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North Carolina basketball: Starting lineup options for next season

By Mike Phillips

CHESTNUT HILL, MA - MARCH 05: North Carolina Tar Heels forward Garrison Brooks (15) goes up for the slam dunk. During the North Carolina Tar Heels game against the Boston College Eagles on March 05, 2019 at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA.(Photo by Michael Tureski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHESTNUT HILL, MA - MARCH 05: North Carolina Tar Heels forward Garrison Brooks (15) goes up for the slam dunk. During the North Carolina Tar Heels game against the Boston College Eagles on March 05, 2019 at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA.(Photo by Michael Tureski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – MARCH 29: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts against the Auburn Tigers during the 2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at Sprint Center on March 29, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – MARCH 29: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts against the Auburn Tigers during the 2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at Sprint Center on March 29, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

After getting knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by hot-shooting Auburn in the Sweet 16, North Carolina could be staring at wholesale changes with a lot of players poised to exit Chapel Hill.

One of the more interesting storylines from the college basketball season was how stealthily North Carolina emerged as a championship contender. While most of the nation’s attention was focused on Duke and eventual champion Virginia, North Carolina quietly won a share of the ACC’s regular season title (including a sweep of Duke) and earned a spot on the top line in March Madness.

At that point the Tar Heels’ bandwagon started to fill up as the anyone-but-Duke strategy made them a popular pick in bracket pools, but their run came to an early end when Auburn shot them out of the gym in the Sweet 16. That loss could go down as a tremendous missed opportunity for North Carolina considering what kind of losses the program is staring at this spring.

Roy Williams was already preparing for life without graduating seniors Cameron Johnson, Luke Maye, and Kenny Williams but the NBA Draft may claim a few more players. Coby White and Nassir Little, who played key roles on the Tar Heels this season, have put their names into the draft with both projected as potential first round picks.

The good news for North Carolina fans is that Roy Williams has been through this kind of situation before, losing players off of talented teams only to find ways to reload quickly. With that in mind, let’s look at the lineup options for North Carolina entering next season.