North Carolina Tar Heels: the Roy Williams Formula
- Have a rotation based on senior role players, but with firepower coming from the junior class
The three teams all had experienced rotations that were based mostly on their junior classes for star power. This was slightly subverted by the 2009 team who had Tyler Hansbrough, but juniors Lawson and Wayne Ellington had better performances in the title game.
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In 2005, seniors Jawad Williams, Jackie Manuel, and Melvin Scott were important but juniors Felton, Rashad McCants, and especially Sean May were the stars.
In 2009, seniors Danny Green, Bobby Frasor, and Hansbrough were arguably more important than seniors on the other two teams, but Lawson and Ellington were the offensive juice.
In 2017, seniors Kennedy Meeks, Isaiah Hicks, and Nate Britt were important, but juniors Joel Berry and Justin Jackson (supplemented by Theo Pinson’s defense) were the stars of the team.
This stipulation marks the failures of the 2008 and 2016 teams. 2016 was too senior dependent and the junior class was not ready, while 2008 had only one senior, Quentin Thomas, who was not a vital part.