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Is NIL helping or hurting player development in college basketball?
As Carolina tried to figure out roster management over the last six years, some players improved their career by staying and others by transferring or turning pro.
In 2019, Roy Williams’ last Sweet Sixteen team featured Cameron Johnson and Coby White who took different paths to NBA stardom.
Johnson’s college career began averaging 4-plus points at Pitt and finished on the All-ACC team, averaging just under 17 points and 6 rebounds at Carolina. The 11th pick in the NBA draft has been an escalating star with the Phoenix Suns and Brooklyn Nets and is a one day all-star after averaging 19 points and 4-plus rebounds this season. You can certainly say he developed his game at UNC.
White was a projected first rounder all season and picked seventh by the Bulls. He went from All-NBA rookie to a bonafide pro superstar with a 20-point scoring average this season after being named the second most improved player a year ago. White’s athletic game got its start under Williams but kept rising with Michael Jordan’s old franchise.
Coby White (0) is one of Carolina’s recent success in the NBA, finishing second in 2023-24 for the league’s Most Improved Player Award. (Photo via AP Photo/Nell Redmond.)
That 2019 team also had star Luke Maye and starting center Garrison Brooks, who developed slowly and hit very big shots for the Tar Heels like Maye’s buzzer-beater over Kentucky in the 2017 Elite Eight.
Then came COVID and the start of NIL, which has split coaches and fans for turning the college game toward free agency and pay for play. Since Hubert Davis took over, the transfer portal has both helped and hurt the Heels.
Consequently, one of the criticisms about Davis’ program is it hasn’t developed players not named five-year stars Armando Bacot and R.J. Davis. Hubert’s best transfer to date has been Brady Manek who helped the 2022 team to the Final Four and two historic victories over Duke. But bearded Brady had only one season and now plays in Europe.
Since then, as many as a dozen players recruited by Williams and Davis have had mixed successes at other schools, led by streak shooter Caleb Love, who decided not to stay after the 2023 season when UNC missed the NCAA tournament and overhauled its roster.
Transferring to Arizona, Love’s career has been helped by former Carolina assistant coach Steve Robinson who was not retained by Davis and also went to the Wildcats program, where Love was Pac 12 Player of the Year in 2024 and has led them to the Sweet Sixteen this season and another date with Duke by staying red hot from the 3-point line.
Arizona guard Caleb Love reacts during the first half against Oregon in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 23, 2025 in Seattle. (Photo via AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson.)
After his freshman year as UNC’s best outside shooter, Kerwin Walton transferred to Texas Tech, which has made the Sweet Sixteen. He is a starter averaging only 6 points a game but is their leading 3-point maker for the second straight year.
Carolina has lost and signed another dozen that, along with other schools, has hurt long-time reputations for developing players.
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Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.
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