UNC Basketball: 2023-24 season preview and outlook for the Tar Heels

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 13: Head coach Hubert Davis talks with R.J. Davis #4 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the second half of their game against the Miami Hurricanes at the Dean E. Smith Center on February 13, 2023 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

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UNC Basketball Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

The college basketball season is right around the corner, and perhaps no team is happier about that than UNC Basketball. The Tar Heels will look to erase the sins of last year, a wildly disappointing season that saw them plummet from #1 in the preseason AP poll to missing the NCAA Tournament completely.

Carolina’s high hopes last year were built upon the team’s improbable run through the 2022 NCAA Tournament, a run that included beating Duke in Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, then eliminating the Blue Devils and ending Krzyzewski’s career in the Final Four in New Orleans, before finally falling just short to the Kansas Jayhawks in the national championship game.

This year’s edition of the Tar Heels features familiar faces, such as Armando Bacot and RJ Davis, but many new ones that Carolina fans hope will help them get back to the top of the mountain. Head coach Hubert Davis has fully embraced the transfer portal, adding five new players after losing a whopping seven to other schools, among them Caleb Love, D’Marco Dunn, and Puff Johnson.

The team is also without Leaky Black and Pete Nance, both of whom exhausted their eligibility, but a couple exciting freshmen have arrived to fill the void: Elliot Cadeau and Zayden High. Cadeau reclassified to join the Tar Heels early, and has already drawn rave reviews for his vision and playmaking ability.

The ACC as a whole is looking to rebound from a down year, as only five conference members reached the NCAA Tournament. Of those, Miami was by far the best, reaching the Final Four as a 5-seed before bowing out to eventual champion UConn. The rest of the conference, though, went home before the second weekend. Virginia and N.C. State were both ousted in the first round, and Duke and Pitt only reached the Round of 32.

UNC will once again play a demanding out-of-conference schedule, so the new faces will need to acclimate quickly. Let’s take a look at Carolina’s projected starters first.

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