The college basketball season is still going for the final four teams standing, but for the North Carolina Tar Heels, it came to a disappointing finish in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. UNC has been one of the most frustrating teams in college basketball all year, going from a No. 9 preseason AP poll ranking to being the last team in the Big Dance.
An emphatic win over San Diego State in the First Four gave Carolina fans hope that their team had finally figured things out just in time, but that wasn't the case. Just as they had all season long, the Heels feel behind big to Ole Miss, then valiantly fought back before coming up just short. It's doubtful that any team in the sport went out in a more fitting way.
Unfortunately for Hubert Davis and his staff, there's no such thing as the offseason, not when the transfer portal is, for some reason, open and active while the tournament is going on. Davis has huge holes to fill, as RJ Davis and Jae'Lyn Withers have graduated and Elliot Cadeau and Jalen Washington have entered the portal themselves. Cadeau has already committed to Dusty May and Michigan, while Washington hasn't yet decided on his new school.
Davis has three exciting freshmen on the way next year in Caleb Wilson, Isaiah Denis and Derek Dixon, but it will take more than that for the Heels to regain their place at or near the top of the ACC. Carolina finished tied for fourth in the conference this year, an unacceptable position as it is but even moreso due to the fact that the ACC was especially weak this year with only four tournament teams.
Davis, who reportedly signed a contract extension in December, is nonetheless on the hot seat going into next year due to the lack of consistency his teams have exhibited. Carolina has been better than a No. 8 seed just once in Davis' four years, and for one of the sport's few true blue bloods, that isn't going to cut it.
The transfer portal is already bustling, but Davis hasn't yet been able to land a commitment. He needs to get cracking before it's too late. Our own Christopher Kline named three transfers he should be after last week. Here are three others that could make a difference.
RJ Luis, G, St. John's
St. John's was one of the biggest surprises of this season, and RJ Luis was the biggest reason why. The Big East Player of the Year scored 18.2 points per game in leading the Johnnies to a No. 2 seed in the tournament, their best in 25 years.
Luis is 6-foot-7, which would give the Heels a much different identity than this past season, when they relied on RJ Davis and Elliot Cadeau, both of whom are six feet or less. He's skilled at getting his own shot, and his 7.2 rebounds per game is a fantastic number for a guard.
Luis looked great in the first round against Omaha, canning five 3s on his way to 22 points. He had a rough game against Arkansas in the second round though, shooting just 3-17 from the floor before being benched for the final five minutes of the eventual upset loss.
When Luis' shot isn't falling, it can be a problem, because he's not the type of player that gets his teammates involved. Dishing out two assists per game isn't ideal, and will be a huge change from Cadeau's pass-first approach, but being taught by Marcus Paige should help him balance his scoring instincts with an untapped unselfish side.
The Heels were missing someone this year that could say, "Give me the ball and get out of my way." Luis can be that guy, and he's also a rangy, athletic defender that can switch onto multiple positions. He set the tone for Rick Pitino's defense, which finished the year ranked second in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom. If Drake Powell stays put, he and Luis could combine to terrorize opposing offenses.
Henri Veesaar, C, Arizona
Speaking of size, the Heels need help at the center position, especially with Jalen Washington transferring out. Ven-Allen Lubin was a big win from last year's transfer portal, and Arizona's Henri Veesaar could join him to give UNC a formidable 1-2 punch inside.
Veesaar is a 7-footer, and he's an efficient finisher down low, especially on putbacks and lobs. He also looked good against some of the best teams he faced this year, including in two games against Texas Tech and in the Sweet Sixteen against Duke in one of his best performances of the season. Earlier in the year, he scored 19 points in 19 minutes against Baylor.
Veesaar grabbed five rebounds per game this year despite only playing about 20 minutes a night. After the way in which the Heels were dominated on the boards by bigger teams this year, they need someone like him to lock down the paint.
For UNC fans of a certain age, Veesaar will give off some Serge Zwikker vibes, and that's a good thing. Arizona assistant coach Steve Robinson used to sit on the bench with Roy Williams, and Veesaar's teammate Caleb Love used to be a Tar Heel. Maybe those two will have good things to say to steer him toward Chapel Hill.
Rodney Rice, G, Maryland
The Maryland Terrapins won one of the best games of this year's tournament when freshman Derik Queen scored at the buzzer to beat Colorado State, but now that head coach Kevin Willard left for Villanova, it's looking like a mass exodus is going to occur from College Park.
Rodney Rice would be a great fit with the Heels. The rising junior shot over 37 percent from three on high volume this year, and he only turned it over once per game even though he had the ball in his hands a lot.
Much like our previous two players, Rice would give this team some sorely needed size. He's not as big as Luis, but at 6-foot-4, he'd still be an upgrade in the height department over Davis and Cadeau.
Rice started his career in the ACC at Virginia Tech, but he didn't play much in one season. He's blossomed at Maryland and still has room to grow as a player. If he wanted to come to Chapel Hill as a package deal with fellow backcourt mate Ja'Kobi Gillespie, I think Hubert Davis would be OK with that, too.