Lessons Learned from the UNC basketball program's season-opening win over Elon

The four is still in flux

The presumption following the off-season was that Belmont transfer Cade Tyson was going to play the four with Seth Trimble at the three. So it was a bit of a surprise when Jae'Lyn Withers was announced in the starting line-up for the season opener.

It looked like a masterstroke from Hubert Davis in the first half. Withers hit two three-pointers and yanked down a nasty alley-oop from the baseline behind the Elon zone. But then he was 0-4 in the second half, including a missed dunk when UNC was losing momentum.

So, who stood out if the door was left open for the starting four job?

Cade Tyson didn't exactly pull out trees by the root, hesitating to shoot and then struggling to hit shots. But he was trusted to close out the game. Ven-Allen Lubin was active and earned points in traffic, but didn't get minutes when the UNC basketball program closed out Elon.

Withers played 22 minutes, Tyson 16, and Lubin 17, so opportunity was about even. This competition is one to monitor.