9. North Carolina Tar Heels
A bizarre coaching search led Michael Malone to the sidelines in Chapel Hill and a lot of eyes will be how he and this program move forward. The former NBA champion coach certainly has the resources to build a contending team with the Tar Heels, but he hasn’t coached at the collegiate level in two decades and needs to be successful. After all, Hubert Davis won 125 games in five seasons and made a national title game and was sent packing a few months ago.
The Tar Heels are grabbing players in a number of ways, though the four-pack of talent in this transfer class is very significant. Neoklis Avdalas is a 6-9 wing from Greece who just became a double-digit scorer at Virginia Tech as a freshman. He’s not even the only ACC freshman joining the Tar Heels, as former NC State guard Matt Able is another notable conference transfer. Both players showed significant potential and could really take a step forward as leaders with the Tar Heels.
If you’re looking for size, North Carolina added 7-footer Cade Bennerman from Northwestern, though we’ve yet to see the Tennessee native on the court as a redshirt last season. You can’t coach size and Bennerman will certainly have a role in this frontcourt, but let’s not ignore one last scoring threat. This team also gets the services of Terrence Brown after he averaged 19.9 points and 3.8 assists per game at Utah last year.
You can plug three of these players right into major roles in Malione’s first rotation while also hoping that Bennerman can become a productive frontcourt weapon once he sees some time on the court. Able, Avdalas, and Brown have all been considered Top 50 pieces in the transfer class and all bring something different to the new-look Tar Heels. The decision to go with Malone remains a head scratcher to some, but how these new pieces do right off the bat will answer a lot of those concerns about the coaching search.
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