UNC Basketball: All four North Carolina starters ‘still deciding’ their futures

All four UNC basketball starters with remaining eligibility are ‘still deciding’ their futures.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are fresh off of a 29-win season that saw them reach the NCAA Tournament Championship Game in Hubert Davis’ first year as the storied program’s head coach. Despite the fact that their season ended with one of the most crushing losses in team history, and also because of it, the Tar Heels could see the return of all four starters with remaining eligibility.

Early indications suggest that the decisions of R.J. Davis, Caleb Love, Leaky Black, and Armando Bacot may be hinging on more than just their opportunities to play professionally. They may be based on something other than NBA Draft stock or financial viability. Instead, it could be about something that both resonates and aligns them with their rabid fan base — and that’s redemption.

There’s no doubt that the quartette’s return to Chapel Hill would have a similar feel to the summer of 2016 when the Tar Heels brought back the core group of a team that won 33 games and fell just shy of a national title in the form of a heartbreaking last-second loss to Villanova in the championship game. That group returned to campus to win another 33 games and beat Gonzaga to claim the national title they felt was rightfully theirs.

Understandably, UNC fans are hoping that this iteration of the Tar Heels choose the same path and it’s entirely possible that they do. But no official decisions have been announced at this time and it’s very likely that Love and Bacot will first test the NBA waters this offseason, if for no other reason than to get feedback on how to improve their stock for next year’s draft.

Accordingly, Zagsblog’s Adam Zagoria reported on Tuesday night that all four players are still mulling over their decisions, noting that their return would mean that the Tar Heels begin the season as one of the most loaded teams in the nation. And Zagoria is absolutely right, as North Carolina would then welcome back three of their top four scorers and their best defender in Leaky Black.

There’s also a hope that the Tar Heels will have a more developed bench in year two with Hubert Davis at the helm, whether that’s due to the extra year of experience under the belt of their current reserves or because the incoming freshmen are ready to come in and make an immediate impact.

College players have until the end of the day on April 24 to submit their names into the 2022 NBA draft pool, so we could be waiting a couple more weeks to find out what the Tar Heels are going to look like next season. We’ll have a close eye on the team leading up to that point and keep fans up to date on any and all developments.

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