As expected after the conclusion of the 2020-21 season, Day’Ron Sharpe has announced his decision to forfeit the rest of his college eligibility, and enter the 2021 NBA Draft. Sharpe was able to excel in one his season in Chapel Hill, mainly due to his non stop motor, and effort on the court. He averaged 9.5 points, and 7.6 rebounds, which earned him All-ACC Freshman honors, and was runner up for both ACC Freshman of the Year, and Sixth Man of the Year. Even though Carolina’s season is over, Shape still leads all of college basketball in offensive rebounding percentage, and the ACC in offensive rebounds per game.
Day’Ron on leaving UNC:
Roy Williams on Sharpe’s decision:
This now becomes the second post player to leave the program this week following the transfer of Walker Kessler on Monday. That means in less than a week after their season came to an abrupt end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Roy Williams has lost half of his interior rotation. With there no guarantee that Garrison Brooks will come back for his extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA, there’s a really good chance that only Armando Bacot will be on the roster come the start of next season, that has any college basketball experience.
As we addressed earlier this week, when discussing the transfer of Kessler, Carolina’s roster for next season is currently up in the air. After bringing in arguably his best recruiting class ever at Carolina, Roy Williams thought he had roster flexibility for the next couple of seasons. After the departures of two premier post players off the bench, and rumors swirling there might be more to come, it has made for an uneasy start to the off-season. Carolina hasn’t been shy to hit the transfer portal to find talent and improve the team, and after losing Kessler & Sharpe, they may have no choice but to do that once again. Also expect a vigorous effort from this staff on the recruiting trail, as the program will look to build off a bounce back 2020-21 campaign.