ACC Basketball: 5 biggest storylines of 2020 offseason

By Brian Rauf | May 2, 2020

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - FEBRUARY 27: Head coach Tony Bennett of the Virginia Cavaliers and head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels shake hands before North Carolina's game against the Virginia Cavaliers at John Paul Jones Arena on February 27, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Chet Strange/Getty Images) /

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GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 11: (L-R) Armando Bacot #5, Leaky Black #1, Cole Anthony #2, and Jeremiah Francis #13 of the North Carolina Tar Heels (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

1) Can UNC bounce back?

North Carolina began last season ranked in the top 10 and expected to be a Final Four contender. Yes, they lost a lot from the 2018-19 team, but five-star prospects Cole Anthony and Armando Bacot would help shoulder the load.

Instead, we all know what happened. Anthony got hurt and UNC went into a tailspin (that may have occurred even if Anthony stayed healthy all season), finishing in last place in the conference with the worst overall record in the Roy Williams era (14-19).

That isn’t expected to happen again. In fact, the Tar Heels are expected to return to being among the ACC’s elite despite losing six players for the second consecutive offseason (Anthony to NBA, Brandon Huffman and Jeremiah Francis transferring, and the trio of Brandon Robinson, Justin Pierce, and Christian Keeling graduating).

That’s because UNC is welcoming the nation’s No. 3 overall recruiting class, five of whom rank among the country’s top 55 overall prospects and three of whom (Day’Ron Sharpe, Walker Kessler, and Caleb Love) are five-star prospects. Throw in the return of quality players like Bacot, Garrison Brooks, and Leaky Black, and Roy Williams will have a deep, talented roster at his disposal.

It will be a challenge for this group to mesh so many new pieces together and will take time for them to establish (and, in some cases, accept) their roles, yet they are expected to. This group will be under a brighter-than-normal spotlight considering the backdrop of last season.