11/5/2020 basketball Edit

Carolina Should Return To Form On The Glass This Winter

With Garrison Brooks and Armando Bacot back along with some incoming freshmen bigs, UNC should return to its usual rebounding form . (Jenna Miller, THI)

Jacob Turner

Tar Heel Illustrated

CHAPEL HILL - He’s said it hundreds of times over the course of his Hall of Fame career, but rebounding is the most important stat in basketball for North Carolina Coach Roy Williams.

Williams’ UNC teams have almost always been some of the top rebounding clubs in the country in his 17 years in Chapel Hill. Even last season, where Williams posted his worst record as a head coach at 14-19, the Tar Heels still finished with a plus-seven rebounding margin, which ranked No. 10 nationally.

Not bad for a team with a losing record, but make no mistakes about it, it still wasn’t good enough for Williams or his players.

“I think we've kind of fallen off our rebounding train, I guess the past year, and that was a big reason why we weren't as successful,” senior guard Andrew Platek said.

Williams also didn’t have the abundance of talent, especially down low, that have typically marked his rosters. Garrison Brooks had an All-ACC campaign and Armando Bacot finished with the most rebounds by a UNC freshman since Antawn Jamison 24 years earlier, but they were really the only reliable big-man options for Williams.

Day'Ron Sharpe is expected to bolster UNC's efforts on the backboards this season. (Jacob Turner, THI)

Now, Williams has an abundance of capable players down low. Brooks and Bacot return, while freshmen Day’Ron Sharpe and Walker Kessler come in as some of the top-rated bigs in the 2020 class. Having a plethora quality interior players gives Williams confidence his team will be better on the glass, especially when you add junior guard Leaky Black, who finished third on the team in rebounding last season, to the mix.

“I think we'll rebound the basketball this year like North Carolina teams usually rebound the basketball,” Williams said.

Before last season, UNC ranked in the top three in total rebounding for three seasons running, finishing first in the country during the 2016-2017 season, a year in which Williams also won his third national title.

In fact, since taking the UNC job back in 2003, Williams’ teams have finished in the top 10 in total rebounding 11 times and even finished No. 1 in two of those seasons. That stat alone illustrates just how important dominating the boards is for a Carolina team and is something Williams expects his freshmen bigs to contribute to immediately.

Garrison Brooks will have a lot more help on the glass this season. (Jenna Miller, THI)

One positive for Williams is he’s already noticing just how good Kessler and Sharpe are, particularly around the basket.

“I think that one of the things the freshmen are bringing us are two things: One, the big guys can get to the boards and rebound a ball and defend around the rim and score,” Williams said.

Sharpe, who comes in as the highest-rated member of the six-man freshman class, is garnering some big-time praise from his teammates, with Platek in particular gushing over the North Carolina native.

"Day’Ron’s one of the best offensive rebounding bigs I've seen in my time here, and that's with all the good bigs we’ve had like Garrison and Luke (Maye)," Platek said. "He just has a knack for the ball.”

A woeful season firmly in the rearview and youthful reinforcements ready to make an immediate impact, this UNC team looks poised to return to dominating the boards like Williams’ teams have done so often in the past.