UNC basketball faces size hurdles under Hubert Davis as team misses top-tier title contender status 

The North Carolina Tar Heels ended their 2024 season after a Sweet 16 loss to Alabama. UNC led the ACC during the regular season with a powerful starting five. However, RJ Davis and Elliot Cadeau are the only remaining core players on the team.

Harrison Ingram has declared for the 2024 NBA draft while Cormac Ryan, Armando Bacot and Paxson Wojcik all exhausted their college eligibility. Coach Hubert Davis has since added Cade Tyson and Ven-Allen Lubin from the transfer portal along with three incoming freshmen.

Despite this, 247Sports' Isaac Trotter believes that the Tar Heels are not serious contenders for the national championship next season. In his latest report, Trotter explained:

"UNC's lack of positional size is jarring, but RJ Davis is single-handedly capable of being the best player on the floor at all times. When he's humming, Davis is unguardable."

While Tyson and Lubin are 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-8, respectively, the rest of the UNC roster are either of average height or slightly below average. Davis and Cadeau, UNC's biggest hopes for next season, are both around 6-foot.

Trotter placed the UNC Tar Heels in Tier II along with Iowa State, Tennessee, Baylor and Arizona. His top contenders for the title are North Carolina's arch-rival Duke, along with Alabama, Kansas, UConn, Auburn, Gonzaga and Houston.

Freshman Ian Jackson expected to immediately impact UNC's pace

Savior Lutheran graduate and ESPN's No. 7 ranked recruit Ian Jackson has already joined the Tar Heels for practice. Jackson's high school coach Peter Wehye shared his prediction for the shooting guard last month (via Forbes):

“He’s going to impact Carolina in multiple ways," Wehye said. "First off, he’s a high-level defender so he’s going to be able to guard multiple positions so they’re going to be able to switch and do a dynamic amount of things.

“But with him coming, even though they come down and they want to run their sets, I think they’ll play a lot faster. The reason why I think they’ll play a lot faster is because he is dynamic in open spacing and the open floor.”

Jackson is also reported to have formed friendships with Cadeau and Davis, further helping him integrate quickly into the team. His addition to the roster could facilitate better opportunities for players around him to score as well.

What do you think of the Tar Heels' roster for the upcoming season? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.