Carolina's Quest For A National Title Begins Monday

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina might be six weeks from taking the floor in a real basketball game, but the Tar Heels’ quest for a national championship begins in earnest Monday.

UNC formally opens practice looking to get a form of redemption on last season, in which it turned a wobbly season into a memorable one by reaching the national championship game, falling shot to Kansas by three points.

Carolina finished 29-10, but the team the players think they were at the end of the season, which included pounding Duke in its final home game for legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski, and again in the Final Four, is the literal starting point for this year’s squad.

The Tar Heels have made no bones about it, the mission is a national title. Anything else is a bust.

“We’re really dialed into what to expect this year and what we want, and that’s to win the national championship,” junior point guard RJ Davis recently said. “We’ve been working hard non-stop… whether it’s individually or as a team.

“We’re close as a team so far, so it’s been great. The chemistry’s there, so we’re only going to move forward as well.”

UNC returns four starters from last year’s club, and replaced Brady Manek with Northwestern transfer Pete Nance, who has drawn rave reviews from his new teammates. At 6-foot-10, Nance was honorable mention All-Big Ten this last season, and will fill two needs.

One, he is strong and can defend the post, so backing up Armando Bacot will be a natural move for him. He started every game last season at the center spot for Northwestern. Plus, in averaging 14.6 points per game, Nance converted 45.2 percent of his 93 three-point attempts. So, the other is as a stretch four, a spot UNC Coach Hubert Davis prefers having among his alignment.

Yet, even had the Tar Heels not added Nance, Davis would have been comfortable moving forward with a lofty mandate.

“The thing that I like about our team right now is there is a hunger and a thirst and a desire,” Davis said in a summer press conference. “And it’s coming from the returning players from what they experienced last year, and then the newness of the freshmen that are really excited. And so, combining that together I think we’re in a good spot.”

Bacot returns after breaking the UNC single-season record for rebounds by 95 and also averaging 16.3 points earning first-team All-ACC honors. Caleb Love is back for his junior season after averaging 15.9 points and registering his two scoring highs in NCAA Tournament wins over UCLA in the Sweet 16 and Duke in the national semifinals.

RJ Davis returns as the primary point guard after averaging 13.5 points per game and 3.6 assists. He also averaged 4.3 rebounds, and grabbed 19 in the two games in New Orleans. In fact, Davis’ career highs in points (30), assists (12) and rebounds (12) each occurred in different NCAA Tournament games.

Leaky Black is back for a fifth season as a defensive stopper and admittedly hoping to add more to the stat sheet offensively. Last season, he averaged 4.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

Puff Johnson, who played well in the postseason, Justin McKoy and Dontrez Styles return to a club that added three true freshmen: highly touted guard Seth Trimble, highly ranked (before his injury in high school) forward Jalen Washington, and all-time Virginia prep scoring leader Tyler Nickel.

Add Nance and the Heels are loaded to make a run, with Nance being a key, Black says. Before fitting in on the court, he had to fit in off it. Consider that box checked.

“Great guy, great guy,” Black said. “He kind of reminds you of (former Tar Heel) Luke (Maye),” Black said. “My first time talking to him, I kind of wanted to say, ‘Yes, sir,’ to him. He has that professional – I’m not sure what it is, he’s just so mature and he’s a great player, man. Hell of a player.”

And Black and the Heels plan on being a heck of a team, one that cuts down the nets in Houston. That quest begins Monday.