Published Jul 16, 2023
Numbers Comparison: What Left & What Came In
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Andrew Jones  •  TarHeelIllustrated
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North Carolina’s basketball program has never seen the kind of personnel transition that has taken place this offseason before, as the modern wild-west era of college athletics hit the blueblood head on.

Seven Tar Heels with eligibility remaining left the program for other schools, and one signed member of the class of 2023 decided this summer to part ways and find another school as well.

That’s a hefty load, and certainly some quality talent moved on. But did UNC get better through the portal? Might the numbers suggest the Heels did just that, even their only five new players replace the seven that left?

Let’s examine:

Lost From The Portal

2022-23 stats only

*Caleb Love: 33 games (32 starts); 1,179 minutes; 550 points; 122 rebounds; 94 assists; 35 steals; 7 blocks; 80 turnovers; 188-for-497 FGAs; 73-for-244 from three; 101-for-132 FTs.

*Puff Johnson: 27 games (2 starts); 432 minutes; 110 points; 72 rebounds; 10 assists; 16 steals; 1 block; 9 turnovers; 36-for-93 FGAs; 13-for-46 from three; 25-for-38 FTs.

*D’Marco Dunn: 27 games (0 starts); 276 minutes; 74 points; 20 rebounds; 6 assists; 7 steals; 6 blocks; 6 turnovers; 28-for-66 FGAs; 12-for-37 from three; 6-for-10 FTs.

*Tyler Nickel: 25 games (0 starts); 150 minutes; 52 points; 16 rebounds; 7 assists; 3 steals; 3 blocks; 3 turnovers; 15-for-40 FGAs; 6-for-27 from three; 16-for-19 FTs.

*Dontrez Styles: 15 games (0 starts); 89 minutes; 21 points; 14 rebounds; 2 assists; 1 steal; 1 block; 5 turnovers; 7-for-19 FGAs; 4-for-10 from three; 4-for-6 FTs.

*Justin McKoy: 11 games (1 start); 59 minutes; 19 points; 13 rebounds; 1 assist; 0 steals; 4 blocks; 2 turnovers; 6-for-13 FGAs; 2-for-6 from three; 5-for-5 FTs.

*Will Shaver: 3 games (0 starts); 6 minutes; 2 points; 1 rebound; 1 assist; 0 steals; 0 blocks; 0 turnovers; 0-for-1 FGAs; 0-0 from three; 2-for-2 FTs.

*2022-23 combined: 141 games (35 starts); 2,191 minutes; 828 points; 258 rebounds; 121 assists; 62 steals; 22 blocks; 105 turnovers; 252-for-729 FGAs; 110-for-376 from three; 159-for-212 FTs.

*2022-23 per-game averages: 15.53 mpg; 5.87 ppg; 1.83 rpg; .86 apg; .44 spg; .16 bpg; .74 turnovers; 34.6 FG%; 29.3 three-pt%; 75.0 FT%.

*Combined career numbers: 363 games; 5,429 minutes; 2,037 points; 674 rebounds; 410 assists; 155 steals; 50 blocks; 349 turnovers; 690-for-1,860 FGAs (37.1%); 255-for-846 from three (30.1%); 402-for-512 FTs (78.5%).

Gained From The Portal

2022-23 stats only

*Cormac Ryan: 32 games (32 starts); 1,084 minutes; 393 points; 128 rebounds; 79 assists; 41 steals; 13 blocks; 48 turnovers; 134-for-328 FGAs; 63-for-183 from three; 62-for-75 FTs.

*Harrison Ingram: 33 games (32 starts); 920 minutes; 345 points; 191 rebounds; 121 assists; 25 steals; 15 blocks; 75 turnovers; 124-for-304 FGAs; 36-for-113 from three; 61-for-102 FTs.

*Jae’lyn Withers: 32 games (29 starts); 800 minutes; 284 points; 170 rebounds; 25 assists; 22 steals; 13 blocks; 71 turnovers; 97-for-224 FGAs; 40-for-96 from three; 50-for-68 FTs.

*Paxson Wojcik: 27 games (27 starts); 933 minutes; 402 points; 194 rebounds; 87 assists; 35 steals; 1 block; 49 turnovers; 137-for-297 FGAs; 57-for-150 from three; 71-for-103 FTs.

*James Okonkwo: 31 games (0 starts); 340 minutes; 77 points; 100 rebounds; 5 assists; 2 steals; 22 blocks; 1 turnover; 27-for-47 FGAs; 0-for-6 from three; 23-for-38 FTs.

*2022-23 combined: 155 games (120 starts); 4,077 minutes; 1,501 points; 783 rebounds; 317 assists; 125 steals; 64 blocks; 244 turnovers; 519-for-1,200 FGAs; 196-for-548 from three; 267-for-386 FTs.

*2022-23 per-game averages: 9.7 ppg; 5.05 rpg; 2.05 apg; .81 spg; .41 bpg; 1.57 turnovers; 43.3 FG%; 35.8 three-pt%; 69.2 FT%.

*Combined career numbers: 394 games; 8,103 minutes; 3,344 points; 1,777 rebounds; 672 assists; 314 steals; 115 blocks; 564 turnovers; 1,169-for-2,753 FGAs (42.5%); 454-for-1,312 from three (34.6%); 550-for-784 FTs (70.2%).

THI's Take:

UNC has clearly added a great deal of experience to its roster, especially versus what it lost. The production differences are off the charts, especially when removing Caleb Love’s numbers. Nobody else contributed much.

The new group is loaded with players who have been counted on regularly for their teams to compete and win. The upgrade here for Carolina is significant.