North Carolina basketball: 2019-20 season review and 2020-2021 early preview

North Carolina basketball experienced an unprecedentedly bad 2019-20 season under Roy Williams, falling tremendously short of loud preseason hype.

Success has been routine for head coach Roy Williams, both with the North Carolina Tar Heels and with the Kansas Jayhawks at his first major stop. Particularly in Chapel Hill, Williams has made a habit of hanging banners in the Dean E. Smith Center. Unfortunately, the 2019-20 season was the farthest thing from the success that Williams has ever experienced in his illustrious career.

The Tar Heels finished the season tied for last place in the ACC, which actually allowed them to start their play in the ACC Tournament before the event was canceled due to the coronavirus. Even worse, however, they were eliminated in the second round of the conference tournament in a blowout loss, giving them just a 14-19 overall record.

All told, this was the first losing season a team coached by Williams has ever endured. Making that all the more surprising is the fact that North Carolina basketball entered the year as a top-10 team in the country with limitless potential, largely thanks to the arrival of star freshman point guard Cole Anthony.

Things simply fell apart for the Tar Heels though. Whether it was injuries to Anthony, Brandon Robinson and many others, North Carolina seemingly never got the opportunity to hit their stride. And even when they did, the team showed their lack of experience in infuriating ways, particularly with late-game decisions that cost them a plethora of close games.

With their record, UNC is one of the few blue-blood programs whose season was actually over before the conference tournaments and NCAA Tournament was canceled. The Tar Heels weren’t going to be participating. But even still, it’s a year worth looking back on for North Carolina and, just as important, a good time to look at where the program goes from here.