North Carolina Basketball: 2017-18 Grades for the Tar Heels

Sterling Manley: There weren’t as high of expectations with this big man. To be fair, Manley was the lowest rated player in North Carolina’s recruiting class. He ended up getting the second most playing time among those guys and averaging the most points.

Manley slightly edged out Brooks for more points this season. Brooks got 16 starts, but Manley made the most out of 10 minutes per game. It still wasn’t anything to write home about though. His offensive rebounding was still under 1.5 per game and he only blocked 24 shots this season.

He stands at six-foot-eleven so they were hoping that at least being a big body would make a difference. Brooks and Manley showed in clear sight that it doesn’t always matter if you stand over six-foot-eight. You still need to put in some work and fight for the ball once in a while.

I do remember seeing Manley display his paint game once in a while this past season. Jay Bilas touched on a few times that Manley and Brooks can be the real deals eventually as dominant front court players for North Carolina. They were both just extremely raw this season. They need to continue to learn from Maye. It really helps that he’ll be back as Manley and Brooks continue to mature.