ACC Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2024-25 season

2. North Carolina Tar Heels

2023-24 season record: 29-8 (17-3 ACC)

The Heels got a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and won the regular-season conference title, making it a successful overall season for Coach Hubert Davis. But he’s lost some important pieces, including three starters. Big man Armando Bacot (14.5 ppg and 10.3 rpg) and sharpshooter Cormac Ryan ran out of eligibility, while forward Harrison Ingram entered the NBA Draft.

The good news is that UNC brings back its backcourt duo of RJ Davis and Elliot Cadeau. Davis was the ACC Player of the Year after averaging 21.2 ppg while Cadeau had a strong freshman campaign, producing 7.3 ppg and 4.1 apg. They didn’t get hit too hard via the portal as Seth Trimble originally entered but decided to come back. Jalen Washington, Jae’lyn Withers, and Zayden High are back in the frontcourt.

While North Carolina hasn’t added a transfer yet, they do have a pair of five-star guard/wing commits. Ian Jackson and Drake Powell are two of the best perimeter players in the 2024 recruiting class, while James Brown is a top-100 center prospect as well.

With Davis officially returning for a 5th year, the Tar Heels are automatically ACC and national contenders once again. Now, we wait and see who they add to the roster from the portal. Depending on who it is, they might end up being the team in beat in the league come preseason time.