North Carolina Basketball: Projected roster breakdown for 2024-25 season

Bouncing back from a disappointing season in 2022-23, the Tar Heels won the program's first outright ACC regular season title since 2017 and did so on the back of ACC Player of The Year RJ Davis dominating opposing defenses all season.

2024-25 will have a different feel with the Tar Heels losing star big man Armando Bacot and valuable transfer pieces Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan. A successful transfer portal haul and a top-10 recruiting class bring yet another talented roster for head coach Hubert Davis. Carolina will look to its guards for experience as they return one of the best duos in the conference in Davis and Elliot Cadeau. Here is a look at the rest of the projected roster.

Players Leaving

Guards: Cormac Ryan (11.5 PPG), Paxson Wojcik (1.6 PPG)

Forwards: Armando Bacot (14.5 PPG), Harrison Ingram (12.2 PPG), James Okonkwo (1.0 PPG)

Returners

Guards:

RJ Davis (21.2 PTS, 3.6 REB, 3.5 AST)

Elliot Cadeau (7.3 PPG, 2.2 REB, 4.1 AST)

Seth Trimble (5.2 PTS, 2.1 REB, 0.9 AST)

Forwards:

Jalen Washington (3.9 PPG, 2.6 REB, 0.2 AST)

Jae'Lyn Withers (4.2 PPG, 3.6 REB, 0.6 AST)

Zayden High (0.8 PTS, 1.1 REB, 0.1 AST)

Davis remains the clear alpha among this group of returners but this team has questions needing to be answered with the amount of offensive production leaving the program. It will be intriguing to watch If Cadeau can step into more of a scorers role in his sophomore campaign to provide a real 1-2 punch in the backcourt.

Jalen Washington and Jae'Lyn Withers each showed a capability to produce off the bench throughout the year, Both could potentially see more significant minutes with the loss of Bacot and his size up front. How Carolina replaces the production of its top two rebounders from last season could be crucial in determining whether this team exceeds or falls short of expectation.

Additions

G Cade Tyson (16.2 PTS, 5.9 REB, 1.6 AST) Transfer from Belmont

F Ven-Allen Lubin (12.3 PTS, 6.3 REB, 0.5 AST) Transfer from Vanderbilt

G Ian Jackson: The 5-star from the Bronx enters Chapel Hill as the 8th-ranked overall recruit (4th SG) according to 247 Sports.

G Drake Powell: A 6'6 5-star recruit from Pittsboro, NC. Powell is ranked as the 11th overall recruit in this class. His mix of length and athleticism adds another explosive piece to the Carolina roster.

F James Brown: At 6'9 Brown is the 113th ranked overall player in this incoming class out of Branson, MO.

G Elijah Davis: (2.6 PTS) Walk-On Transfer from Division III University of Lynchburg

The addition of Tyson to Carolina's offense alongside the playmaking abilities of Davis and Cadeau sets up to be a nightmare for the rest of the ACC. At 6'7, he has shown a great ability to score in the middle and has been steady from long-range throughout his time at Belmont. A career 44.6% from three, Tyson should help mitigate the loss of Cormac Ryan's shooting and Harrison Ingram's size and rebounding contributions.

Ven-Allen Lubin brings a versatile game with his ability to score down low and guard different positions all over the court. Providing a pick and roll partner for the team's plethora of guards, Lubin is solid in the middle of the paint at making short jump shots and getting himself to the rim off the dribble in addition to diving as a cutter. Defensively, he is quick enough to work out on the perimeter on switches and stay with smaller players driving to the hoop. Lubin is also no stranger to the ACC after initially starting his career at Notre Dame two seasons ago.

The expectations will be high for the Tar Heels once again to compete for an ACC title and make another deep run come March. The non-conference schedule is loaded with big games against Kansas and Alabama in addition to a trip to the always competitive Maui Invitational in late November. We will find out a ton about this team before conference play begins with a handful of other teams gunning to win the league.

Next week, I will preview the Duke roster and its highly touted incoming recruiting class.