Courtesy of North Carolina Sports InformationOld Gold and Black Reporter
Courtesy of North Carolina Sports Information
Calabria will provide veteran leadership for UNC.
Imagine a basketball season in which the North Carolina Tar Heels finish in the second tier of the ACC standings for the first time since 1964.
Then imagine a season in which the Heels win their 23rd regular season ACC title.
Either one could happen this season, as the loss of two eventual NBA lottery picks and the arrival of an exciting freshman class should make this year's UNC squad a fascinating study.
Last year, the Tar Heels finished with a 28-6 record, 12-4 in the ACC, good enough for a share of a four-way tie for first place in the conference. Head Coach Dean Smith then guided his team to the ACC final, and then to the national semifinals, where they lost to Arkansas.
This year's squad, on a quest for the school's 22nd consecutive NCAA Tournament berth, will have an entirely new look. Gone are Jerry Stackhouse and his 20.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Gone, too, is classmate Rasheed Wallace, who averaged 16.6 points and a league-leading .654 field-goal percentage. Both chose to leave Chapel Hill after their sophomore years, with their sights on NBA millions. Smith also lost starting guard Donald Williams to graduation.
Obviously, the Heels will miss the statistics and athleticism of Stackhouse and Wallace. Perhaps more importantly, their departures leave UNC without a proven, sure-to-be-a-lottery pick superstar that is always present on the Heels' roster.
This year, the closest thing the Tar Heels have to a known superstar is junior point guard Jeff McInnis. McInnis is the team's leading returning scorer, averaging 12.4 points per game last season, and was a third-team All-ACC pick a year ago. He led the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio, at 2.5 to 1.
The other returning starter is senior Dante Calabria. A 6-4 small forward, Calabria led the Heels with a .496 percentage from three-point land.
Other than McInnis and Calabria, the remaining returnees may not strike fear in the hearts of ACC opponents. Junior Serge Zwikker, 7-2, is a potential threat at center, but he's no Wallace. Sophomore Shammond Williams and junior Ed Geth averaged a mere 4.6 minutes each last year.
Therefore, Smith finds himself in an unfamiliar position this year. He will be forced to play his freshmen, and, in fact, he will need to rely quite heavily on them. Fortunately for Smith, this year's recruiting class seems ready for the challenge.
Vince Carter, a 6-6 prep All-American from Ormond Beach, Fla., is considered one of the nation's top-five freshmen. He should start and contribute major minutes at either guard or small forward. Also joining the Heels is 6-8 Antawn Jamison, the North Carolina high school Player of the Year. He should step in immediately at power forward.
The season is up in the air for the proud Carolina Blue. The freshmen must demonstrate that they can step in and compete at the ACC level. Zwikker must use his size to his advantage in the pivot, and McInnis and Calabria must lead the team and take their games to new heights. If so, this squad could go places. If not, the die-hard Carolina hoops fans may have to endure a subpar season and a quick exit from the Big Dance.
The Tar Heels open their campaign Monday at the Maui Invitational. Smith's bunch can also expect tough challenges from non-conference opponents Georgia (Dec. 7 at home) and Villanova (Jan. 20 in Philadelphia, Pa.).