UNC Basketball 2021-2022 Player Preview: D’Marco Dunn

We are now just under a month away until a new era of UNC Basketball begins with head coach Hubert Davis taking over for Roy Williams. Davis was named the head coach back in Spring just a few days after Williams announced his retirement.

With UNC coming off an early exit in the NCAA Tournament, losing to Wisconsin in the first round, they are going to be an interesting team this year. And not only because they have a first-year head coach.

They welcome in a few transfers plus a talented freshman class. Included in that class is four-star shooting guard D’Marco Dunn. The Fayetteville, North Carolina native committed to UNC in September of 2020 and kept his commitment even with Williams leaving.

Now he enters his freshman season at North Carolina hoping to make an early impact with his scoring ability and earn some key playing time.

Prior to UNC

After committing to UNC in September of 2020, Dunn’s stock continued to climb as the year went on. He put together an impressive final senior year averaging 23.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 2.7 steals per game. Dunn only played in 14 games last season but he did enough to draw praise from scouts.

What to Expect in 2021-2022

North Carolina’s rotation this year is going to be deep. And that doesn’t benefit a player like D’Marco Dunn in his first year. Now, that’s not a terrible thing as high expectations for freshman usually don’t end well and could derail their progression.

And here in 2021, being on a deep roster could benefit a player like Dunn early on.

For Dunn, the most likely scenario is that he will be on the bench to start the season and will have to earn a spot as potentially 7th or 8th in the rotation overall. He will be competing for playing time with guys like Puff Johnson, Anthony Harris, Leaky Black and fellow freshman Dontrez Styles.

But what about the minutes? As a wing, Dunn will likely see somewhere around 10 minutes per game and maybe more to start the year depending on how he does. He brings a skillset that should fit UNC’s offense as a perimeter shooter, something that UNC has struggled with over the years.

With Kerwin Walton being UNC’s best shooter from the three-point line, having Dunn there as well off the bench would be a huge bonus. Heck, Dunn may look at Walton’s freshman year as inspiration as to how he can earn some playing time.

Bold Prediction

It’s tough making predictions for freshmen as we really don’t know what we are going to get from them until we hit conference season.

For Dunn, I think he can play a legit role early on especially with a need for a perimeter shooter in Davis’ offense. My bold prediction for Dunn will be him averaging around 9 points per game to start the season with the chance to increase that maybe to 10 or 11 as the year goes on. I really think his perimeter shooting will help him get to that number and if he’s knocking down shots early this year he could see more minutes moving forward.

For more on the UNC Basketball program and player previews, please check back with Keeping it Heel.