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North Carolina men’s basketball officially has its 2026-27 roster in place. The much more difficult question is determining which players will actually be on the floor when the games matter most.
During the latest edition of Locked On Tar Heels, Milligan University head coach Bill Robinson was tasked with cutting Carolina’s 16-man roster in half and projecting an eight-man rotation for Michael Malone’s first season in Chapel Hill.
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For Robinson, four players stood above the rest as the easiest choices: Terrence Brown Jr., Matt Able, Neoklis Avdalas, and Jarin Stevenson.
Brown, in particular, is someone Robinson expects to have a massive offensive role.
“He’s going to play a ton,” Robinson said, projecting Brown as one of Carolina’s leading scorers because of his aggressive scoring mentality. Robinson also likes the possibility of Avdalas handling point guard duties, which could allow Brown to operate more frequently away from the ball and attack in advantageous situations.
Able’s shooting makes him another obvious piece of the rotation, while Stevenson gives UNC a veteran stabilizing presence in the frontcourt. Robinson called those four selections relatively easy.
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From there, however, the decisions became much more complicated.
Robinson projected Cameron Fens, Sayon Keita, Alexandros Samodurov and freshman Maximo Adams as the other four members of his top eight. Much of that decision came down to Carolina’s uncertainty, and potential, in the frontcourt.
At the time the conversation was recorded, Robinson believed Fens’ experience, strength and physicality would make him difficult to keep off the floor.
“I don’t think Cameron Fens would come to Carolina if he didn’t feel like he had a legit shot to start,” Robinson said. “Even if he doesn’t start, he’s going to play. He’s going to play minutes. I think he’ll play significant minutes, and I think he could start.”
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There is now, however, an important qualification to that prediction.
The…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/projecting-unc-basketball-top-eight-120032680.html
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Publish date : 2026-08-29 12:00:00
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