North Carolina Tar Heels
2016-17 record: 33-7, 14-4 in the ACC
Head coach: Roy Williams
Career coaching record: 816-216
Tenure at North Carolina: 15th season
Home court: Dean E. Smith Center
Starters: G Joel Berry II, G Theo Pinson, G Cameron Johnson, F Luke Maye, F Garrison Brooks
Bench: G Jalek Felton, G Seventh Woods, G Brandon Robinson, F Brandon Huffman
Overview: A year after winning their sixth national championship and weeks after avoiding any punishment following the NCAA's lengthy investigation into academic fraud, the Tar Heels have the talent and experience to be playing in April for the third straight year—as long as they can stay away from video game controllers.
Second-team All-ACC point guard Joel Berry II will miss the first couple weeks of the season after he broke a bone in his hand punching a wall when he lost a video game to teammate Theo Pinson, but he will return as the most proven ball handler in the ACC. With Berry flanked by Theo Pinson and Cameron Johnson—a graduate transfer from Pittsburgh who earned immediate eligibility after a highly-publicized battle with his former school during the summer—North Carolina's backcourt will be as good as any in the nation.
While Berry is sidelined, the Tar Heels will also get a chance to see five-star freshman Jalek Felton—the nephew of former North Carolina point guard Raymond Felton—in action for extended stretches. Berry and Felton could make this group a more prototypical Roy Williams team that runs up and down the court and beats teams with elite point guard play.
The Tar Heels will not be the same dangerous rebounding team they were last year after Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks graduated and Tony Bradley jumped to the NBA, putting pressure on junior Luke Maye and freshmen Garrison Brooks and Brandon Huffman to pick up the slack in the post.
One thing that needs to go right: North Carolina integrates Johnson and Felton seamlessly into its backcourt and outruns the rest of the conference, playing deep into the ACC and NCAA tournaments for the third season in a row.
One thing that could go wrong: Maye struggles with consistency in his first season as a regular starter, and the Tar Heels can't clean up most of their misses on the offensive glass like they did when Meeks and Hicks roamed the paint.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.