NCAA Basketball: Early tournament games in 2020-21 to get excited about

North Carolina vs Indiana at the Maui Invitational

With Indiana Basketball coming off a mediocre season while ending Big Ten play with a 9-11 record and North Carolina Basketball ending the season with a surprisingly disappointing 6-14 Atlantic Coast Conference record. This potential match-up has more to do with expectations than accomplishments.

2019-20 saw Roy Williams, who has three National Championships, tallying his lowest win total in his 32-year career as a head coach. To avoid a repeat of futility, coach Williams put together the third-rated freshman class consisting of five committed players.

The Maui Invitational will give everybody a good look at five-star centers Day’Ron Sharpe and Walker Kessler, along with five-star point guard Caleb Love. Four-star six-foot-seven Puff Johnson will look to fill the void of departing senior guard Justin Pierce (5 ppg). Topping off the incoming class is a four-star guard RJ Davis, at 5’11 he uses quickness on the offensive and defensive ends.

Whereas Indiana may not have any top 100 recruits entering as a freshman, their most notable graduate is Devonte Green who averaged 10.8 points. With zero underclassmen declaring for the NBA Draft, the Hoosiers will return three of their top 4 scorers. The return of three starters will only benefit the Hoosiers who were looking like a bubble team in 2020.

The one question mark for North Carolina is Cole Anthony, despite not officially declared as of yet, the 6 foot three ‘would be sophomore’ guard who averaged over 18 points is a top ten projected selection.  While intrigue for a Tar Heels’ lineup that includes Anthony would be through the roof, even with his absence, NCAA fans need to be getting excited about this potential match-up.