis, giving the Tar Heels two capable ball-handlers on the court at the same time. It also includes an excellent three-point shooter in Kerwin Walton, and a terrific stretch four/five in newcomer Dawson Garcia. Lastly, Bacot is at the five, something you’ll see in every iteration of potential starting lineups this offseason.

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G – Caleb Love
G – D’Marco Dunn
G/F – Leaky Black
F – Dawson Garcia
C – Armando Bacot

Look, I don’t expect to see D’Marco Dunn in the starting lineup this year — especially at the beginning of the season — but we didn’t really anticipate Kerwin Walton starting 20 games last season, either. If Walton, Davis or anyone else isn’t performing particularly well to begin the season, and Dunn comes out and scorches the nets game after game, don’t think that Hubert Davis wouldn’t give him a shot in the starting five.

This lineup would conceivably give the Tar Heels plenty of shooting, but also a defensive stopper in senior guard/forward Leaky Black. Having said that, Black will have to perform better on the defensive side of the ball than he did a season ago if he wants to keep that title. As poorly as he played on offense as a junior, he wasn’t a heck of a lot better on defense. Here’s hoping he can put it all together during his final season in Chapel Hill.

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G – Caleb Love
G – Kerwin Walton
G/F – Leaky Black
F – Brady Manek
C – Armando Bacot

I find it highly unlikely that Dawson Garcia — along with Caleb Love and Armando Bacot — aren’t in the Tar Heels’ starting lineup this season. But we’ve seen reality not meet expectations in the past — a la Garrison Brooks’ disappointing senior season after being one of the nation’s best front court players the year prior. 

If Garcia doesn’t have the kind of season we all seem to think he will, and a player like Brady Manek comes out and plays terrific basketball, who’s to say that he doesn’t end up starting his one and only season at North Carolina in place of the sophomore transfer? I find it far more likely, though, that Manek replaces Leaky Black in the starting lineup. 

Check back with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the UNC basketball program throughout the summer as we inch closer to the 2021-22 college hoops season.