UNC Basketball: Where Tar Heels stand in latest ESPN early rankings

This offseason has been an active one for the UNC Basketball program beginning with the retirement of Roy Williams in April and the decision to hire Hubert Davis to replace him.

There were some questions about the team this offseason under Davis but so far, it’s been good for the head coach as he’s managed to keep both 2021 commits while adding a few players through the transfer portal. Oh, he also has a top recruiting class right now for the the 2022 cycle.

Davis’ latest addition to his 2021-22 roster was getting Armando Bacot back and then landing former four-star recruit Dawson Garcia as a graduate transfer. UNC’s roster is a lot better than what it was in very early April and there’s some hope that this team can be a contender in the ACC.

But where do they stand nationally?

With the NBA draft happening tonight, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello decided to update his way too early Top 25 rankings for the upcoming season.  For the Tar Heels, the return of Bacot and addition of Garcia moved them up four spots from No. 20 to No. 16 on the rankings. Here is what Borzello said about the Tar Heels:

"For most of the offseason, the Tar Heels looked poised to change their system from the two-big lineups Roy Williams preferred to a more modern look likely to include Oklahoma transfer Brady Manek, an excellent 3-point shooter, as a stretch four next to Armando Bacot. But Carolina went out in early July and landed Marquette transfer Dawson Garcia, a former McDonald’s All-American who was one of the best freshmen in the Big East last season. Does the addition of the 6-foot-11 Garcia force Hubert Davis to go back to a bigger lineup next season? Perhaps."

Borzello also projected UNC’s starting lineup as Caleb Love, R.J. Davis, Kerwin Walton, Dawson Garcia and Armando Bacot. We imagine that Brady Manek would be first off the bench if this happened.

A No. 16 ranking isn’t terrible either. That puts them right on the fringe of being a team that can make a run in March, especially if they show they can get better as the year goes on.

UNC was also one of five ACC teams ranked in the poll joining No. 10 Duke, No. 20 Florida State, No. 23 Virginia Tech and No. 25 Virginia.

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