Heel Tough Blog: 5 Realities for Carolina Basketball Entering 2026-27

The North Carolina Tar Heels are only a few days away from the beginning of the regular

season. They have played three preseason games, two against high-level competition. They have had moments where they’ve looked like a team with potential to be near the top of the ACC, while also having moments where they’ve looked like a mid-major-level team. The excitement has dimmed, and it feels like the Michael Malone era is off to a bit of a rocky start on the court. And yet, the official record says 0-0, because none of it counted. We’ve learned quite a bit about this team through the three exhibitions, and it’s time to face several realities about them as the regular season draws near.

1. It’s Going to Take Time for This Roster to Reach its Potential

There is talent on this roster, but it has yet to fully show itself through the three exhibitions. They have been incredibly inconsistent, showing flashes of brilliance, while also having stretches of stagnancy on the offensive end and a lack of intensity on the defensive end. Terrence Brown did not look like the player he was at Utah against USC and Indiana, scoring just 12 points combined in the two games, but he seemed to figure things out against Charlotte. Neo Avdalas showed against USC and Charlotte that he could score and rebound but disappeared against Indiana. Matt Able didn’t play against Charlotte, but he also had an inconsistent first two games in UNC uniform. We have also seen mixed bags from Jarin Stevenson, Isaiah Denis, and Maximo Adams. Having said all of that, none of the consistency issues that we have seen are unfixable, and Michael Malone is a high-level coach with a high-level staff supporting him. This is still a new team that is learning to play with each other and a new coach that is learning the college game, and I expect that with time, they will improve exponentially.

2. Rebounding is a Major Issue

Here’s a stat that should make your skin crawl. The three tallest players on the floor, Sayon

Kieta, Jaren Stevenson, and Alexandros Samodurov, played a combined 77 minutes against

Charlotte and combined for 5 rebounds. Carolina was out rebounded 36-30 for the game. That comes after a game where you were brutalized on the glass by Indiana. Neo Avdalas has been the most consistent rebounder on this team as a 6-9 guard. That cannot continue to be the case. Michael Malone addressed it in each of his postgame press conferences, and he has stressed that rebounding is a team effort, but your big guys must do better. Carolina will face teams that are better at rebounding than Charlotte, and they must be able to answer the call. Otherwise, the Heels will find themselves not reaching the goals that the fans and the university have for them this season.

3. Sayon Keita is Only Going to Improve

We’ve mentioned throughout the preseason that of the guys with NBA potential on this roster,

Keita was the one that needed to be developed the most. Against USC, he flashed his ability to protect the rim, but looked like he wasn’t up to the speed of the game early. Then against Indiana and Charlotte, he put in back-to-back solid outputs, scoring 12 points in both games while blocking 5 shots against Indiana. If he could average this during the season, we would probably be happy, but after watching him, I feel like he is a guy that could very well develop into one of the best big men in the ACC as soon as the end of this year. Carolina may not get Henri Veesar’s level of production, but Kieta could absolutely average double figures and be a guy that Michael Malone relies on more and more as the season continues to progress.

4. This Team Needs Cameron Fens Eligible Immediately

Carolina cannot win with only one big man, and thus far, outside of Kieta and perhaps Jarin

Stevenson, Carolina doesn’t have a big man they can trust to defend and score, and at this point Carolina doesn’t have a big man that they can trust to rebound at all. Kieta grabbed a fair number of rebounds in the first two exhibitions, but disappeared against Charlotte, grabbing just two. If Carolina is to avoid getting outmuscled on the glass, they need Fens’ size and grown man ability to rebound. Another reason Carolina needs Fens is low post defense, something that Henri Veesar struggled with, and I imagine Kieta will too. Due to lack of muscle, Veesar was pushed around by the more physical big men that Carolina played. Kieta has the same body type, so it’s clear that unless he gets much stronger, Carolina will need Fens to be able to defend some of the stronger big men that they will face.

5. Expectations Need to be Tempered…For Now

I will be the first to admit that I was very high on this roster in the preseason, saying multiple

times on the Four Corners podcast that I thought this team had Final Four potential if everything clicked. I will also be the first to admit that I feel like that ceiling has lowered a bit following the preseason. Between the offensive struggles and the rebounding issues, I feel like there are too many issues that need to be fixed before they can be thought of on the same level as the Miami’s and Louisville’s of the world. This roster is still built with a fair amount of NBA talent, and I do still think that they will be a top 25 team by the end of nonconference play and a top 5 team in the ACC. But there will be some hiccups that prevent them from being a high seed in the NCAA tournament, especially if they cannot fix the offensive issues.

While expectations may have dimmed a little for this team, that hasn’t changed our excitement

for the season. It all starts on Monday against Western Carolina, a 7 PM tip on ACCN.

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