5 reasons North Carolina will return to Final Four
By Brad Weiss
The North Carolina Tar Heels won their sixth national title on Monday night, but does this team have enough returning for a return trip to the Final Four
For Roy Williams, cutting down the nets as the head coach of his alma mater had to be sweeter the third time around. A year removed from a crushing loss in the 2016 NCAA Championship Game, the Tar Heels got it done down the stretch against Gonzaga, beating the Bulldogs 71-65. This win put him in elite company in the history of college basketball coaches, essentially immortalizing him as one of the greats.
As the program looks toward the 2017-18 season, there are a lot of question marks. Not only is their roster losing some of their key players, but a possible NCAA sanction may be levied on the program due to some off the court issues with their student-athletes. As of now, they are eligible to return to the Final Four in 2018, and here are five reasons why they will do just that.
5. North Carolina will have another Felton on the roster
The recruiting class coming in for the Tar Heels is not as strong as in recent years, as some publications rank the class as low as the 30s. Still, there is one name in the class that should ring familiar to Tar Heels fans, as Carolina was able to bring in South Carolina prospect, Jalek Felton. The young point guard is the nephew of former Tar Heels star Raymond Felton, and should learn a ton behind Joel Berry II if the veteran returns for his senior season.
North Carolina has built their roster differently than some of the other big schools in the country, getting players that stay with the program for multiple years. Unlike a team like Kentucky, who has to replenish their roster of one-and-done players, North Carolina seems to get players who truly bleed Carolina Blue. This latest championship team was filled with juniors and seniors, giving them distinct advantages over the phenomenal freshmen in college basketball.
Felton is going to be a nice piece, as he has some of the best ball-handling skills in the 2017 recruiting class. Being a legacy, he knows what it takes to play at Carolina, and he will be in good hands with a coach like Roy Williams. Point guard play loomed large in the NCAA Tournament this season, and bringing in Felton to take the torch from Berry was a stroke of genius by Williams and his staff.