With North Carolina formally beginning practice on Oct. 14, THI is taking a deep look at the four main returning Tar Heels. We've run Garrison Brooks and Andrew Platek in recent days, and today we look at junior Leaky Black.

Looking back, it’s fair suggesting nobody saw the real Leaky Black last season.

From late September on, he was pretty much battling one ailment or another, with turf toe affecting him for nearly the entire season. Ever try to play basketball with turf toe?

Black struggled with it, too, but he also persevered and never made any excuses. Strength is often built through adversity, and if there’s anything tangible Black can take from last season into his junior campaign is the knowledge he can now deal with anything in the realm of basketball.

Add the losses in a 14-19 season and Black ought to carry a steel coat tucked underneath his North Carolina jersey for the remainder of his UNC career.

That said, to get a better understanding of how Black can better help the Tar Heels win games this season, one must go back and look at what went well and didn’t go so right and how that may apply moving forward.