Starting Backcourt
After taking Luka Bogavac out of the starting line-up in favor of Jarin Stevenson, Hubert Davis made one more change, inserting freshman point guard Derek Dixon in place of Colorado State transfer Kyan Evans. Now, I want to preface this by saying I take no joy in bagging on college players. But back in the day, when I was in school, Jawad Williams was in class with students like me, so taking an amateur student athlete to task felt a bit out of bounds.
But thanks to NIL, these guys are essentially professionals, so if they can cash a check, they can take some smoke. Kyan Evans has been an absolute bust at North Carolina. He's not built for this, and his limitations put a ceiling on the team, making Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar feel like they're sitting in the back seat of a VW Golf.
During ACC play, Evans has been (with the exception of the Florida State game) an absolute drain on the team, never scoring more than four points. When he came off the bench against Cal, he looked even more shook and nervous than usual, turning the ball over on a carrying call, and scoring zero points.
Dixon, on the other hand, looked emboldened with his starting role. He banged a three-pointer for UNC's first points of the game, and finished with 14 points (4-for-8 three pointers, and a lay-up to close the first half), tying his career-high against Georgetown. Dixon has earned the right to start for the next few games. It would be nice to see Kyan Evans contribute some quality minutes in the back-up role as well. Score some points. Do something.