UNC Men’s Basketball 2025-2026

[donbosco]

That’s the second (of two) projections of Carolina’s season that either doesn’t mention or barely mentions, Seth Trimble.

Lindy’s College Basketball Magazine (the last of that breed?) doesn’t even have Trimble Third Team pre-season All-ACC team. They do have Wilson first team and Veesaar third team.

Lindy’s also picks UNC #29 & state #35 (dook Lands at #5 and U of L at #14).

dookie Cam Boozer hype is high all around - gonna be player of the year they say. Poor Cayden. BTW, they are fraternal twins - no way to mix them up.

 

[donbosco]

Front of Lindy’s (covers are regional and feature returnees at the Big Four*)

As an aside, I miss multiple magazines - in particular Street & Smith’s but also the specific ACC Guide.

*Might the dissolution of the ACC mean a return of the old preseason Big Four Tournament?

 

[nycfan]

Front of Lindy’s (covers are regional and feature returnees at the Big Four*)

As an aside, I miss multiple magazines - in particular Street & Smith’s but also the specific ACC Guide.

*Might the dissolution of the ACC mean a return of the old preseason Big Four Tournament?

ACC BASKETBALL HANDBOOK

 

[OGtruthhurts]

so this basketball season is somewhat like the uncertainty we had before the first football game. thats going to be the new landscape of college sports it seems with the massive annual turnover

 

[finesse]

If not, you're just a spoiled fan.

This. Rebuilding virtually from scratch with a whole new operating procedure in an entirely new basketball environment is going to be a pretty major challenge for a lot of teams. I'd understand that POV IF all that wasn't happening. Since it is and with the connections to UNC traditions that Hubert, imo, gives us the best chance of maintaining, I think a little more patience than normal is justified.

 

[theel4life]

This mag used to make me aroused…..

 

[4thgenheel]

This. Rebuilding virtually from scratch with a whole new operating procedure in an entirely new basketball environment is going to be a pretty major challenge for a lot of teams. I'd understand that POV IF all that wasn't happening. Since it is and with the connections to UNC traditions that Hubert, imo, gives us the best chance of maintaining, I think a little more patience than normal is justified.

like 70% of HD's tenure thus far has been below (sometimes well below) UNC standard.

2022 - poor up until late January, final 2 months great
2023 - dumpster fire
2024 - good, UNC standard type season despite s16 loss
2025 - simply not good enough at all
2026 - needs to be more like late 2022 and 2024

i love HD but the time for patience is over. this team needs to place top 3-4 in the ACC, earn a top 4 NCAAT seed, be ranked throughout most of the year and make a decent NCAAT run. some of those are somewhat negotiable based on outstanding results elsewhere - if we win the ACC, an early tourney exit could be acceptable. if we finish 4th, being ranked throughout the year and going on a good postseason run can be acceptable.

it is put up or shut up time.

 

[rodoheel]

This mag used to make me aroused…..

I mean, I love Kenny Smith too, but that's a little much for me

 

[rodoheel]

like 70% of HD's tenure thus far has been below (sometimes well below) UNC standard.

2022 - poor up until late January, final 2 months great
2023 - dumpster fire
2024 - good, UNC standard type season despite s16 loss
2025 - simply not good enough at all
2026 - needs to be more like late 2022 and 2024

i love HD but the time for patience is over. this team needs to place top 3-4 in the ACC, earn a top 4 NCAAT seed, be ranked throughout most of the year and make a decent NCAAT run. some of those are somewhat negotiable based on outstanding results elsewhere - if we win the ACC, an early tourney exit could be acceptable. if we finish 4th, being ranked throughout the year and going on a good postseason run can be acceptable.

it is put up or shut up time.

Yeah my big picture, over-generalized standard for success is that we probably need to do at least 2 of these 3 things for Hubert to keep his job:

• Top 4 NCAAT seed (basically equates to being a top 15-caliber team)
• Top 3 in ACC
• S16 or better (if you wanted to make this E8 or better I wouldn't argue)

You can come up with all sorts of permutations where maybe we hit only 1 of those 3 and it's still acceptable, but I think that's the general guideline for me.

 

[finesse]

Yeah my big picture, over-generalized standard for success is that we probably need to do at least 2 of these 3 things for Hubert to keep his job:

• Top 4 NCAAT seed (basically equates to being a top 15-caliber team)
• Top 3 in ACC
• S16 or better (if you wanted to make this E8 or better I wouldn't argue)

You can come up with all sorts of permutations where maybe we hit only 1 of those 3 and it's still acceptable, but I think that's the general guideline for me.

I think this all sounds pretty reasonable, including the proviso that circumstances might make the trifecta incomplete but acceptable.

 

[sringwal]

Yeah my big picture, over-generalized standard for success is that we probably need to do at least 2 of these 3 things for Hubert to keep his job:

• Top 4 NCAAT seed (basically equates to being a top 15-caliber team)
• Top 3 in ACC
• S16 or better (if you wanted to make this E8 or better I wouldn't argue)

You can come up with all sorts of permutations where maybe we hit only 1 of those 3 and it's still acceptable, but I think that's the general guideline for me.

All things being equal, either a Top 4 NCAAT, or a S16 is almost certainly necessary. "Top 3 in the ACC" is immaterial. If we are good enough for a four seed, but their are seven ACC teams who are on the 4 line, or better, then I think Hubert Davis should be allowed to keep his job, even if we don't make the sweet 16. Alternately, a top 6 six seed, and making the Sweet 16, or better, is good enough for me, even if we don't land in the top 3 of the conference. The ACC is certainly watered down since Dean Smith's incredible run of top-3 finishes, but for most of those years, there were eight teams or fewer. Top 3 meant finishing essentially in the top 50% of the conference. Now, top 3 puts you in the top 15% of conference teams.

 

[superrific]

He's apparently a tenacious defender and the fluidity + skill at his height/length/age is absolutely special...even if just highlights.

I can see that. Are we going to get him?

 

[Peppers49]

This. Rebuilding virtually from scratch with a whole new operating procedure in an entirely new basketball environment is going to be a pretty major challenge for a lot of teams. I'd understand that POV IF all that wasn't happening. Since it is and with the connections to UNC traditions that Hubert, imo, gives us the best chance of maintaining, I think a little more patience than normal is justified.

I’ve posted some variation of this a few times, but given how much roster attrition every team faces these days I would be fine giving Hubert more of a pass when facing a rebuilding type of season (think fringe top 25 team, a few big wins, maybe make it to the second weekend of the tournament if the matches are favorable) if I trusted that the staff was actually building towards something better for the next season.

The fact that 2 of his 4 seasons have been so substandard kinda takes away the benefit of the doubt. All of the reporting suggests that the stance from the people calling the shots is that this can’t be a rebuilding season anyway so I guess it’s a bit of a moot point.

 

[sringwal]

ACC BASKETBALL HANDBOOK

I was always a Barry Jacobs kid. Cooler stats.

 

[Peppers49]

All things being equal, either a Top 4 NCAAT, or a S16 is almost certainly necessary. "Top 3 in the ACC" is immaterial. If we are good enough for a four seed, but their are seven ACC teams who are on the 4 line, or better, then I think Hubert Davis should be allowed to keep his job, even if we don't make the sweet 16. Alternately, a top 6 six seed, and making the Sweet 16, or better, is good enough for me, even if we don't land in the top 3 of the conference. The ACC is certainly watered down since Dean Smith's incredible run of top-3 finishes, but for most of those years, there were eight teams or fewer. Top 3 meant finishing essentially in the top 50% of the conference. Now, top 3 puts you in the top 15% of conference teams.

Yeah the tournament is important obviously but I don’t think it’s fair for coach’s job to hinge on whether or not he makes it to the S16 or E8 in one tournament.

Like if we are a 2 seed and look really good for most of the season but get tripped up by a bad matchup 7 seed in the second round, does Hubert get fired for that? I don’t think so.

There’s a flip side to that coin as well. If we stumble through the season again and sneak into the tournament as like a 9 seed, then get hot for a few games to get to the S16 or E8, I’m probably not putting much stock into that.

 

[sringwal]

I agree, but I also don't think that you reasonably fire someone in a year they make it to the Elite 8, unless it is a year where we are in the "last four in" category again, only to go on a roll.

 

[UNCatTech]

Front of Lindy’s (covers are regional and feature returnees at the Big Four*)

As an aside, I miss multiple magazines - in particular Street & Smith’s but also the specific ACC Guide.

*Might the dissolution of the ACC mean a return of the old preseason Big Four Tournament?

Yea, I used to love when these hit the news stands.

 

[rodoheel]

This. Rebuilding virtually from scratch with a whole new operating procedure in an entirely new basketball environment is going to be a pretty major challenge for a lot of teams. I'd understand that POV IF all that wasn't happening. Since it is and with the connections to UNC traditions that Hubert, imo, gives us the best chance of maintaining, I think a little more patience than normal is justified.

IMO five seasons is more than enough patience. Matt Doherty got three seasons before he was canned. Arguably last season should have gotten Hubert canned. Candidly I think that he would have been canned if not for two specific wins from his first season - winning @ Duke in Coach K's final home game and beating Duke in the FF. I don't mean to suggest that those wins weren't important - they were two of the most important wins in the history of the program - but just to note that aside from those two wins it's not easy to defend Hubert's coaching tenue at UNC on the merits.

if we have another substandard season this year I simply can't see any reasonable argument that Hubert has given us reason to think he can build us back into an elite program. Again, five years is plenty of time. The changing landscape is undoubtedly making things more difficult, but other coaches at other programs are dealing with the game thing and succeeding, and our standard for success at UNC is justifiably high.

 

[rodoheel]

All things being equal, either a Top 4 NCAAT, or a S16 is almost certainly necessary. "Top 3 in the ACC" is immaterial. If we are good enough for a four seed, but their are seven ACC teams who are on the 4 line, or better, then I think Hubert Davis should be allowed to keep his job, even if we don't make the sweet 16. Alternately, a top 6 six seed, and making the Sweet 16, or better, is good enough for me, even if we don't land in the top 3 of the conference. The ACC is certainly watered down since Dean Smith's incredible run of top-3 finishes, but for most of those years, there were eight teams or fewer. Top 3 meant finishing essentially in the top 50% of the conference. Now, top 3 puts you in the top 15% of conference teams.

Your point is well taken but I don't think I would go so far as to call top 3 in the ACC "Immaterial." We play the majority of our games against ACC competition and I think how we do in the conference is still important. The relative weakness of the conference is why I think it's important to have that as a potential independent qualifier; i.e., if we finish 2nd in the ACC but are only a 5 seed, to me that's worth considering as an independent achievement. On the flip side, though, the weakness of the conference probably does mean that if we earn a top 4 seed, we're highly likely to be in the top 3 of the ACC anyway.

 

[superrific]

IMO five seasons is more than enough patience. Matt Doherty got three seasons before he was canned. Arguably last season should have gotten Hubert canned. Candidly I think that he would have been canned if not for two specific wins from his first season - winning @ Duke in Coach K's final home game and beating Duke in the FF. I don't mean to suggest that those wins weren't important - they were two of the most important wins in the history of the program - but just to note that aside from those two wins it's not easy to defend Hubert's coaching tenue at UNC on the merits.

if we have another substandard season this year I simply can't see any reasonable argument that Hubert has given us reason to think he can build us back into an elite program. Again, five years is plenty of time. The changing landscape is undoubtedly making things more difficult, but other coaches at other programs are dealing with the game thing and succeeding, and our standard for success at UNC is justifiably high.

But Doherty was canned in large measure because he was abusing players and had he not been fired, there would have been a mass exodus. I don't think Doh and HD are comparable.

That said, I agree that this is the make or break year for HD, and I suspect most fans would agree at this point. Well, not make-or-break, I should say. More like continue-or-break. Even a great year won't necessarily protect him long-term, but if we suck again, he will be out.

I'm optimistic, though, because I think he finally has the team he has been trying to achieve. His best season was the one where our outside shooting was generally good. We ended up losing because our interior game was suspect and we didn't have enough quality depth. I think our shooting this year is going to be very good. I think our interior is solid. The main questions are perimeter defense, taking care of the ball, and PG. I feel pretty good about our PG situation but I recognize that people who know way more than me have reservations.