The rise of televised exhibition games has made it easy to overreact to a contest that doesn’t actually count for anything. For example: based on UNC’s exhibition win over Memphis last season, Jalen Washington was going to be a dominant post player, Seth Trimble the team’s leading scorer, and Elliot Cadeau one of the top point guards in the country. Instead, the exhibition Memphis win would actually be one of the high points of the season, as it would have been a (rare) Quad 1 win if it had counted in the standings.
Nevertheless, we only have one preseason showing from the Heels to draw on so far, so let’s see what we can take away from the Heels 78-76 exhibition loss to BYU.
Advertisement
UNC was competitive against a potential top 10 team
BYU is ranked eighth in the preseason AP top 25 and is considered by many to be a national championship contender. The Cougars made it to the Sweet 16 last season as a six seed and have added freshman AJ Dybantsa, the number one recruit in the 2025 class.
Dybantsa looked as good as advertised on Friday night, but the Heels still hung with BYU for the entire game. After going down eight in the early stages of the contest, Carolina came back to take a 44-43 lead early in the second half. The game stayed within one possession for most of the second half with the Heels leading by four points with under five to go. It’d have been great to see Seth Trimble make that final layup, but ultimately UNC went toe to toe with a top ten team in a virtual road game with a completely rebuilt roster.
The Heels looked like a team of made up of new pieces early
UNC only has one returning player that played major minutes last year, Seth Trimble. Almost everyone else that is expected to heavily contribute is either a transfer or a freshman. This was evident in the first few minutes of the game, as the Heels looked like they were still getting their feet under them. UNC had at least five turnovers and five fouls in the first five minutes of play while only scoring six points. They seemed to settle down a bit after the first timeout, but the team still finished with 19 turnovers. Several of them looked like miscommunication between teammates, which is to be expected at this stage of the season.
Advertisement
The Caleb Wilson hype is justified
Wilson joined UNC as the fifth best prospect according to ESPN. His highlight reels and accolades at the high school level made is easy for UNC fans to get excited about having a versatile big man after lacking production in the post last season. Wilson lived up to the hype, at least for one night; he finished as Carolina’s leading scorer with 22 points and ended up with a double-double (10 rebounds). Wilson scored in a variety of ways, being active on the offensive glass while also hunting his own shot via pull up jumpers. He started at the small forward position, which if this is where he plays for most of the season he’s going to be a matchup nightmare for opposing teams. He runs the floor exceptionally well for someone who’s 6’10,” often leading the fast break down the floor. If the exhibition version of Wilson carries over to the regular season, UNC will force teams into some uncomfortable decisions on defense.
Henri Veesaar is going to be force down low
Veesaar transferred to UNC as a junior after putting up quality numbers for Arizona down the stretch last year. The hope was the seven-footer can finally be a quality post player for the Heels after a year where the frontcourt was often undersized and overwhelmed. At least for this exhibition game, Veesaar looks like a legit big guy. The Estonia native looked very comfortable down low despite being matched up with a talented BYU frontcourt, putting up a line of 14 points and 8 rebounds. He was active both on offense and defense, grabbing several offensive boards while recording two blocks. In the late stages of the game, he made several crucial buckets to keep UNC in the game before the Cougars ultimately prevailed. If he can knock down a three pointer occasionally (he went 0-3 against BYU) he’s going to be dangerous.
Advertisement
Point guard is still an unanswered question
Colorado State transfer Kyan Evans started as the primary ball handler for UNC but wasn’t in the game much in the first half after picking up two quick fouls. To his credit, he did well at distributing the ball while he was in the game, racking up five assists with only one turnover.
Point guard duties were spread around in his absence, which may be the norm in the regular season as well. Freshman Derek Dixon had some good moments in relief of Evans, and Trimble can certainly handle some guard duties as well. Watching how the guard play develops early in the season could be the difference between a good season or a bad one for this team; on the positive side, this team seems to have more players able to create their own shot than previous UNC teams (again, based on one game).
Seth Trimble can fly
Just in case you missed it:
Man, it’s good to have Carolina basketball back!
