2022 NBA Draft: Two UNC Basketball players make ESPN’s Top 100

The 2021 NBA Draft is just over a month old as the newest group of prospects are set to begin their first season. But it’s never too early to take a look at future draft rankings and a pair of UNC Basketball players are considered Top 100 players.

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony released his Top 100 prospect list for the 2022 NBA Draft as we are still two months from the start of the upcoming season. On that list, both Caleb Love and Dawson Garcia saw their names which is a good start going into this year.

Love was the highest-ranked recruit of the two, checking in at No. 29 overall. The former five-star guard struggled a bit in his first season at North Carolina but did improve as the year went on including having a few big games down the stretch.

The expectation for Love in year two is to take a big step forward. As the leader of this offense, Love will need to not only be better at facilitating but scoring as well. His first season was just too up and down in terms of consistency.

As for Garcia, he was ranked No. 67 on the initial list which has him as a fringe second-round pick in the draft. The former Marquette standout transferred to North Carolina this year and will join Armando Bacot in the starting front court for the Tar Heels.

Garcia is an intriguing prospect that has the chance to climb up draft boards, especially if he can prove to be a legit outside scorer. We’ve seen players in the past improve their game in similar scenarios so it’s certainly possible. Both Garcia and Love taking steps forward in their games would also help the Tar Heels as a whole and could make them a dark horse this season.

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