College Basketball season is just a few weeks away and the anticipation is building as ACC Media day is now complete. The Tar Heels, fresh off of getting to the national championship game but falling short of winning the championship, come into the season as the preseason favorites to cut down the nets in Houston. With H Town on their mind here are the key takeaways from Media Day for the Heels.
More Depth:
Coach Hubert Davis said the “Iron 5” moniker that his core group of players were dubbed during their NCAA Tournament run is not sustainable and they will need more depth this season. When asked which players stood out coming into the season outside of the core group of players who returned this is what coach Davis said.
“I love the growth of Dontrez Styles and D’Marco Dunn; and then you bring in freshmen Tyler Nickel, Seth Trimble, Jalen Washington and Will Shaver. I love their determination, their growth, and their ability out there on the floor. Then you talk about Pete Nance, a transfer from Northwestern who has had an unbelievable career in the Big Ten, but he’s never been to the NCAA Tournament. So, there’s a hunger and thirst coming from all different types of directions that’s going to allow us to have depth.”
2017 Redemption Repeat?
RJ Davis stated the team has talked about it and are coming into the season with a championship or bust mentality. They know they have a target on their backs
Caleb Love: “Yeah, we talked about it. Just to piggy-back off what he said, we kind of want to write our own story. This is a new team. This is a new age.” Love also stated that the team must have a mindset of staying hunters and not being the team that is being hunted.
Best Backcourt?
“I love playing with Caleb,” RJ Davis said. “Just seeing how far we have come from freshmen year to now, it’s been great. The way we compliment each other well on the court, I think it’s kind of unstoppable.”
No More Jordan 11s:
Much was noted about how Caleb Love switched shoes at halftime of the UCLA game in the Sweet Sixteen. Love rocked the Jordan 11’s and continued to wear them throughout the tournament. Love stated that he can’t wear the 11s anymore, but he has something up his sleeve. Whatever Caleb decides to rock, he should be set up for a very successful junior year.
The Tar Heels’ season officially kicks off November 7th against UNC-Wilmington. Will this be another story of redemption for UNC? They have the confidence and the talent to get to Houston. We will see how it unfolds.