2014-15 ACC Conference Preview: North Carolina Tar Heels

Feb 20, 2014; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Brice Johnson (11) and North Carolina Tar Heels guard Marcus Paige (5) react in the second half as Duke Blue Devils forward Rodney Hood (5) is in the background. The Tar Heels defeated the Blue Devils 74-66 at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

2013 Season Results: 24-10 overall, 13-5 conference record. T-3rd place in the ACC.
80-75 loss to Pittsburgh in Quarterfinals of ACC Tournament. 85-83 loss to Iowa State in the Round of 32 in NCAA Tournament.

Key Losses: James Michael McAdoo, Leslie McDonald

Key Returners: Marcus Paige, Kennedy Meeks, Brice Johnson, J.P. Tokoto, Nate Britt

2014 Recruiting Class: Justin Jackson (5 stars, #8 overall recruit according to ESPN), Theo Pinson (5 Stars, #10), Joel Berry (5 stars, #17)

After dropping four of their first five games in ACC play, the North Carolina Tar Heels were one of the hottest teams in the nation down the stretch last season, finishing the regular season as the 14th best team in the country, before running into an even hotter Iowa State team in the NCAA Tournament.

Roy Williams and the rest of Raleigh are looking to build on that momentum this season, as the team returns nine of its 11 best players from a the 2013-14 campaign, led by Junior point guard Marcus Paige. Paige is the only returning First Team All-ACC selection from the 2013-14 season, and despite Duke’s Jahlil Okafor gaining hype as the Preseason Player of the Year, the 6-foot-1 scoring machine has to be the early favorite to win ACC Player of the Year.

Showing tremendous growth from his freshman year, Paige put it all together last season, improving his shooting in all facets, cutting his turnovers, and finishing the season with averages of 17.5 points, 4.2 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game. Paige stepped his game up big time to make up for the losses of Reggie Bullock and P.J. Hairston, and with the third best recruiting class in the nation joining him in “Carolina blue” this season, I don’t see how North Carolina isn’t a threat to win its sixth National Championship.

Don’t get me wrong, the team will definitely miss departures James Michael McAdoo and Leslie McDonald, but I think their replacements are ready to give UNC upgrades. We’ll start with big men Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson, who have made plenty of headlines lately by making major changes to their body.

Meeks has been one of the most talked about players all Summer, as he’s reportedly lost at least 40 pounds and reportedly looks like a completely different player. As a freshman, Meeks averaged 7.6 points and 6.1 rebounds in 16.3 minutes per game, but clearly looked like he didn’t have the energy to stay on the floor at times. With an effective back-to-the-basket game and good hands, Meeks draws (potentially lazy, but pretty accurate) comparisons to former Tar Heel Sean May, and was an unstoppable force on the glass – especially on the offensive end -at times last season.

Junior Brice Johnson is UNC’s second leading returning scorer (10.3), and has also made waves recently by changing his body, except Johnson’s apparently bulked up by approximately 20 pounds. Johnson tied with Meeks for the team’s second leading rebounding spot, but wanted to get bigger so he could be more of a force on the low block. After shooting 57-percent from the field last season, the thought of the super athletic Johnson establishing more leverage in the paint has to be scary to opposing defenses, but equally enticing for Paige to have two potential big men to dump the ball off to and get out of the way for.

Fellow Junior J.P. Tokoto comes back as the team’s third leading returning scorer (9.3), and as a defensive standout will most definitely be a part of Williams’ rotation again this year. However, this is where things start to get murky for the Carolina roster, as Tokoto will be joined by two top-ten recruits on the wing in Justin Jackson (8) and Theo Pinson (10).

I can’t see how Jackson isn’t inserted into the starting lineup immediately, as the 6-foot-8 silky small forward gives UNC a guy who’s equally capable and not afraid of finding his own shots. Jackson has a similar body type and game (relatively speaking) to NBA superstar Kevin Durant, as he’s long, can score from anywhere on the floor, and do it efficiently. Jackson was named Co-MVP of the McDonald’s All-American game last Spring, as he dropped 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting, and looked like one of the incoming Freshman most ready to make an impact.

Without insulting Andrew Wiggins, I can’t help but wonder if Theo Pinson was Canadian, if he’d be as hyped as Wiggins was coming out of High School. Pinson may not have Wiggins pro ready body, but he’s every bit as electric of an athlete, and seems to be even more fearless playing around the basket. As a high school player, Pinson was incredibly confident in attacking the rim AND protecting it, and while I’d love to see him play big minutes in Williams’ up-tempo offense, I think he’d be great as the energetic sixth man on this team.

Then you have Carolina’s third five-star recruit, point guard Joel Berry (17). While we already know that UNC has potentially the best point guard in the country, Berry could be a great complement for Paige, as he could come into games and let him play off the ball and focus more on scoring. Epitomizing the ideals of the floor general, Berry’s a hard-nosed player on both ends of the court, but could also play off-guard as he’s a dangerous spot up shooter.

I know that we’ve seen Williams bring in highly touted freshmen classes that have required patience and waiting in the past, but I don’t think that’ll be the case for this year’s crop, who on-top of being incredibly talented, seem to fit the holes that were left in the roster last season.

This is the best I’ve felt about a North Carolina team heading into the season for a few years now, and in a conference with four other preseason Top-25 teams (Duke, Virginia, Louisville, Syracuse), I think Carolina stands as good of a chance as anyone to be relevant come next April.