UNC Basketball Preview: D’Marco Dunn looks to earn more playing time in 2022

Sophomore D’Marco Dunn remains the biggest mystery on the UNC basketball roster. After a disappointing freshman season, he looks to make an impact in 2022-23.

UNC basketball shooting guard D’Marco Dunn didn’t have the freshman year he likely expected to have. The team made it all the way to the national championship, but Dunn had little to do with the team’s success. He was one of the main players who lacked playing time due to head coach Hubert Davis’ tight rotation.

2021-22 Season In Review

While Dunn could have done more with the minutes he got, it seemed he got some unfair treatment at times. As a result, he seemed like an obvious candidate to transfer in the off-season. That held particularly true with the NCAA’s latest transfer rules, as well as the implementation of NIL.

To many’s surprise, he returned to Chapel Hill. Instead, Kerwin Walton and a few others transferred out. In 94 total minutes of action last season, Dunn scored just 22 points on 9-for-31 (29%) from the floor. His strength, shooting from behind the arc, was never reflected on the floor. He shot just 20% (3-for-15) from three in 2021-22.

While it seems like that may have opened the door for clear playing time for Dunn, that’s not exactly the case. Seth Trimble is perhaps the biggest reason for that, as he comes in as the 46th-rated freshman in the 2022 recruiting class.

Trimble seems to have a big role on the team this year, likely as the first guard off the bench over Dunn. Additionally, Caleb Love and RJ Davis opted to return to school. That closed the door on an opportunity for Dunn to fight for a starting spot. Things won’t get any easier next season either, as 2023 five-star Simeon Welcher has already committed to UNC.

What to Expect in 2022-23

Because of the aforementioned factors, Dunn remains the biggest mystery on this North Carolina team. Hubert Davis has made it clear that he won’t use the same tight rotation that he used last year. Part of it was the personnel that he had, but it made things quite hard in the NCAA tournament.

Now, he has several talented freshmen along with the growth of guys like Dunn and Dontrez Styles. Dunn can be an immediate beneficiary of an extended rotation. While it doesn’t mean everything, Dunn looked quite good in the team’s scrimmage against each other in early October.

He displayed his pure shooting stroke and a potentially improved overall game. If he can shoot the ball consistently well, there’s no reason to believe he won’t get any playing time this season. Dunn’s defense is something that could also earn him playing time if he shows capability.

Bold Prediction

Coming out of high school, shooting was seen as his major strength. He can also fill in as a primary ball-handler if need be, although UNC really has 3 guys more than capable of doing that. If an injury takes place in the backcourt, that’s when Dunn would really see a lot of minutes.

For now, though, his role on this team is still murky, as we won’t know until the team’s season opener a few weeks ago. Because of that, it’s hard to imagine him getting that many more minutes compared to last season. The transfer rumors will begin to circulate if that happens again.

Check out our previously released 2022-2023 UNC basketball player previews below:

Biscuit Boys | Tyler Nickel | Seth Trimble | Jalen Washington | Will Shaver