UNC’s final roster puts Michael Malone in a spot to fix another Hubert Davis mistake

The addition of South Dakota transfer Cameron Fens continues to have North Carolina fans buzzing, as the bruising presence in the low post has arrived. Fens could either start or, at minimum, be a key player off the bench to help out Michael Malone in his debut season in the ACC. And this alone highlights a key change that's on the way for the Tar Heels.

To start, this is not throwing shade at Hubert Davis at all. But no one can argue with the fact that he became far too dependent on his starters and didn't have a good enough rotation in place. You, of course, don't want to be reminded of the collapse vs. VCU last March, where Davis inexplicably let his fatigued players stay on the court instead of going to more subs.

This won't be the case with Malone, as at center alone he has Fens, Sayon Keita, and Cade Bannerman. However, with the addition of Fens, it opens the door for Alexandros Samodurov to slide over to the four, where he could come off the bench and provide Jarin Stevenson with some relief. Having that depth and rotating guys in and out will be huge, and it was simply something Davis needed to utilize more. Malone will be ready to fix that.

Michael Malone has built UNC depth that will allow bench players to make an impact

“To me it says they’re probably going to play the bench a little bit more than the previous staff,” Inside Carolina's Sherrell McMillan said on a recent podcast following the Fens news. “It also says that they have options. They can go with double fours at the same time if they’re playing a team that’s trying to stretch them out. If they’re playing a team with a couple of bigs, they can go double big. They can go small - they have a lot of options of how to deploy a roster based on offensive and defensive matchups. 

“This was the thing all the Carolina fans said that they needed: a big, bruising, strong center that you could put out there against another big, strong, bruising center, so they have that. If they want to go to a shot-blocking lineup, they can do that. Keita is very athletic, and he’s a really good finisher at the rim, so he’s got that going for him. They can kind of mix and match depending on who they’re playing.”

It's quite easy to agree with what McMillan said. Our new projected starting five for the Heels consists of Terrence Brown, Matt Able, Neoklis Avdalas, Stevenson, and Fens. With that, though, guys like Kevin Thomas, Keita, Samodurov, Maximo Adams, Angelo Brizzi, Jaydon Young, Isaiah Denis, and more will be ready to make an impact too.

This kind of depth will prove to be invaluable for Malone and his coaching staff, especially once we get to the heart of the regular season. The addition of Fens alone solved a key issue in the paint, but it also closed out the final roster with a bang. Malone has put together, on paper, a group that can make noise in 2026-27, and it's clear he won't be relying on only his starters to help the Heels return to a high level.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow