North Carolina Tar Heels: It’s Kemba Time
Joel Berry‘s return to North Carolina Tar Heels means there is at least the 2011 Connecticut Huskies plan possible.
The North Carolina Tar Heels had big news yesterday. It was not on the Kevin Knox front, best word on Knox is he is waiting until after the media firestorm of the NFL Draft to create his own limited media firestorm. The news was about Joel Berry and his rather quick return to Chapel Hill. You check out Connor Hall’s article on the announcement down with the link at the bottom of this one.
Berry’s decision was inevitable, but there is a good reason that it came so quickly after his announcement of going into the draft process. He probably isn’t sound just yet. All the punishment his body took in late March and early April has certainly lessened, but he was not likely to go into workouts or the Draft Combine at 100%. That means he would be unable to give the talent evaluators enough for them to improve his stock.
Regardless of with it was injuries or the deep conversation with all parties that he cited, Berry comes back to a Carolina team that will be missing most if not all of its big people. Yes, there will be Garrison Brooks (whatever he is) and Luke Maye. It is still too early to know if there will be Tony Bradley, and the other two freshmen bigs are unknowns as well.
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If Knox passes on the Heels, then Berry will be looking at a starting lineup with unproven post scoring and Theo Pinson. The fifth man will either be Kenny Williams or Jalek Felton, depending on how much the Heels like Felton. It could be Seventh Woods as another possibility. That is not a lot of offense around Berry, and there would be a lot of pressure on Berry to produce night in and night out to win games.
Teams don’t normally thrive on the whims of their six-footish point guards unless you are a Charlotte Hornets fan. Then that reality is all too common. Berry will have to find his inner Kemba Walker. Walker famously dragged an underachieving UConn team through both Big East and NCAA Tournaments all the way to the title. Berry can probably imitate Walker a little, but he will need a Jeremy Lamb before it is said and done.
Next: Berry Returns for Senior Year
If the Tar Heels make a serious run at the 2018 National Title, it will be because Berry took them there and that will be true whether Bradley comes back to pitch in or not.