ACC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 12: A general view of center court prior to the quarterfinals round of the 2020 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum on March 12, 2020 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The remainder of the tournament will be played with only essential tournament personnel, limited school administrators and student-athlete guests, broadcast television and credentialed media members in attendance due to concerns over the possible spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

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CHAPEL HILL, NC – FEBRUARY 25: University of North Carolina mascot Rameses (Photo by Andy Mead/ISI Photos/Getty Images) /

441. . . . Tar Heels . 3. team

North Carolina had one of their worst seasons, maybe ever, in 2019-20, finishing with a record of 6-14 in the ACC and 14-19 overall, good enough for 14th out of 15 in the ACC, and had their been an NCAA Tournament last season, UNC would’ve missed it for the first time since 2010.

Now, the Tar Heels will have an entirely different team taking the court in 2020-21 as they have a remarkable EIGHT freshmen, and only one sophomore as Cole Anthony and Jeremiah Francis both departed Chapel Hill following their freshmen seasons.

However, this might actually be a good thing for the Tar Heels who want to do anything they can to avoid having a repeat of last season.

Now, with the third-ranked recruiting class in the nation according to ESPN, and second-ranked class in the ACC behind only their rivals from down Tobacco Road, UNC has the opportunity to flip the script and go from the bottom to the top in only one year.

According to 247 Sports, UNC had an impressive FIVE players ranked in the top-65, and six ranked in the top-125. With this, the Tar Heels hope to completely forget about the 2019-20 season and move forward with their impressive class of freshmen.

Here is North Carolina’s 2020-21 roster:

Caleb Love, Freshman, Guard
RJ Davis, Freshman, Guard
Day’Ron Sharpe, Freshman, Forward/Center
Walker Kessler, Freshman, Forward/Center
Puff Johnson, Freshman, Guard
Kerwin Walton, Freshman, Guard
Creighton Lebo, Freshman, Guard
Anthony Harris, Redshirt Freshman, Guard
Armando Bacot, Sophomore, Forward/Center
Leaky Black, Junior, Guard/Forward
Sterling Manley, Redshirt Junior, Forward/Center
Ryan McAdoo, Redshirt Junior, Forward
Andrew Platek, Senior, Guard
Garrison Brooks, Senior, Forward
Walker Miller, Senior, Forward/Center
K.J. Smith, Redshirt Senior, Guard

The Tar Heels have a huge roster with a total of 16 players for 2020-21, half of which are freshmen. The problem is, we have seen stellar recruiting classes from multiple ACC teams in the past get a lot of hype, but as the season went on, they failed to live up to the hype, will that be the case for the Tar Heels, or can their freshmen make the impact UNC fans hope they will?

The good news is, UNC also has Garrison Brooks back to averaged 16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game last season, second behind only Cole Anthony. Brooks will be massively important for the Tar Heels next season, as will Armando Bacot, and also Anthony Harris, who played in only five games last season.

Bacot was huge on the boards for UNC last season averaging 8.3 rebounds per game, with 9.6 points per game to go with it. Having both Bacot AND Brooks back makes for an interesting dynamic for the Tar Heels as they will be able to bully teams down low with the addition of freshman Walker Kessler as well.

Nonetheless, I would fully expect North Carolina to finish in the top-five of the ACC in 2020-21, despite finishing second-to-last in 2019-20.