UNC Basketball: What’s next for roster management?

The UNC Basketball program has seen significant changes to its roster over the last month but still has several decisions to be made. What’s next?

We’ve covered several UNC basketball decisions over the last month that have impacted the roster for next year, and beyond, in one way or another. Rather that meant a player leaving Chapel Hill due to graduation or entering the transfer portal, or it meant that someone was joining the Tar Heels via the transfer portal, there’s been a lot of roster shake-up.

You know by now who all has left: Will Shaver, Justin McKoy, Puff Johnson, Dontrez Styles, Tyler Nickel, and Caleb Love. Leaky Black and Pete Nance have exhausted their eligibility as well. Meaning eight players who dressed out in Carolina blue and white last season will not be with the program next season.

All of this left Hubert Davis with six open scholarships for the 2023-2024 season (two of the eight slots were filled by Class of 2023 commits Simeon Wilcher and Zayden High). The off-season and portal additions started off slow for the Tar Heels with only two spots being filled over the first month with Paxson Wojcik and Jae’lyn Withers.

Just last weekend Harrison Ingram picked up crystal ball predictions from 247Sports for Kansas and UNC basketball fans began to try to stay calm and not panic. UNC transfer target Nicolas Timberlake committed to Kansas on Wednesday night, not helping matters among the Tar Heel fanbase.

However, things started to turn in the right direction for the Tar Heels over the last few days. Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan committed on Thursday and then Harrison Ingram committed on Saturday afternoon and making Tar Heel Nation feel better about the off-season to date.

There are still two remaining spots available to fill for the 2023-2024 season, but in my opinion, UNC basketball has clearly gotten better this off-season when it comes to talent and depth. Two things that Hubert Davis has been saying he needs to be successful in Chapel Hill. As it currently stands, this is the current roster:

As Brendan points out in his tweet, there are still two scholarships available. One of those two spots has been popularly discussed it could be going to Class of 2024 commit Elliot Cadeau as a part of a reclassification to the 2023 class. If we look back at last year’s 2022-23 UNC basketball team, two main areas of concern were three-point shooting and sharing the basketball (assists).

Hubert and the coaching staff have addressed the three-point shooting by bringing in players who have proven they can shoot the basketball from beyond the arc. The assists are going to come from having a team that loves playing together and that is able to make shots. However, Cadeau is a guy who can average double-figure assists per game and would certainly help elevate that number as a team and benefit the 2023-2024 Tar Heels.

I imagine the starting five will look something like this (as of now): RJ Davis, Cormac Ryan, Jae’Lyn Withers, Harrison Ingram, and Armando Bacot.

There could be some wiggle room on the three-spot and if Hubert is okay playing bigger, then Ingram could move to the three, and Jalen Washington could play at the four. However, if Cadeau were to reclassify, then it’s a smaller lineup with him at the point guard position. I don’t think anyone is arguing if he is ready to play at the next level, he was phenomenal at the GEICO National Championships and over the past weekend at the EYBL tournament.

Former UNC basketball player, and son of Kenny “The Jet” Smith, KJ Smith tweeted this after being at EYBL:

Obviously, it’s all speculation and we don’t know until we know but seems like that could mean something very positive.

As for the other scholarship spot available, there are still two and a half weeks left that players can enter the transfer portal. Will we see a top player who can have an impact at Carolina enter the portal before the May 12 deadline? It doesn’t appear that UNC is currently targeting any players in the transfer portal at the time of this article.

What about the high school level and Class of 2023 recruits? The Tar Heels currently have an offer out to Brady Dunlap and have been in contact with the no. 7 overall player in the class and former Duke commit, Mackenzie Mgbako. Mgbako played high school with current UNC commit, Simeon Wilcher.

As far as the Class of 2024 and reclassification, Ian Jackson has been discussed but continues to say he isn’t interested in reclassifying, despite taking summer classes that will allow him to do so if he chooses. Jarin Stevenson hasn’t committed to a school yet, but his name was one of those discussed in reclassifying earlier in the season, however, he hasn’t been on an official visit to Carolina despite being from close by in Pittsboro, NC.

Regardless of who takes the final two spots, at the moment, it appears that UNC basketball has gotten better this off-season. Personally, my dream scenario for the final two spots would be Elliott Cadeau reclassifying and a combination of Mgbako or Stevenson. It still feels like the Tar Heels could benefit from having another versatile big to play on the wing alongside, or behind, Ingram.

Needless to say, Hubert Davis can recruit with the best of them. Five players (Timberlake, Wojcik, Withers, Ryan, and Ingram) have visited campus and four of those have committed. According to Evan Miyakawa, UNC basketball is no. 4 in the country in recruiting out of the transfer portal.

That’s a pretty nice haul considering what left the program. It could be a while before we see those other two spots filled, especially if one, or both, are filled via the reclassification process.

With Ryan and Ingram committing over the last few days, it’s been refreshing and nice to talk about the future. I feel confident Hubert will put all the right pieces together and get the program heading back in the right direction after missing the NCAA Tournament last season.

Follow us @KeepingItHeel on Twitter and like our fan page on Facebook for continued coverage of UNC basketball news, updates, and recruiting.