North Carolina entered the year with high expectations and, so far, had met them.
Expectations in Chapel Hill are always at a fever pitch, but this year was different. Despite leading North Carolina to a national championship appearance in 2022 and an ACC regular-season title and Sweet 16 berth in 2024, head coach Hubert Davis was on the hot seat. In between those seasons, the Tar Heels missed the NCAA Tournament after entering 2022-23 as the preseason No. 1 team in the country. Then last season they barely made the field, had to play a First Four game and lost in the first round.
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On top of that, the program spent heavily on the roster to bring in players like Henri Veesaar, Kyan Evans and Jarin Stevenson. Carolina had to secure the commitment of Caleb Wilson and deal with all the outside noise that came with his hype. The program also had to make sure everything was handled properly as Luka Bogavac came over from overseas.
Many outside observers did not think the Tar Heels could meet expectations. There were questions about whether a team of mostly newcomers, along with four-year senior Seth Trimble, could gel. There also was the lingering question of whether Davis was the right man in charge in Chapel Hill.
Those doubts and questions started to fade by UNC’s second game of the season, when the Tar Heels soundly defeated Kansas 87-74 in front of a sold-out crowd at the Dean Dome.
Even when Trimble missed significant time with an injury — nine games, to be exact — they handled that stretch with ease, going 8-1 with wins over Georgetown, Kentucky and St. Bonaventure, all potential NCAA Tournament teams. The only loss came against Michigan State, currently No. 9 in the country.
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Meanwhile, Veesaar and Wilson have become one of the best frontcourt tandems in college basketball.
Veesaar is averaging 16.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. He is shooting 64.1% from the floor, which ranks 19th in the country. He is also shooting 50% from 3-point range (33rd nationally), has a 70.6 effective field-goal percentage (14th nationally and best in the ACC, according to KenPom) and a true shooting percentage of 70.5 (18th nationally). Wilson, meanwhile, is putting up 19.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.4 steals per game, all team highs, and is on pace to break several UNC freshman records.
Now, the Tar Heels enter ACC play.
Will those concerns pop up again if they start playing poorly? Yes. If they play like they did throughout the nonconference slate and if they’re in good health, those concerns will stay quiet.
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Right now, it feels like North Carolina can only beat itself.
North Carolina will take on Florida State on Dec. 30 at the Dean Dome to tip off ACC play.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball is ready for ACC play
