Caulton Tudor argues that while losing the Wear twins hurts, that's not the only issue facing UNC.
That's certainly true, and not everything that went wrong this season will automatically be fixed, but things will be quite different. For one, Harrison Barnes will have a significant impact on this team and may well emerge as the leader as a freshman.
This is a team which significantly lacked leadership, and at least based on this past season, there doesn't appear to be a natural leader on the roster. Certainly we wouldn't put Larry Drew in that category, nor Will Graves. Either one could still emerge but it's getting kind of late, especially for Graves.
Who else is there? Tyler Zeller? Perhaps, but he hasn't played enough yet to truly be a leader. John Henson? Conceivably.
Barnes is the most likely candidate even as a freshman.
Between Barnes and Reggie Bullock, outside shooting should be less of a concern.
Drew is the incumbent, and he played better down the stretch, but he doesn't really fit their system very well. Kendall Marshall is not the fastest guard in the world, but he's smart and he knows where to put the ball.
This is a very strange season and a fascinating one for UNC. Our guess is that Barnes will keep the wheels from coming off and UNC may well bounce back with a solid season. Surely, no one wants a repeat of what happened this year and everyone we're guessing has worked hard to prevent it. And no one should overlook what a stronger Henson might be capable of.
Still, it's going to be a very young team and fairly inexperienced, with no proven leadership. Just as a side thought, what happens if the Heels put together another lousy season? That could be very interesting indeed.
Also, as reported earlier, UNC has gotten involved with Kadeem Jack. Perhaps unfortunately for UNC, so has Kentucky.
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