Previewing Tennessee's ACC-SEC Challenge Matchup: UNC
It's a new age in non-conference college basketball as we wish goodbye to the Big 10-ACC challenge and the Big 12-SEC challenge. Instead, we will get the first edition of the ACC-SEC challenge this season. Today, the matchups were announced, and Tennessee will be heading to Chapel Hill to meet last season's preseason number 1 team in North Carolina.
There are many things you can call last season's North Carolina team. After all, they were maybe the biggest disappointment in college basketball history. However, there are reasons to believe the Tar Heels flip the script and have, at the very least, a mild bounce-back season. Their roster changes made a ton of sense based on what they struggled with last season. The first thing UNC needed to go out and address was shooting. The Tar Heels finished last season 322nd in 3-point percentage, and that was because of poor shooting and shot selection. Two grad transfers in Cormac Ryan and Paxson Wojcik will help improve the Tar Heel's floor spacing and allow R.J. Davis to be much more effective.
North Carolina F Armando Bacot with North Carolina HC Hubert Davis
Two other newcomers that will be interesting to watch for UNC are Stanford Transfer Harrison Ingram and re-class freshman Elliott Cadeau. We'll start with Ingram, who was a former big-time recruit. At 6'7, Ingram brings a fairly unique skill set as a point forward. While also being a good rebounder, Ingram does a good job at setting up his teammates and getting downhill. UNC could use him in a Jalen Wilson-type role with usage numbers obviously lower than Wilson's. On the other hand, Elliott Cadeau should be the starting point guard for this team to open the season. Cadeau is my number one freshman and can play an important role instantly at the college level. The former Link Academy player has an extremely high basketball IQ and does a tremendous job at making the right play. Cadeau posted some ridiculous numbers in the spring at EYBL, and in a weak freshman class, I think he might be the best player in the 2023 class, even moving up a class.
Finally, Armando Bacot will return for a final season at UNC. At the end of last season, Bacot voiced that he couldn't end his college career the way UNC went down and, as a result, will have many preseason conference awards. Jonas Aidoo should take a step forward offensively this year and is already fantastic defensively, so he vs. Bacot should be the matchup to watch out for. The bottom line is that this UNC team will look different. I expect them to play more as a collective unit instead of guys just taking turns shooting the ball. I also expect Hubert Davis to have more of a go-to offense. There's no doubt this Tar Heel team has a ton of upside and is a major test for the Vols in their non-conference slate.
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