Michael Malone has built up quite the roster in Chapel Hill. He has finally put together his full roster at North Carolina, meaning he has no room for any more players.
That even includes longtime Tar Heel Seth Trimble, who recently hit the transfer portal and will be playing for Louisville, noting UNC’s full roster as one reason he could not return.
With a roster firmly in place, Malone will likely have a vision for what the rotation could look like this season and how many players could get serious playing time.
Start With the Obvious
We can safely assume that quite a few guys were brought in to assume starting positions on the roster, with most of them playing inside the backcourt.
Terrence Brown, Neoklis Avdalas, and Matt Able are safe picks for players we could likely see starting in Carolina’s first game, as they each have important roles this season.
Brown and Able will likely be the scoring options in that backcourt, with Avdalas assuming the role he excels at: distributor and facilitator of this offense. He’ll win his starting reps through assists rather than points, but he can certainly still score the ball when needed.
Moving to the frontcourt, we can safely assume international prospects Alexandros Samodurov and Sayon Keita will get plenty of court time, but it’s still a bit foggy as to which of those players will get the starting nod, or if both of them will get that chance…