UNC Basketball: Stock risers following the Battle 4 Atlantis

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 12: (L-R) Jalen Washington #13, Elliott Cadeau #2, Harrison Ingram #55, Cormac Ryan #3 and RJ Davis #4 of the North Carolina Tar Heels huddle during the game against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at the Dean E. Smith Center on November 12, 2023 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Tar Heels won 90-68. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

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Nov 12, 2023; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Jalen Washington (13) at the foul line in the second half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

Jalen Washington

There aren’t typically many minutes to spare when Armando Bacot is your starting center.

However, Jalen Washington has truly made the most of his opportunities when he does get on the court.

It’s a small sample size (only 11 shots thus far), but Washington has been extremely efficient from the floor, knocking down a staggering 90.9% of his attempts. He’s even shown some range, knocking down each of his early season three-point field goal attempts.

Washington has seen a slight increase in minutes from a season ago, but his time on the court seems destined to keep rising as the season moves along. With his size and ability to shoot the basketball, Washington provides a quality big man for Davis to rely on when Bacot needs a breather or faces foul trouble, as it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Tar Heels experiment with both on the floor at the same time in spurts.

There are things Washington can improve on (we’d all love to see him bulk up a little more to be able to compete with heavier big men), but you have to be encouraged to see the sophomore big man healthy while being very productive in the early going.

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