Hubert Davis’ time with the North Carolina Tar Heels has been full of ups and downs. He was an assistant coach at his alma mater since 2012 and was promoted to head coach in 2021. With RJ Davis in the squad, he took the Tar Heels to their 21st Final Four appearance in his first year.
The following year, Seth Trimble joined the team, and they had a decent run, going 29-8 in 2023-24. Last season was a total disaster by the Tar Heels’ standard. They were kicked off in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Ole Miss.
As per analyst Jon Rothstein, the Tar Heels had a guard-heavy roster until now. But with the exit of Davis and Trimble, who later rejoined the team in April this year, and the addition of new talent, they will have a different set of strengths.
“North Carolina, and I said this on a recent show, is the polar opposite of what it was last year,” Rothstein said. “Last year North Carolina was guard heavy team…Now, it’s all about the front court…That’s the core of what you’re going to see, in my opinion, for North Carolina.” (13:00)
Rothstein said that players like Jarin Stevenson, five-star freshman Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar, and Luka Bogavac will provide the front-court strength, and it’ll be a totally different showcase this season. He believes that Trimble will have a great run with the Tar Heels upon his return.
“Seth Trimble, I expect to be an All-ACC first team caliber player. And Kyan Evans from Colorado State is the anticipated starter at point guard. A player, even though he’s a transfer from Colorado State in Mountain West School, was very, very good for the Rams last year,” he added.
Analyst compared Hubert Davis’ team’s makeover with Virginia
College basketball analyst Randolph Childress, on The Field Of 68: After Dark, said that he is expecting the North Carolina Tar Heels to finish in the top four of the ACC regular season.
The Tar Heels have signed some good players, even added some international talent to the roster, so it’s the least one could expect from them.
“I think that’s good enough to say, okay, not great, but it’s good enough. It’s not great,” Childress said. “No one is looking at this roster saying this is like Duke a year ago, like this is National Championship roster. This is a complete makeover. Like all of this is put ‘They’re like everyone else. We had to revamp it.’ They’re like Virginia.” (18:51)
Childress commended Tar Heels’ efforts in the revamp and acknowledged that they’ve done a great job. However, it’s still far from being a strong championship contender.
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