Pete Nance is an NBA Summer League champion

When the UNC men’s basketball program brought in highly-touted Northwestern transfer Pete Nance ahead of the 2022-2023 campaign, there was a lot of hope and expectation he’d replace the production of Brady Manek from a season ago.

Manek was an integral part of the Tar Heels’ scoring attack, averaging 15.1 points per game and shooting a scorching .403 from downtown, while helping them to the 2022 NCAA Tournament Championship Game.

Though Nance didn’t live up to the hype as the top available transfer on last year’s market, he averaged 10 points per game, shot 82 percent from the free throw line and grabbed 180 rebounds.

His final college season was good enough for one team – the Cleveland Cavaliers – to give him a chance in the NBA Summer League. Cleveland is the same team his dad, Larry Nance and old brother, Larry Nance Jr., played for

Nance emerged from Summer League with the one thing he hoped to accomplish at Carolina – a champion.

On Monday, July 17, Nance helped the Cavs secure the Summer League title with a 99-78 win over the Houston Rockets, another promising, young team with lots of recently-drafted talent. This victory was a cap on a perfect summer campaign, as Cleveland finished its brief slate 6-0.

Nance didn’t play much in the victory, but he made his impact felt in limited minutes, scoring two points and adding four rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

According to FanSided, Nance saw anywhere from 17-27 minutes per game.

Though the Cavs have a plethora of talent on their roster – Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan and Isaiah Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Max Strus, to name a few guy, Nance’s brief summer league stint could be enough for him to stay in Cleveland.

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Story originally appeared on Tarheels Wire