Keeping It Heel
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UNC Basketball: Tar Heels’ projected 2022-23 starting lineup

By Blake Cockrum

CHAPEL HILL, NC - FEBRUARY 16: Caleb Love #2, Brady Manek #45, R.J. Davis #4, Armando Bacot #5, and Leaky Black #1 of the North Carolina Tar Heels line up and talk during a game against the Pittsburgh Panthers on February 16, 2022 at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Pittsburgh won 76-67. (Photo by Peyton Williams/UNC/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NC - FEBRUARY 16: Caleb Love #2, Brady Manek #45, R.J. Davis #4, Armando Bacot #5, and Leaky Black #1 of the North Carolina Tar Heels line up and talk during a game against the Pittsburgh Panthers on February 16, 2022 at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Pittsburgh won 76-67. (Photo by Peyton Williams/UNC/Getty Images) /
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UNC Basketball
CORAL GABLES, FL – JANUARY 18: Puff Johnson #14 of the North Carolina Tar Heels shoots a jumper during the second half against the Miami (Fl) Hurricanes at Watsco Center on January 18, 2022 in Coral Gables, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) /

Puff Johnson

The four-spot in the Tar Heels’ lineup is really the only question mark this season. Assuming that the team’s scholarship situation remains the same — they’re currently at the NCAA limit of 13 — then it’s likely that junior wing Puff Johnson will fill the void left by Brady Manek’s departure.

Although he was used sparingly last season, Johnson showed flashes of what we believe are the making of a terrific college basketball player, particularly during his substantially larger role in the NCAA Tournament. While he averaged just 3.1 points and two rebounds per game over the course of the season, Johnson played with poise and confidence in big moments throughout the Tar Heels’ six-game run in late March and April.

He logged double-digit minutes on the court in four of the team’s six games and scored in double-figures twice — 11 in the Round of 64 against Marquette and 11 against Kansas in the title game. And aside from eating up minutes and scoring some big buckets in clutch moments, Johnson showed incredible versatility. He was a difference-maker on both ends of the court, proving to be a valuable weapon in the Tar Heels’ arsenal moving forward.

I expect Johnson’s minutes to increase by a large margin as a junior, and his importance to the team will be immense. Manek had a sensational season for the Tar Heels and the effects of his absence can’t be overstated. Johnson has the ability, though, to come in and be that type of long-range threat on the offensive end of the court while using his length and quickness to create mismatches on the defensive end.

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