Paige’s turning, twisting, double-clutching 3-pointer, of course, tied the national championship game with only 4.7 seconds left on the clock.
MORE: SN’s way-too-early 2016-17 top 25 | UNC-Nova was greatest title game ever
“I don’t know that I’ve ever had anybody make a tougher shot than Marcus Paige made,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said in his postgame press conference.
What happened next, the buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Villanova’s Kris Jenkins that trumped Paige’s shot in importance though not difficulty, will probably haunt North Carolina fans for years.
As a program, though, North Carolina is in fine shape.
Yes, it will be all kinds of strange to see the Tar Heels take the court this fall without Paige or Brice Johnson, the two long-time starters who have finally exhausted their four years of eligibility in Chapel Hill. Those two aren’t just outstanding players. They’re great people, the kind of star players who can be held up as an example. Same thing for Joel James, the other departing senior.
And, yes, you’ll continue to hear whispers about Roy Williams, about whether he’s near the end of his time as UNC’s coach, about the health issues and other things. But you watched the Final Four, and you saw his intensity. This isn’t a coach who has lost his passion for the job.
So what about the 2016-17 Tar Heels?
Let’s start here: UNC is ranked No. 4 in Sporting News’ way-too-early Top 25, so we pretty clearly think the Heels will be back in a big way, even without Paige and Johnson.
Justin Jackson and Kennedy Meeks are the only two players who could reasonably consider making a jump to the NBA Draft, and neither would be a first-round lock. Both are listed on DraftExpress.com’s 2017 mock draft, not the 2016 edition.
So let’s operate with the assumption that both will be back with the Tar Heels. That gives Williams a lineup loaded with experience, all over the court.
They’ll have two experienced ballhandlers, which is a great place to start.
Joel Berry, who will be a junior, led the team in minutes played this season, and his emergence allowed Williams to move Paige away from a role as the primary ballhandler. Berry dropped 15 points in the first half against Villanova and finished the season averaging 12.8 points and 3.8 assists per game. Nate Britt, a junior-to-be, will see a big bump in minutes, from 15.4 this season to well over the 20-minute mark.
They’ll have two experienced guys on the wing, which is pretty important.
There’s a reason Jackson has an NBA decision to make. The 6-8 rising junior is an exceptional offensive talent, with a knack for getting into the lane and the ability to knock down mid-range jumpers. He struggled more than expected from the outside this year (29.2 percent from 3-point range), but that might be the thing that keeps him in Chapel Hill, actually. A summer of working on that shot and a junior season of success beyond the arc could put him in the lottery discussion.
MORE: Michael Jordan speaks to UNC after heartbreaking loss
And we all saw some of the things Theo Pinson is capable of doing during the NCAA Tournament (and we’re not just talking about crashing postgame interview sessions). It’s taken him a bit to adjust to the college game, but Pinson has good range on his jumper, he can go down and grab a rebound and he’s an outstanding passer, too — he averaged 2.9 assists per game despite playing just 18.7 minutes.
They’ll have two experienced bigs in the paint, which is vital to what Williams preaches.
There’s a reason Meeks has an NBA decision to make. He’s 6-10 and in much, much better shape now than when he arrived in Chapel Hill as a pudgier version of his current self. Meeks had some injury issues this season, which limited him to only 33 games and 20.6 minutes, but he still averaged 9.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and shot 54.8 percent from the field.
Isaiah Hicks, a 6-9 senior-to-be, will have more minutes available with Johnson playing in the NBA, and his per-minute averages were pretty good: In just 18.1 minutes, he averaged 8.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. And Hicks will be joined in the paint by freshman Tony Bradley, a four-star recruit who’s No. 31 in the country on the Scout.com ranking.
Bradley’s not the only incoming potential star. Williams landed a pair of four-star shooting guards, Seventh Woods (No. 34 overall) and Brandon Robinson (No. 55).
So, yeah, the Tar Heels are in good shape. Even though it will be all kinds of strange to see them take the court next year with out Paige and Johnson.
