NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing 2020 F Greg Brown’s final five
By Brian Rauf
North Carolina Tar Heels
UNC is relatively new to the one-and-done game yet have had no problem reeling in elite talent in recent years. They landed a pair of five-star prospects in both the 2018 (Nassir Little, Coby White) and 2019 classes (Cole Anthony, Armando Bacot), and are in the mix for several elite 2020 prospects as well.
Like Kentucky, North Carolina offers Brown the chance to play for a blueblood and on the biggest stages in college basketball for a program that routinely produces NBA talent (three player were taken in the first round of the 2019 draft).
However, unlike Kentucky and potentially Memphis, Brown might end up being the distinctive No. 1 option on the Tar Heels in 2020.
Carolina had to replace their top five scorers from the 2018-19 team and six players from their rotation, and did so with some high quality freshmen (like Anthony and Bacot) and grad transfers. Those grad transfers will be gone and, if Anthony and Bacot have the seasons they’re expected to, both could leave for the NBA as well. That would leave plenty of opportunities in the rotation.
Brown has the potential to give North Carolina what they thought they were getting in Little, which is a dominant two-way forward who could affect the game in a multitude of ways. Little wasn’t able to for a number of reasons – coaches were frustrated that he didn’t pick up their defensive rotations or offensive system as quickly as they would’ve liked, something Little admitted to but partly blamed of his lack of a distinct role.
But, on a team that isn’t expected to have as many mouths to feed as the 2018-19 one, Brown should have the chance to flourish as he continues to develop his game.