HOUSTON – What if James Michael McAdoo stayed for his senior season at North Carolina, how could that have affected the current team’s quest for a national championship?

Nobody can say for sure, but it isn’t a stretch to suggest that had he come back for his final season, Carolina might not be playing for a national championship Monday night.

McAdoo, had he returned, likely would have posted solid numbers and helped the Tar Heels win a lot of games, and perhaps they even would have advanced to the Sweet 16 like they actually did without him. He averaged 14.2 points and 6.8 rebounds as a junior, so the numbers likely would at least been similar as a senior.

But how would that have affected Brice Johnson’s development? Would he be the player he’s become – first-team All-America, NCAA East Region MOP – with just one season to essentially be the man in the paint?

As a sophomore, which was McAdoo’s junior and final campaign, Johnson averaged 10.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest. But he did so playing just 19.4 minutes per game. Perhaps he would have played a bit more as a junior, but he likely wouldn’t have become Carolina’s go-to guy in its half-court offense and most dominant post player, as he was over the final 10 weeks of the 2015 season.

Johnson confirmed himself as that guy with a mid-January performance in a win at Wake Forest, and from that point on, his game exploded. He connected the last two months of last season to this year, hence we now see a player further etching his name into Tar Heels lore each time he steps onto the floor.

It’s impossible to quantify, but there’s no doubting that McAdoo leaving has aided the current edition of the tar Heels in their quest for a national championship.

“Well, it gave him game experience, more time and longer time on the court,” UN C associate head coach Steve Robinson said this weekend at NRG Stadium, site of Monday’s national title game pitting the Heels and Villanova.

“So, I think it helped him grow as a player to get into game situations. And, of course, his learning curve will be greater because of the opportunity.”

The most important aspect of Johnson’s growth has been the mistakes he’s made along the way and how he has eventually learned from them. Many came last season, as the 6-10 native of Orangeburg SC, worked through the myriad of emotional and performance swings.

Johnson internalized his discontent when things didn’t go well, often allowing the residue to linger as the Tar Heels went from possession to possession before he let it go and moved on. Remember when so much was made of “Brice versus Johnathan” and the internal struggle for Johnson that came with it. He had to learn to channel his on-court anger outward from inward to outward, but in a constructive manner.

Fast forward to the postseason of 2016 and #AngryBrice has been trending for a while. One can submit that without the platform to fully develop as he has, Johnson wouldn’t be the player he is today and the Tar Heels wouldn’t have ridden him to the Final Four.

“I had a longer leash of making mistakes,” Johnson said Sunday. “If he was here, I might have had a shorter leash for making mistakes. If I made a mistake, coach (Williams) would probably take me out quicker than anybody else and put James Michael right back in.”

Then there were some of the skills-related issues that more than likely would have been refined by now: Straightening out his fade-away jumpers; his court vision and passing; and his defensive instincts.

But Johnson’s growth into perhaps the best player in this NCAA Tournament and someone who will leave a legacy of long-term significance at UNC has been more about upstairs as he’s morphed into a ferociously tough-minded hoopster intent on owning every spot on the floor he occupies at all times.

This isn’t to denigrate McAdoo in any way, as he has fared well on his own since leaving, including winning a world championship ring last summer with the Golden State Warriors. But one can make the case that had he returned, much of the developing Johnson (17.1 points, 10.5 rebounds) did a year ago would have had to wait until this season, and thus his track would have been off.

Johnson agrees, saying the other most beneficial factor for him personally in McAdoo not returning is the result of the experience and education he received.

“It’s just a confidence thing,” Johnson said. “It’s just knowing, especially with the mistakes, just going out there and playing and being able to relax, and if I relaxed I played through it.”

Now Johnson is playing through opponents in the NCAA Tournament, leading the Tar Heels to Monday’s title game versus Villanova. And who knows, if not for McAdoo’s decision, Johnson and the Heels might not be here.