Three Tar Heels make Dick Vitale’s All-American teams
The UNC basketball program started preseason practice last week which ushered in the beginning of the 2022-23 season. The expectations surrounding the program is a total 180-degree flip compared to last season.
Because of the run the Tar Heels made at the end of the year and the return of all but one of their key rotations players, Hubert Davis and North Carolina enter this season as a preseason top-2 team.
Of the players on the roster, three of them were selected for All-American teams this week.
Dick Vitale, as he does every year, put out his five All-American teams and North Carolina had one player on the first three teams.
Headlined by center Armando Bacot, the 6-foot-10 big landed on the First-Team. Bacot returns to Chapel Hill after averaging 16.3 points and 13.1 rebounds per game last season.
He became the first player in NCAA Tournament history with six double-doubles in one NCAA Tournament as he averaged 15.3 points and 16.5 rebounds en route to a National Championship runner-up appearance.
On the Second Team was guard Caleb Love. Love returns to North Carolina after a drastic step up in his production from freshman to sophomore year. He averaged 15.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game and was part of the NCAA All-Tournament team.
Finally, Love’s backcourt mate RJ Davis was among the players on the All-American Third Team. Davis, one of the most underrated players in the country last season, finishing with averages of 13.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. He rose his play in the NCAA Tournament, averaging 14.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in six tournament games. He became a star when he scored 30 points in UNC’s Round of 32 win against Baylor.
Here are all five teams from Vitale.
First Team
Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
Armando Bacot, North Carolina
Marcus Sasser, Houston
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana
Second team
Hunter Dickinson, Michigan
Jaime Jaquez, UCLA
Caleb Love, North Carolina
Kendric Davis, Memphis
Mike Miles, TCU
Third team
Zach Edey, Purdue
Jalen Wilson, Kansas
Antoine Davis, Detroit
Posh Alexander, St. John’s
RJ Davis, North Carolina
Fourth Team
Colin Castleton, Florida
Tyrese Hunter, Texas
Terrence Shannon, Illinois
Tyger Campbell, UCLA
Max Abmas, Oral Roberts
Fifth team
Adama Sanogo, Connecticut
Isaiah Wong, Miami
Sahvir Wheeler, Kentucky
Will Richardson, Oregon
Darius McGhee, Liberty
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