NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early top 25 power rankings for 2022-23 season

2021-22 season record: 28-9 (15-5 in ACC)

The Tar Heels took a while to get things going but the talent level of the team shined in March, making it all the way to the Final Four. Of the starting five that get over 95% of the total minutes, Brady Manek is the lone player that has no eligibility left. Defensive standout Leaky Black is a 4th-year senior but odds are good that he’s also leaving after the season.

That leaves a trio of quality sophomores in RJ Davis, Caleb Love, and Armando Bacot. It’s been expected that the last two guys would only be around for one more year and while Love and Bacot put up very good statistical numbers, their respective draft stocks haven’t changed much. There’s a real chance all three come back but odds are good that at least one of the guards will depart.

That still would leave at least a pair of All-ACC performers to return, along with several freshmen players that’ll look for bigger roles next year in Kerwin Walton, D’Marco Dunn, Puff Johnson, and Dontrez Styles. And there’s also a pair of top-50 commits joining in point guard Seth Trimble and center Jalen Washington.

There’s a chance that this group will have to start over if UNC happens to win the national championship but head coach Hubert Davis has proved that he can get the job done. And this team will once again be a prime destination for top transfers like Manek so no matter how it shapes out, they’ll be a contender next year as well.