2020–21 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

The 2020–21 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team's head coach is Roy Williams, who will be in his 18th season as UNC's head men's basketball coach. The Tar Heels play their home games at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

2020–21 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
2020–21 record	12–6 (7–4 ACC)
Head coach	Roy Williams (18th season)
Assistant coaches	Steve Robinson (18th season) Hubert Davis (9th season) Brad Frederick (8th season)
Home arena	Dean E. Smith Center

2020–21 ACC men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 14 Virginia	9	–	1		.900			13	–	3		.813
No. 20 Florida State	6	–	2		.750			10	–	3		.769
No. 16 Virginia Tech	8	–	3		.727			14	–	4		.778
Louisville	6	–	3		.667			11	–	4		.733
North Carolina	7	–	4		.636			12	–	6		.667
Georgia Tech	5	–	4		.556			9	–	6		.600
Clemson	6	–	5		.545			12	–	5		.706
Pittsburgh	5	–	5		.500			9	–	6		.600
Duke	5	–	5		.500			7	–	7		.500
Syracuse	4	–	5		.444			10	–	6		.625
NC State	4	–	6		.400			8	–	7		.533
Notre Dame	4	–	7		.364			7	–	10		.412
Miami (FL)	3	–	10		.231			7	–	11		.389
Wake Forest	2	–	8		.200			5	–	8		.385
Boston College	1	–	7		.125			3	–	11		.214
† 2021 ACC Tournament winner As of February 6, 2021; Rankings from AP Poll

Previous Season

The Tar Heels finished the season 14–19, and 6–14 in ACC play. They defeated to Virginia Tech in the First Round of the ACC Tournament before losing to Syracuse in the Second Round. The tournament was cancelled before the Quarterfinals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] The NCAA Tournament and NIT were also cancelled due to the pandemic.[2]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Cole Anthony	2	G	6'3"	190	Freshman	New York, New York	Declared For 2020 NBA Draft [3]
Brandon Robinson	4	G	6'5"	173	Senior	Douglasville, Georgia	Graduated
Shea Rush	11	F	6'5"	210	Senior	Fairway, Kansas	Graduated
Jeremiah Francis	13	G	6'0"	210	Freshman	Reynoldsburg, Ohio	Transferred to New Mexico [4]
Caleb Ellis	25	F	6'5"	190	Graduate Student [5]	Apex, North Carolina	Completed athletic eligibility
Justin Pierce	32	F	6'7"	210	Graduate Student [6]	Glen Ellyn, Illinois	Completed athletic eligibility
Robbie O'Han	34	G	6'2"	170	Senior	Raleigh, North Carolina	Graduated
Brandon Huffman	42	F	6'10"	255	Junior	Goldsboro, North Carolina	Transferred to Jacksonville State [7]
Christian Keeling	55	G	6'3"	180	Graduate Student [8]	Augusta, Georgia	Completed athletic eligibility

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Day'Ron Sharpe C	Greenville, NC	Montverde Academy (FL)	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	246 lb (112 kg)	Jun 19, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 94[9]
Walker Kessler C	Newnan, GA	Woodward Academy (GA)	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Sep 22, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 94[10]
Caleb Love PG	St. Louis, MO	Christian Brothers College (MO)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Oct 1, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 94[11]
R. J. Davis PG	White Plains, NY	Archbishop Stepinac (NY)	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Oct 21, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 87[12]
Puff Johnson SF	Moon Township, PA	Hillcrest Prep (AZ)	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Nov 5, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 85[13]
Kerwin Walton SG	Hopkins, MN	Hopkins (MN)	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Apr 27, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 81[14]
Overall recruiting rankings:   Rivals: 3  247Sports: 2  ESPN: 3
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "North Carolina 2020 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020. "2020 North Carolina Tar Heels Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020.

2021 Recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2021 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Dontrez Styles SF	Kinston, NC	Kinston (NC)	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Apr 18, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 85
D'Marco Dunn SG	Tucson, AZ	Westover (NC)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sep 30, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 83
Overall recruiting rankings:   Rivals: 37  247Sports: 37
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "North Carolina 2021 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020. "2021 North Carolina Tar Heels Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020. "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020.

Roster

2020–21 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Anthony Harris 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 196 lb (89 kg) RS Fr Paul VI Catholic Woodbridge, VA G/F 1 Leaky Black 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Cox Mill Concord, NC G 2 Caleb Love 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Christian Brothers College St. Louis, MO G 3 Andrew Platek 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Northfield Mount Hermon Guilderland, NY G 4 R. J. Davis 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr Archbishop Stepinac White Plains, NY F/C 5 Armando Bacot 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So IMG Academy Richmond, VA F/C 11 Day'Ron Sharpe 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Fr Montverde Academy Greenville, NC F/C 13 Walker Kessler 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Fr Woodward Academy Newnan, GA G 14 Puff Johnson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Hillcrest Prep Moon Township, PA F 15 Garrison Brooks 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Auburn Lafayette, AL F/C 21 Sterling Manley 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) RS Jr Pickerington Central Pickerington, OH F/C 22 Walker Miller (W) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr New Hampton Greensboro, NC G 24 Kerwin Walton 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Hopkins Hopkins, MN G 25 Creighton Lebo (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr Greenfield Wilson, NC G 30 K. J. Smith (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS Sr IMG Academy Calabasas, CA F 35 Ryan McAdoo 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Saint Andrew's Boca Raton, FL	Head coach Roy Williams (North Carolina) Assistant coach(es) Steve Robinson (Radford) Hubert Davis (North Carolina) Brad Frederick (North Carolina) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: December 28, 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference Regular Season
November 25, 2020* 6:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 16	College of Charleston[15]	W 79–60	1–0	17 – Love	11 – Brooks	4 – Love	Dean Smith Center (0) Chapel Hill, NC
November 30, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 14	vs. UNLV Maui Invitational Quarterfinals	W 78–51	2–0	16 – Davis	10 – Black	4 – Love	Harrah's Cherokee Center (0) Asheville, NC
December 1, 2020* 4:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 14	vs. Stanford Maui Invitational semifinals	W 67–63	3–0	16 – Love	9 – Brooks	4 – Sharpe	Harrah's Cherokee Center (0) Asheville, NC
December 2, 2020* 4:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 14	vs. No. 17 Texas Maui Invitational finals	L 67–69	3–1	18 – Brooks	11 – Tied	3 – Davis	Harrah's Cherokee Center (0) Asheville, NC
December 8, 2020* 7:30 p.m., ESPN	No. 16	at No. 3 Iowa ACC–Big Ten Challenge	L 80–93	3–2	17 – Brooks	11 – Bacot	8 – Davis	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (583) Iowa City, IA
December 12, 2020 3:00 p.m., ACCRSN		Elon	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[16]					Dean Smith Center  Chapel Hill, NC
December 12, 2020* 2:00 p.m., ACCRSN	No. 16	NC Central	W 73–67	4–2	19 – Bacot	11 – Bacot	4 – Love	Dean Smith Center (0) Chapel Hill, NC
December 19, 2020* 2:00 p.m., CBS	No. 22	vs. Kentucky CBS Sports Classic	W 75–63	5–2	14 – Bacot	11 – Sharpe	6 – Love	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (0) Cleveland, OH
ACC Regular Season
December 22, 2020 9:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 17	at NC State Rivalry	L 76–79	5–3 (0–1)	16 – Bacot	7 – Tied	4 – Tied	PNC Arena (0) Raleigh, NC
December 30, 2020 8:00 p.m., ACCRSN		at Georgia Tech	L 67–72	5–4 (0–2)	14 – Bacot	11 – Brooks	4 – Tied	McCamish Pavilion (1,200) Atlanta, GA
January 2, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN2		Syracuse	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[17]					Dean Smith Center  Chapel Hill, NC
January 2, 2021 4:00 p.m., ACCN		Notre Dame	W 66–65	6–4 (1–2)	25 – Sharpe	10 – Bacot	4 – Brooks	Dean Smith Center (0) Chapel Hill, NC
January 5, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN		at Miami (FL)	W 67–65	7–4 (2–2)	16 – Black	16 – Sharpe	4 – Tied	Watsco Center (0) Coral Gables, FL
January 9, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN		No. 19 Clemson	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues[18]					Dean Smith Center  Chapel Hill, NC
January 12, 2021 9:00 p.m., ACCN		Syracuse	W 81–75	8–4 (3–2)	16 – Brooks	10 – Bacot	7 – Black	Dean Smith Center (0) Chapel Hill, NC
January 16, 2021 12:00 p.m., ESPN		at Florida State	L 75–82	8–5 (3–3)	16 – Davis	6 – Sharpe	3 – 4 tied	Donald L. Tucker Center (2,850) Tallahassee, FL
January 20, 2021 9:00 p.m., ACCN		Wake Forest Rivalry	W 80–73	9–5 (4–3)	20 – Love	7 – Brooks	8 – Black	Dean Smith Center (0) Chapel Hill, NC
January 23, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN		NC State Rivalry	W 86–76	10–5 (5–3)	17 – Bacot	10 – Sharpe	5 – Love	Dean Smith Center (0) Chapel Hill, NC
January 26, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCN		at Pittsburgh	W 75–65	11–5 (6–3)	21 – Bacot	10 – Bacot	5 – Love	Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA
February 2, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCN		at Clemson	L 50–63	11–6 (6–4)	16 – Sharpe	9 – Brooks	2 – Davis	Littlejohn Coliseum (1,876) Clemson, SC
February 6, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN		at Duke Rivalry	W 91–87	12–6 (7–4)	25 – Love	9 – Sharpe	7 – Love	Cameron Indoor Stadium (0) Durham, NC
February 8, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN		Miami (FL)						Dean Smith Center  Chapel Hill, NC
February 13, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN		at Virginia						John Paul Jones Arena  Charlottesville, VA
February 16, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2		Virginia Tech						Dean Smith Center  Chapel Hill, NC
February 20, 2021 4:00 p.m./6:00 p.m., ESPN		Louisville						Dean Smith Center  Chapel Hill, NC
February 23, 2021 9:00 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU		at Boston College						Conte Forum  Chestnut Hill, MA
February 27, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN		Florida State						Dean Smith Center  Chapel Hill, NC
March 1, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN		at Syracuse						Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
March 6, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN		Duke Rivalry						Dean Smith Center  Chapel Hill, NC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from APPoll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source:[19]

Rankings

On January 18, 2021, Duke fell out of the AP Top 25 ranking for the first time since February 8, 2016. This broke a 59-year streak and marked the first time since December 25, 1961 that the powerhouse trio of Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina were all out of the Top 25 ranking.[20]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	16	14	16	22	17	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV
Coaches	16	16^	14	21	17	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV

^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

References

1. "Statement from ACC on Men's Basketball Tournament". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
2. "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships".
3. "North Carolina's Cole Anthony declares for 2020 NBA draft". Retrieved April 17, 2020.
4. "Men's Hoops Adds UNC Transfer Francis". University of New Mexico Athletics. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
5. "Caleb Ellis Bio". Retrieved April 1, 2020.
6. "Justin Pierce Bio". Retrieved April 1, 2020.
7. "Men's basketball announces five spring signees". Jacksonville State University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
8. "Christian Keeling Bio". Retrieved April 1, 2020.
9. "Day'Ron Sharpe Bio". Retrieved April 1, 2020.
10. "Walker Kessler Bio". Retrieved April 1, 2020.
11. "Caleb Love Bio". Retrieved April 1, 2020.
12. "R.J. Davis Bio". Retrieved April 1, 2020.
13. "Donovan Johnson Bio". Retrieved April 1, 2020.
14. "Kerwin Walton Bio". Retrieved April 27, 2020.
15. Ross Martin (2020-10-14). "UNC to Open Season vs. College of Charleston". 247sports.com. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
16. "Elon Forced to Postpone Game Against UNC". 247sports.com. 247 Sports. December 1, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
17. "Syracuse at North Carolina Men's Basketball Game Postponed". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. December 23, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
18. "Clemson Men's Basketball Games at UNC and Syracuse Postponed; Syracuse at UNC Set for Jan. 12". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
19. "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". goheels.com. University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
20. Cassandra Negley (January 18, 2021). "Duke, UNC, Kentucky all outside of men's AP Top 25 for first time since 1961". Retrieved January 20, 2021.