NCAA Basketball: Top 10 storylines of second week of 2022 offseason

7. Tar Heels get Final Four starters back

Coming into the season, there was a good feeling that the Tar Heels weren’t going to have key players Armando Bacot, and Caleb Love for more than one more year. And the regular season numbers hinted that both could very well be ready to go pro, after Bacot averaged a team-leading 16.3 ppg and 13.1 rpg, while Love produced 15.9 ppg and 3.6 apg.

Then came the NCAA Tournament, with the starting lineup all playing as well as possible, making it all the way to the national title game. Bacot tied an NCAA Basketball record for double-doubles in a season and had he not gotten hurt in the final minute, UNC maybe could’ve beaten Kansas in the end.

After the season, there were major questions as to who was returning and who was going among the starters for the Tar Heels. Brady Manek had no eligibility but the other four did, including wing defender Leaky Black. And so far, we have the answers concerning Bacot and Black.

Bacot had the case to be the ACC Player of the Year and Black could’ve easily been the ACC Defensive Player of the Year so having both of them back for one final year is huge for UNC’s odds of making another run in 2023.

That leaves starting guards Love and RJ Davis to make decisions and as long as at least one of them comes back, the Tar Heels will have a case of being a top-10 preseason team for next season. And if both of them are back, they may have to be the preseason favorites to win the ACC and a Final Four contender once again.