Last season, the North Carolina Tar Heels finished fourth in the ACC and were eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament.
After hiring Michael Malone as the next head coach, the Tar Heels’ aspirations for bouncing back next season and getting over the first-round hump in the NCAA Tournament became much more likely. However, North Carolina still had plenty of work to do in the transfer portal if it wanted to build a roster capable of competing in the ACC and March Madness.
That path became increasingly daunting with the Louisville Cardinals landing two of the top players in the portal on Sunday.
Louisville Adds Backcourt and Frontcourt Reinforcements
The Cardinals paid up to sign Kansas transfer Flory Bidunga and Oregon transfer Jackson Shelstad. Bidunga was ranked as the No. 1 player in the portal while Shelstad was ranked No. 11.
Last season, the former Jayhawks center averaged 13.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, and 1.5 assists while shooting 64 percent from the floor. Meanwhile, the former Ducks’ guard averaged 15.6 points, 4.9 assists, and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 39.1 percent from the floor and 31.4 percent from three-point range. Louisville was eliminated in the Round of 32 by Michigan State, but with these two acquisitions, it has a chance to make a deep run in March next season.
What This Means for North Carolina
The Tar Heels’ sense of urgency was already extremely high, evidenced by the players Malone has pursued in the portal. But they cannot afford to slow down in their recruitment process. North Carolina has suffered first-round exits in each of the last two NCAA Tournaments and has recently underwhelmed in the conference tournaments…