Three UNC basketball players make ESPN's preseason Top 100 players list

ESPN college basketball analysts Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf are putting their noggins together to see who they think the best 100 players in college basketball are, as the UNC basketball program had three players crack the preseason rotation.

RJ Davis and Elliot Cadeau are no surprise; college basketball fans saw how much they impacted UNC as they dusted themselves off from a postseason-free season to become a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament while defeating Duke twice during the regular season.

The third player to make the cut is a freshman and not the one who got most of the plaudits when he committed. Drake Powell comes in at #88. Here's what ESPN had to say about him:

"Hubert Davis is entering a critical season. But the arrival of Powell, a five-star prospect in the 2024 class, should ease his path to the NCAA tournament. At 6-5, Powell's greatest strength is probably his versatility. In a landscape full of elite players, he can be a talented scorer and also defend multiple positions -- key for a UNC squad that had a top-10 defense a year ago."

North Carolina lost a lot of size when Armando Bacot, Harrison Ingram, and Cormac Ryan left in the offseason. Drake Powell becomes an interesting queen piece on the board that Hubert Davis can move around to match-up with different threats. It's likely that UNC won't have as stout a defense without Bacot, but Powell gives the Tar Heels an opportunity to show opponents a different problem to overcome.

Coming in criminally too low at #77 is America's favorite point guard Elliot Cadeau.

"Hubert Davis said this season's version of Cadeau is "unrecognizable" from last year, when Cadeau reclassified from the recruiting class of 2024 to join the Tar Heels earlier than expected. He has long been considered one of the elite passers in the country but will look to improve upon his 18.9% 3-point shooting. If he can make strides as a shooter and on-ball defender, he can be one of the best point guards in college basketball."

Cadeau's body was host to the spirit of Kendall Marshall. The freshman guard made unbelievable passes all season and has picked up right where he left off with a 13-assist showing against Memphis in a preseason exhibition. If he can improve his shooting and force defenders to stay tight, he'll be able to find even more joy going to the basket.

Borzello and Medcalf argued about whether RJ Davis or Duke freshman Cooper Flagg should be the No. 1-ranked player. They ultimately gave Flagg the nod, saying this about Davis:

"On the one hand, Davis deserves to be the preseason national player of the year favorite. He was a first-team All-American. He has been to the national title game. He led North Carolina to a 1-seed last season. And he's likely going to put up bigger scoring numbers than Flagg -- and make a legitimate run at becoming the Tar Heels' all-time leading scorer. Without Armando Bacot providing balance down low for UNC this season, Davis might get those shots too."

RJ Davis has proved in four years that he has the skillset to dominate the ACC. He can score at all three levels and has improved his scoring average every season, culminating in his 21.2 points per game last season.

Tar Heel Nation knows what RJ is all about. He may need to take an even bigger step forward for North Carolina to succeed this season. ESPN seems to recognize that he's perfectly capable of doing so.