Back Down to 10 Scholarship Players

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Until Washington proves he's 100% and shakes off the rust, he's a question mark.

High may be a project.

Do we grab another transfer from the portal? If so, for what position?

As unhappy as I am to see Wilcher leave, I don't think we need to replace Wilcher. We're still loaded in the backcourt. But I do wonder if this might encourage Ian Jackson to reclassify.

If Stevenson wants to commit and reclassify, he fits our needs better.

What do you guys think?

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

The other obvious question prompted by Wilcher's decommit is "who gets his minutes?" Seth? Paxson? Cormac?

 

[Tarheelsman71]

Like said before....hate that he is leaving...but now I am glad he is gone to be honest. Would or could have been another cancer that we dont need. Would love to see WHOEVER shoots it the best getting those minutes. I just want EC and RJ to have reliable shooters on the wing to kick it out to. That kickout pass has killed us over the past 5 years, and would love to return the favor.

 

[DaveChapelle]

Go find an athletic wing that can defend tall small forwards and finish lobs from Cadeau.

 

[NorCalTarheel]

I am so glad I am not a college basketball coach. Hubert is in a pickle. Do you go get a couple of grad transfers and assume that each of the 24 class will continue to honor their "commitment" ? Or... Do you go get a portal guy who might have two or three years left and risk losing some of those 24 guys not coming? Plus, who would want to come here knowing that Jackson Powell and the rest of the 24 class is coming next year to take their starting job or reduce their playing time. Some of us older fans would say let that stuff work itself out in practice, but as we see with Wilcher, kids these days are not willing to take that risk.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I am so glad I am not a college basketball coach. Hubert is in a pickle. Do you go get a couple of grad transfers and assume that each of the 24 class will continue to honor their "commitment" ? Or... Do you go get a portal guy who might have two or three years left and risk losing some of those 24 guys not coming? Plus, who would want to come here knowing that Jackson Powell and the rest of the 24 class is coming next year to take their starting job or reduce their playing time. Some of us older fans would say let that stuff work itself out in practice, but as we see with Wilcher, kids these days are not willing to take that risk.

Who will be eligible to return next year?

Cadeau
RJ
Seth
Ingram
Withers
Washington
High

Did I miss anyone?

Three of those guys may choose to play for pay in the NBA or elsewhere - rather than stick around for NIL. Thinking of Cadeau, RJ and Ingram. If Washington blows up the way some think he could, he could be gone, too. I won't be surprised if 2 of those 4 are gone. Leaving 5.

Plus 3 in the 2024 class = 8 scholarship players for 2024-25.

Hubert has some work to do for 2024-25. Most of it may have to be done in the portal.

 

[DSouthr]

Until Washington proves he's 100% and shakes off the rust, he's a question mark.

High may be a project.

Do we grab another transfer from the portal? If so, for what position?

As unhappy as I am to see Wilcher leave, I don't think we need to replace Wilcher. We're still loaded in the backcourt. But I do wonder if this might encourage Ian Jackson to reclassify.

If Stevenson wants to commit and reclassify, he fits our needs better.

What do you guys think?

First, Cadeau was able to reclass and come to UNC now because he began prepping to reclass his freshman year of high school, Jack did not do that. In order for Jack to have been able to reclass, he literally would have had to jump hard on some online classes and finish those to give him enough credits to graduate. He could have done just that but he would have had to have started those classes about the time this reclass question first came up and that would have forced him to at least limit the summer leagues he has played in if not eliminate them to have the time to jam out the needed class work. Does not appear that has even started, would be to late to start them now, it is June 7th already, no way he would be ready to start fall semester at UNC. That is why everyone is pointing to this kid not reclassing more so than what he may prefer to do today 6/7/2023.

As for bringing in another big to spell Bacot I really wish we could, problem is who can we really bring in that would actually be able to help us, that is also willing to get 5mins or less a game, really, how much PT is going to be available behind Bacot, any of you really believe Hubert will cut Bacot's minutes down to less than 30 or any at all for that matter? Not asking should that happen, asking do you really believe it will because I don't but I do think Hubert should. Would you settle for a Tony Shaver clone why when High is at very least a good bit more than Shaver was and he will be lucky to get 5mins. No doubt Hubert would LOVE to bring in a quality player willing to accept very limited minutes, don't see any way he can bring that off.

Stevenson reclass question... My personal opinion of this kid's game aside, does anyone really believe this kid, even if he already has the class work in to be able to graduate today and I do not know that he doesn't, he still has Withers and Washington and maybe some High to battle for PT. This kid is 6'9" weight in 205lbs and spend most of his time outside around the 3pt arch. But he is not a solid 3pt shooter, believe I saw where he shot 17.5% from 3 and around 65% from the free throw line? Is this the stretch 4 you are looking for, I will take Withers or Washington all day over that. 6'9" & 205 means he is thin, spending all that time around the 3pt arch means he isn't all that hot to work inside the paint leaving me to wonder what is the point of getting excited about bringing him in. Frankly, he isn't going to commit to a school where he is 3rd in the rotation for his position and does not start next season. We just got rid of 2 very weak outside shooters, why would we replace them with an even weaker outside shooter that loves to shoot? I would have been fine with Hicks for example shooting 17% from 3pt land because I know he was just not going to put one up from out there unless it was a desperation shot, that is not the case with Stevenson from what I see, he has a little Caleb love in him I think, the Caleb that was a volume shot taker and a volume shot misser.

 

[dtodd4475]

I have heard that UNC is at least checking in on Arthur Kaluma.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I have heard that UNC is at least checking in on Arthur Kaluma.

As we should. But how would he fit into the lineup?

 

[John_Mexico]

He’s a 6’ 7” 225 lb forward from creighton with career averages (two seasons) of 28 mins, 43% fg and 29% 3pfg.

 

[2DDIMOND]

He’s a 6’ 7” 225 lb forward from creighton with career averages (two seasons) of 28 mins, 43% fg and 29% 3pfg.

But he’s a badass on the boards with a high bball IQ & above average intangibles.

 

[GameBreaker5]

I am so glad I am not a college basketball coach. Hubert is in a pickle. Do you go get a couple of grad transfers and assume that each of the 24 class will continue to honor their "commitment" ? Or... Do you go get a portal guy who might have two or three years left and risk losing some of those 24 guys not coming? Plus, who would want to come here knowing that Jackson Powell and the rest of the 24 class is coming next year to take their starting job or reduce their playing time. Some of us older fans would say let that stuff work itself out in practice, but as we see with Wilcher, kids these days are not willing to take that risk.

I mean it probably still will sort itself out. That’s the transfer portal love or hate it. Could lose everyone on the roster and I’ll guarantee we could get 7-9 transfers and highschool kids to field a decent roster. Just the way it is anymore.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

With guys who pulled out of the draft now available in the portal, I find myself wondering why any of them would come to UNC.

I assume most of them aim to be in the NBA after 1 more year. Why would they come here to play behind Armando or any of our other starters?

If we get someone good enough to start ahead of our current guys at SF or PF, wouldn't that just push someone back into the portal?

I'm happy with the guys we have and am tired of seeing our guys leave. So, sure, add a backup in post if we can find a good fit. But otherwise we're fine.

JMO

 

[adwood81]

Since there seems to be no loyalty of commitment left in the world of college sports, maybe it is time to be more mercenary. If there it talent that is better than what we have on hand, go for it. Loyalty seems to be a quick way to the unemployment line. Seems a shame but that is how i read what is going on for better or worse.

 

[DSouthr]

With guys who pulled out of the draft now available in the portal, I find myself wondering why any of them would come to UNC.

I assume most of them aim to be in the NBA after 1 more year. Why would they come here to play behind Armando or any of our other starters?

If we get someone good enough to start ahead of our current guys at SF or PF, wouldn't that just push someone back into the portal?

I'm happy with the guys we have and am tired of seeing our guys leave. So, sure, add a backup in post if we can find a good fit. But otherwise we're fine.

JMO

Yeah, that is the thing, not like any of us would not love to bring in a guy that can play for Bacot with little drop off but it is hard to imagine that guy exists, a guy that can give us more than the combination of Washington, Withers, and High (guys that would now handle the back up for Bacot minutes) but is willing to take less than 10mins a game.

 

[dtodd4475]

Since there seems to be no loyalty of commitment left in the world of college sports, maybe it is time to be more mercenary. If there it talent that is better than what we have on hand, go for it. Loyalty seems to be a quick way to the unemployment line. Seems a shame but that is how i read what is going on for better or worse.

I thought Hubert was said to basically say that at the end of the year exit interviews. He was going to be shopping for upgrades like everyone else in the portal. Puff, Dunn, Styles got the message.

Dean was honest in his exit interviews as well, letting some know they could stay, but they were moving in a different direction and would help with a good fit transfer destination.

The landscape today has many more players and destinations available for both sides each year, and each are using them.

 

[DSouthr]

Now basically all major programs have to redo their line up and rotations every season, basically everyone now has to do what duke and Ky have done for years and hope you made good decisions on how guys will fit together. Fortunately everyone is now able to play by the rules duke and Ky got to play with for so long, NOW EVERY MAJOR PROGRAM CAN BUY THE TALENT THEY WANT and not worry about the NCAA doing anything about it.

 

[gauchoheel]

With guys who pulled out of the draft now available in the portal, I find myself wondering why any of them would come to UNC.

I assume most of them aim to be in the NBA after 1 more year. Why would they come here to play behind Armando or any of our other starters?

If we get someone good enough to start ahead of our current guys at SF or PF, wouldn't that just push someone back into the portal?

I'm happy with the guys we have and am tired of seeing our guys leave. So, sure, add a backup in post if we can find a good fit. But otherwise we're fine.

JMO

If we want to be a top team we could desperately use a two way wing if one emerges in the portal. Not sure there is one currently, but grad transfers can still enter.

Turning that guy down to protect Withers' PT would be pretty foolish IMO. Let's try to win in Bacot's last year, not build to protect roster depth. Everyone's basically on one year contracts at this point anyway.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

If we want to be a top team we could desperately use a two way wing if one emerges in the portal. Not sure there is one currently, but grad transfers can still enter.

Turning that guy down to protect Withers' PT would be pretty foolish IMO. Let's try to win in Bacot's last year, not build to protect roster depth. Everyone's basically on one year contracts at this point anyway.

Good points, especially the last one.

 

[CarolinaBlue5]

Anybody hearing who we might target? No way we go into next year with only 10 scholarship players..at least I hope to God not

 

[Ozheelfan]

I believe we’ll see at least one walk-on with a one year scholly.

 

[dtodd4475]

I believe we’ll see at least one walk-on with a one year scholly.

They are all one year schollies. Always have been.

 

[Ozheelfan]

They are all one year schollies. Always have been.

Yep, but I think you know what I meant.

 

[TomahawkDunks]

Stevenson reclass question... My personal opinion of this kid's game aside, does anyone really believe this kid, even if he already has the class work in to be able to graduate today and I do not know that he doesn't, he still has Withers and Washington and maybe some High to battle for PT. This kid is 6'9" weight in 205lbs and spend most of his time outside around the 3pt arch. But he is not a solid 3pt shooter, believe I saw where he shot 17.5% from 3 and around 65% from the free throw line? Is this the stretch 4 you are looking for, I will take Withers or Washington all day over that. 6'9" & 205 means he is thin, spending all that time around the 3pt arch means he isn't all that hot to work inside the paint leaving me to wonder what is the point of getting excited about bringing him in. Frankly, he isn't going to commit to a school where he is 3rd in the rotation for his position and does not start next season. We just got rid of 2 very weak outside shooters, why would we replace them with an even weaker outside shooter that loves to shoot? I would have been fine with Hicks for example shooting 17% from 3pt land because I know he was just not going to put one up from out there unless it was a desperation shot, that is not the case with Stevenson from what I see, he has a little Caleb love in him I think, the Caleb that was a volume shot taker and a volume shot misser.

Stevenson's free throw percentage in the EYBL is 74.1% and her three-point percentage is 19.5%.
Part of his low 3-point shooting percentage may be because his team lacks more talented players than their opponents. The team has no Top 150 players aside from Stevenson and Scott.
Other teams have at least 5 Top 150 players playing.
Scott, a 5-star shooter, also has a 26.9% EYBL 3-point shooting percentage.
In fact, his team's team assist record and team FG percentage are among the lowest in the EYBL.
Environmental factors obviously play a big role.

 

[kjcooper]

Surprise that Scott is still rated as a 5 star? Has he committed to any school that anyone knows of, not that we are interested since that ship has sailed?

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Anybody hearing who we might target? No way we go into next year with only 10 scholarship players..at least I hope to God not

I'd be happy with this squad if we could count on everybody being healthy and staying out of foul trouble.

So, yeah, some cushion would be nice. But as we have discussed over and over, how do you get someone who is good enough to come with little or no PT available unless someone gets hurt or in foul trouble?

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I believe we’ll see at least one walk-on with a one year scholly.

Are any of our known walk-ons good enough to add depth at center. Because unless/until we know Washington or High will be good enough, that's our only remaining weak spot.

Then again, we can always go with a 5-guard offense.

 

[2DDIMOND]

I also think Wocjik might be better than we think he is.

 

[CarolinaBlue5]

I personally think we need to add one more 3/4 type player that could be a starter or fringe starter! Then maybe find a grad transfer that doesn’t care about playing 30 minutes a game and add them for depth! With only 10 to 11 scholarship players..we are 2 to 3 injuries away from disaster! With the portal the way it is there is no way you leave 2 or more scholarships open! I can see saving one and giving it to a walk on, but that is it! I’m confident we will probably pick up 1 to 2! If not I think that would be a poor decision by the staff! They know what they’re doing when it comes to recruiting so I’m sure they are figuring it out

 

[TomahawkDunks]

Surprise that Scott is still rated as a 5 star? Has he committed to any school that anyone knows of, not that we are interested since that ship has sailed?

As for the 24 class, I honestly don't know. After summer, there may be another big change.
Scott is likely to make a decision sometime in the fall.

 

[DSouthr]

Stevenson's free throw percentage in the EYBL is 74.1% and her three-point percentage is 19.5%.
Part of his low 3-point shooting percentage may be because his team lacks more talented players than their opponents. The team has no Top 150 players aside from Stevenson and Scott.
Other teams have at least 5 Top 150 players playing.
Scott, a 5-star shooter, also has a 26.9% EYBL 3-point shooting percentage.
In fact, his team's team assist record and team FG percentage are among the lowest in the EYBL.
Environmental factors obviously play a big role.

So, 19.5% from 3 and that will be better in college because...he would not have to play against those tough high school players and would ONLY have to play against much easier full grown men in college?

Maybe he is shooting so poorly from the 3pt line because he is a poor jump shooter that maybe should not spend the majority of his court time up around the 3pt arch? What do ya think...

 

[DSouthr]

Stevenson's free throw percentage in the EYBL is 74.1% and her three-point percentage is 19.5%.
Part of his low 3-point shooting percentage may be because his team lacks more talented players than their opponents. The team has no Top 150 players aside from Stevenson and Scott.
Other teams have at least 5 Top 150 players playing.
Scott, a 5-star shooter, also has a 26.9% EYBL 3-point shooting percentage.
In fact, his team's team assist record and team FG percentage are among the lowest in the EYBL.
Environmental factors obviously play a big role.

Actually, I did confuse Stevenson's numbers with those of Caleb Wilson, who I am as well not sold on so cool, I will go with your correction of Stevenson's 3pt shooting % as 19.5%, well gosh, that just changes everything... Then again maybe it changes nothing? LOL

 

[alabamaheel]

So, 19.5% from 3 and that will be better in college because...he would not have to play against those tough high school players and would ONLY have to play against much easier full grown men in college?

Maybe he is shooting so poorly from the 3pt line because he is a poor jump shooter that maybe should not spend the majority of his court time up around the 3pt arch? What do ya think...

I think he meant that there was no other players that had to be focused on as much, which does make a difference imo. If one team is loaded and the other isn’t, then guys can double more or even rotate players on defense and dog one certain player on the opposing team

 

[TomahawkDunks]

So, 19.5% from 3 and that will be better in college because...he would not have to play against those tough high school players and would ONLY have to play against much easier full grown men in college?

Maybe he is shooting so poorly from the 3pt line because he is a poor jump shooter that maybe should not spend the majority of his court time up around the 3pt arch? What do ya think...

LaMelo Ball had a 25% 3-point shooting percentage in Australia. He went to the NBA in a matter of months and had a 3-point shooting percentage of over 35%. Then, are the players in the Australian league better than the NBA in terms of skills? (Of course, this example may not be correct.)
So let's give another example. Evans improved his 3-point shooting percentage by 10% after moving from TSF, a weak team, to CP3, which has at least four top 150 players. Increased from 20% to 30%.
If Stevenson had played alongside a big-time point guard like Cadeau in the EYBL, we might give him a different rating.
I'm not saying Stevenson would do well if he reclassified.
In the meantime, I would like to say that Stevenson cannot ignore the environmental factors because he has been evaluated as a good shooter.
FYI, I'm in a position that I don't want Stevenson to reclassify. Because he still has a lot to improve on and he's not sure if he's ready to play on the college stage.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

LaMelo Ball had a 25% 3-point shooting percentage in Australia. He went to the NBA in a matter of months and had a 3-point shooting percentage of over 35%. Then, are the players in the Australian league better than the NBA in terms of skills? (Of course, this example may not be correct.)
So let's give another example. Evans improved his 3-point shooting percentage by 10% after moving from TSF, a weak team, to CP3, which has at least four top 150 players. Increased from 20% to 30%.
If Stevenson had played alongside a big-time point guard like Cadeau in the EYBL, we might give him a different rating.
I'm not saying Stevenson would do well if he reclassified.
In the meantime, I would like to say that Stevenson cannot ignore the environmental factors because he has been evaluated as a good shooter.
FYI, I'm in a position that I don't want Stevenson to reclassify. Because he still has a lot to improve on and he's not sure if he's ready to play on the college stage.

Would Stevenson be expected to start as a freshman if he does not reclassify?

Would he be better prepared next year staying in HS for a year and playing a lot of minutes against HS players, or better prepared playing few minutes against college players here for a year?

 

[NorCalTarheel]

Would Stevenson be expected to start as a freshman if he does not reclassify?

Would he be better prepared next year staying in HS for a year and playing a lot of minutes against HS players, or better prepared playing few minutes against college players here for a year?

The only problem for Stevenson is that Ingram, Withers, Washington, and even High are all guys he would compete against for playing time, whenever he gets here, and will all be here next year.

 

[TomahawkDunks]

Would Stevenson be expected to start as a freshman if he does not reclassify?

This is the part about potential. The future is unknown, but if he doesn't reclassify and can improve his ball handling, shooting and physique, he could be one of the best players on the team next year.

Would he be better prepared next year staying in HS for a year and playing a lot of minutes against HS players, or better prepared playing few minutes against college players here for a year?

There is no right answer as each person is different. It is good to experience the college stage first and learn and grow while competing with teammates, but there is a possibility that you may not grow because the psychological part that each player feels about the playing time is different.

 

[DaveChapelle]

The only problem for Stevenson is that Ingram, Withers, Washington, and even High are all guys he would compete against for playing time, whenever he gets here, and will all be here next year.

Washington is a center. He does not have the lateral mobility to defend the modern stretch 4 and chase players around the perimeter. High appears to be developing into a center as well.

As for Ingram, initially I thought he'd spend most of his time playing the 4. Then Dunn and Wilcher quit. Now our perimeter depth chart is thinning out. Ryan and Wojcik aren't going to be good defensive matchups against tall wings. So Ingram probably has to play and defend those taller SFs.

So the path to playing time for Stevenson really isn't as challenging as it once seemed.

 

[NorCalTarheel]

Washington is a center. He does not have the lateral mobility to defend the modern stretch 4 and chase players around the perimeter. High appears to be developing into a center as well.

As for Ingram, initially I thought he'd spend most of his time playing the 4. Then Dunn and Wilcher quit. Now our perimeter depth chart is thinning out. Ryan and Wojcik aren't going to be good defensive matchups against tall wings. So Ingram probably has to play and defend those taller SFs.

So the path to playing time for Stevenson really isn't as challenging as it once seemed.

I agree with your assessment of Washington last year. I will reserve my judgment on him and his abilities until I see him this year. I think all of the other guys I listed are still going to compete for minutes to some degree at the 4.

As for Stevenson. I believe it to be a moot point. I think if he were coming to UNC, he would have been here by now. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Tom79]

I like Stevenson and hope he becomes a Heel when he is ready. Meantime I hope Washington can get some work because, IMO, he can become very good for us.