Still celebrating the news that Matt Able is going to be suiting up for North Carolina next season? You have every right to, as so many of us out there were worried beyond belief that he was going to be NBA-bound. Instead, Chapel Hill is calling and the starting five for the Tar Heels is looking promising. With that said, there's one more piece to the puzzle that everyone is waiting on.
5-star UNC target moving up in the ESPN rankings adds to his major hype
Yup, you already know we're talking about Greek center Alexandros Samodurov, as just about everyone has been sitting on pins and needles waiting for an announcement to arrive from him. Countless signs are pointing to Michael Malone getting this done, but nothing is finalized yet as of this writing. If and when it does happen, time for the Heels to start getting some Top 15-20 respect? That'd certainly be a major talking point from our chair.
UNC fans continue to wait on some Alexandros Samodurov news to come in
Let's go ahead and pretend North Carolina's regular season debut was tomorrow even though we're still several months away from the campaign getting here. If that were the case, the starting five would be Able, Terrence Brown, Neoklis Avdalas, Jarin Stevenson and Sayon Keita manning the spot at center. Keita has all the potential in the world, as he's a five-star playmaker for FC Barcelona in Spain. There's a reason so many people are excited about him making the move to the U.S.
Despite that, don't forget that he's still an 18-year-old teenager, with plenty of development ahead of him. There are going to be some growing pains for him in Year 1 in the ACC, which is something Malone and Co. are going to be ready for. That's where someone like Samodurov can come in and carry the load.
His overseas experience is a huge plus and he knows what it takes to get his hands dirty down in the low post. He could help take Keita under his wing, while being an imposing presence near the glass for the Heels. Samodurov starting and Keita providing UNC valuable minutes off the bench would be the perfect combination here.
First, though, things need to get over the line with Samodurov. Again, there's buzz that this could get done soon and him liking a social media post saying he had committed to Carolina had everyone talking. Until UNC confirms that, though, we're going to be in wait-and-see mode there.
Should that news come in, it's going to provide even more positive energy for this group. Able's long-awaited decision proved to be worth the wait for UNC supporters and we're hoping the same is going to be the case when it comes to Samodurov. The thought of Able racing down the floor and tossing an alley-oop to the big fella inside of the Dean Dome sure is exciting. Soon enough, that could become a reality for the Heels.
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