Carolina opens the 2020-21 season against the College of Charleston on Wednesday, November 25, at the Dean E. Smith Center. Tip time is 6 p.m. The Tar Heels return three starters and six other players from last season’s team that went 14-19 overall and 6-14 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
52.1 percent of Carolina’s scoring from a year ago are back, including four Tar Heels who scored 100 or more points – including senior Garrison Brooks (539 points last year), sophomore Armando Bacot (308), junior Leaky Black (208) and senior Andrew Platek (121).
The November 25 opener is the latest season opener since UNC beat Texas in Chapel Hill on Nov. 26, 1994. Carolina is 98-12 in opening games, including 16-1 under head coach Roy Williams.
UNC vs College of Charleston:
- Carolina is 4-3 against the College of Charleston, including 2-0 in the Smith Center.
- Roy Williams is 2-1 against the College of Charleston, all while head coach of the Tar Heels.
- UNC defeated the Cougars, 74-69, in the last meeting on Nov. 28, 2010, in Chapel Hill. John Henson had 19 points as the only Tar Heel to score in double figures. Harrison Barnes scored nine and Tyler Zeller added eight points and 10 rebounds. Andrew Goudelock scored a game-high 28 for the College of Charleston.
AP Poll:
- Carolina is ranked No. 16 in the preseason Associated Press poll.
- Last season, UNC was ranked ninth in the preseason poll and remained in the next five weeks before falling out of the poll for the first time since midway through 2013-14.
- This is the 15th consecutive season in which UNC is ranked in the top 25 in the preseason poll. The Tar Heels have appeared in the preseason AP rankings in 50 of the last 55 seasons since 1966.
- The preseason ranking marked the 924th time Carolina was ranked in an AP poll, which is more than any other school in college basketball history (Kentucky is second with 919).
- The preseason ranking marked the 514th time in 600 polls a Roy Williams team was ranked in the AP top 25. It was the 271st time in the poll as UNC’s head coach.
Preseason Awards:
- Senior forward Garrison Brooks and freshman guard Caleb Love are two of 50 players on the Naismith Trophy’s preseason list (National Player of the Year). Brooks is also on the preseason list for the NABC Player of the Year award.
- Brooks was selected by the media as the ACC’s Preseason Player of the Year. He was the ACC’s Most Improved Player and earned second-team All-ACC honors in 2019-20.
How to Watch:
TV: ACC Network (Jay Alter, Malcolm Huckaby)
RADIO: Tar Heel Sports Properties (Jones Angell, EricmMontross)
SATELLITE RADIO: Sirius XM 81
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