North Carolina basketball 2024-25 starting lineup predictions ft. RJ Davis

Despite a great start, the North Carolina Tar Heels' 2024 season came to a disappointing end after their Sweet 16 loss to Alabama.

Armando Bacot and Cormac Ryan have exhausted their college eligibility, while Harrison Ingram has decided to join the NBA. That brings huge changes to the North Carolina roster as all three were starters.

After transfer portal additions and 2024 recruiting class signees, here's a predicted line-up for the next season.

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North Carolina basketball 2024-25 starting lineup predictions

RJ Davis

After dipping his feet into the NBA waters, RJ Davis is back at North Carolina for his fifth and final college season.

Davis had his best season last year, averaging 21.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists, shooting 42.8% from the floor and 39.8% from the 3-point range. He won the Jerry West Award, which recognizes the best shooting guard in the country. RJ Davis was the first UNC player and second in ACC, after Duke's RJ Barrett in 2019, to win this award.

Davis is expected to take on the role of a leader and guide the Tar Heels on another quest to the title.

Elliot Cadeau

As the only other returning starter for North Carolina, Cadeau is expected to take a bigger role in the team. In his freshman season, je averaged 7.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists, shooting 41.7% from the floor.

Elliot Cadeau's biggest woes last season was his perimeter shooting, as he only made 18.9% of his shots from the deep. This would also be his focus for the next season as he works with coach Hubert Davis to improve his skills.

Ian Jackson

ESPN No. 7 recruit, Ian Jackson is expected to impact the team immediately with his dynamic playing style. His high school coach Peter Wehye said to Fobes that he believed Jackson would bring many changes to the pace of the games.

“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.”

The six-foot-five guard has already bonded with Cadeau and Davis over the past year through visits. He's expected to join North Carolina for practices starting June 5.

Cade Tyson

After two seasons at Belmont, Cade Tyson is transferring to North Carolina. He averaged 16.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists in his sophomore season.

Tyson is considered one of the top transfers in the ACC and is expected to fill in with his production, which was previously taken care of by Cormac Ryan. He shot 49.3% from the floor, 46.5% from the 3-point range and 85.5% from the free-throw line.

Cade Tyson started in every game with the Bruins and is expected to replicate the same with the Tar Heels.

Ven-Allen Lubin

One of the last remaining big men in the transfer portal, Ven-Allen Lubin announced his commitment to North Carolina towards the end of May. The center is UNC's replacement for Bacot and should make an immediate impact on the team.

In his sophomore season at Vanderbilt, he averaged 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 50.0% from the floor and 33.3% from the deep. This was a huge jump in the state line for Lubin and he's expected to continue to grow his game with the Tar Heels.

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