UNC Basketball: Why the Tar Heels have been so disappointing in 2019-20

UNC Basketball, a traditional NCAA powerhouse, has been nothing short of terrible this season. Here are a few of the reasons why Roy Williams’ team has been such a disappointment this season.

UNC Basketball entered the 2019-2020 season with fairly high expectations, fresh off last season’s Sweet Sixteen appearance and coming in at #9 in the AP preseason poll. Of course, these expectations are a given for a school that has an all-time winning percentage of .739 and has been to the Final Four a record twenty (!) times, two coming in the last five seasons.

Despite losing major contributors such as Coby White, Cameron Johnson, Nassir Little, and Luke Maye, fans were optimistic that this would be yet another successful season. This was especially true considering the recruitment of Cole Anthony, the #2 overall high school prospect in his class according to ESPN.

The Tar Heels opened the season well at 6-1, defeating a ranked Oregon team and only falling to then red-hot Michigan. It was all downhill from there. UNC would go on to lose 9 of their next 11 games, a run which included embarrassing home losses to Wofford and Clemson as well as two losses to Pitt. Barring a miracle run in the ACC Tournament, the Tar Heels will miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010, a season in which they still finished with a winning record at 20-17.

Most notably, the Tar Heels were recently seen getting absolutely waxed by a bad Wake Forest team, falling 74-57. Cole Anthony has still been excellent, averaging 19.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists over his 13 games played, but this team has clearly shown themselves incapable of playing as a cohesive unit and manufacturing wins.

So why has UNC Basketball been so terrible this season? Will these issues persist into next season?