Earlier this month, it was reported that UNC gave their basketball program a significant financial boost to keep up with the ever-changing college sports landscape. More specifically, Hubert Davis had $14 million to spend on his roster, which ultimately led to landing some quality pieces in the transfer portal, a big-time overseas player, and a five-star freshman.
It all sounds pretty good on paper, and ultimately fans should be happier than they were last offseason, but there’s something happening. Rather than celebrating the fact that all of the holes have been filled on the roster, the sports world has decided that because they know a number now that it is time to play the most frustrating game I’ve ever witnessed: does UNC have a $14 million roster?
Exhibit A comes from Tim Donnelly and Max Goren with 99.9 The Fan
Exhibit B is from The Drive’s Josh Graham:
Combine these radio shows with the numerous posts that I’ve seen across social media, and you will see that there is a big problem with how we are now navigating the college basketball offseason. You see, when NIL started, there was a lot of mystery around who much players were getting paid. Heck, we didn’t even know if players were making legitimate money, or if they were being slipped money under the table.
Every “deal” was behind closed doors as far as who was getting what, and so finding a way to judge teams wasn’t as simple as “Oh man, you spent money on THIS?” Now the cat is out of the bag, and because Jeff Goodman alleges that UNC’s payroll for their roster is the second-highest in college basketball, everyone has a take about the construction of this roster, and whether or not it was worth the money.
Let me start off by saying this: as far as my opinion of whether or not this is a $14 million roster, I don’t know. I really don’t. I think if you hear a team got one of the best players from a highly competitive European pro league, a future NBA Draft pick in Caleb Wilson, an underrated piece in Henri Veesaar, and a guy with a ton of upside in Jarin Stevenson, you would say that’s a good haul, and that’s without factoring in some of the other guys they got/kept.
I have no idea what your finances have to be like to pull this off, but I can tell you this: it is a lot better than what they came away with last year, though one could make the argument that actually landing a center would’ve made somewhat of a difference. So do I think Hubert Davis could do some good things with this roster? Absolutely, but then the question is: what do people expect from a $14 million roster?
If you listen to each of these videos, the answer is: a title contender. While I don’t completely disagree with this, I do feel like it’s a lazy take. Those of us that are fans of pro sports know that sometimes franchises can spend crazy amounts of money and not have things work out.
Did the Falcons spending crazy amounts on Kirk Cousins work out for them? Zach LaVine getting a super max contract in Chicago? Do I need to remind everyone of the expensive teams the Brooklyn Nets and LA Clippers have had, and yet came away with nothing to show for it? The Angels spending insane amounts of money on Mike Trout only for him to stay injured to the point that he isn’t as good anymore?
I say all of this to say that I’m convinced all nuance will be lost in college sports now that we are learning how much money teams have.
When looking at UNC specifically, I think this roster is underrated in the way that they are being talked about, but at the same time I think there’s this idea out there that money fixes all that ails the program. It doesn’t. In this moment, I think UNC has a good ACC-contending team that should make the NCAA Tournament, which is a standard baseline for the program. As for the Final Four? I have no idea, and honestly I don’t think anybody else knows either.
Need I remind you that ESPN had Florida at #21 in their way-too-early preseason rankings last year, and had teams like Kansas, Alabama, and UConn near the top? I think UNC has the potential to be good enough to not make us suffer like we did this previous season, and for me personally, that is all that matters (for now).
