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NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 18 state of North Carolina teams for 2021-22 season

By Cooper Watson

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA: A general view of the tip off between the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels during their game at Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA: A general view of the tip off between the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels during their game at Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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NCAA Basketball Mike Jones Radford Highlanders (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
NCAA Basketball Mike Jones Radford Highlanders (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

8. UNC Greensboro

All serious consumers of NCAA Basketball should be well aware of what Wes Miller built in Greensboro over the last decade-plus—a program capable of threatening even the most intimidating of power conference teams come March. But with Wes Miller taking the Cincinnati job and two-time SoCon Player of the Year Isaiah Miller now in the professional ranks, the stability of the program will be tested.

The Spartans’ new head coach is Mike Jones, who spent the last decade taking Radford to the NCAA Tournament in 2018 and a top 2 finish in the Big South each of the last four seasons. Many within and near the program wanted an inside hire, but Jones’ resume speaks for itself in his defense.

The team’s well-established defensive identity should carry over given how Jones’ Radford team’s defended. Offensively, G Keyshaun Langley (10.0 PPG) will be the player to watch for the Spartans this season.

Although there will be a slight dip from the past several years, UNCG should still be an upper-echelon team in a competitive mid-major league. Most importantly, the foundation remains intact for UNCG to return to an at-large quality team in the not-so-distant future.

7. Campbell

Campbell’s argument to be this high on the list is really quite simple: They return their top 10 players from a team that went 17-10 and finished third in the Big South last season. Head Coach Kevin McGeehan’s team has been looking to break through and win the Big South Tournament for the last several years—this might be the season they get over the hump.

Cedric Henderson (15.0 PPG) and Jordan Whitfield (14.6 PPG) form one of the best mid-major duos in the country, with plenty of offensive firepower around them. Campbell ranked first in the Big South in effective field goal, two-point, and three-point percentages as well as assist rate last year. The key to overtaking Winthrop and Radford at the top will be their ability to defend the paint, ranking dead last in the league in opponent two-point percentage in 2020-21.

Much like Dustin Kerns in Boone, Kevin McGeehan is building a highly competitive mid-major program in Buies Creek—one talented enough to make the leap to the Big Dance this season.

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