CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The North Carolina Tar Heels and Gonzaga Bulldogs began the 2022-23 college basketball season as the preseason number one and number two teams - but neither program managed to match those lofty expectations.
While Gonzaga did make the Elite 8, guard play hampered them throughout the season and ultimately buried them in a blowout loss to UConn. Meanwhile, Hubert Davis and he Tar Heels became the first team in the modern era to go from No. 1 to not making the Big Dance, causing a lot of panic in Chapel Hill.
The Zags and Heels each had slow starts to the offseason but managed to take huge steps forward over the weekend, with Gonzaga adding former Creighton point guard Ryan Nembhard and Wyoming center Graham Ike, while UNC picked up Notre Dame sharpshooter Cormac Ryan and Stanford forward Harrison Ingram.
Locked on College Basketball podcast hosts Andy Patton and Isaac Schade spoke about each program and the key additions they made on the latest episode.
"It's funny to see Gonzaga and North Carolina both pull things together at the same time," Patton said. "Both [made] transfer portal additions that, at the time, weren't expected to end up with their respective [teams]."
Nembhard was long projected to end up playing for Tommy Lloyd at Arizona, especially after the Wildcats lost Kerr Kriisa to West Virginia in the transfer portal. Lloyd had a big role in recruiting Ryan's brother Andrew to Gonzaga, and many felt he would be able to convince Ryan to join a team in need of guard help.
Instead Mark Few and the Bulldogs got the deal done, shoring up a huge area of need following last year's NCAA Tournament debacle in the backcourt.
"That was just a massive, unbelievable addition for Mark Few and their staff," Patton continued. "Just the talent Ryan Nembhard has and the specific skill set he possesses that was so clearly absent from Gonzaga's team last year."
Meanwhile, the Tar Heels looked like they missed out in Ingram, with most assuming he had flipped to join the Kansas Jayhawks. However he ultimately chose the Tar Heels, giving coach Davis a playmaking forward that should thrive in this offense.
"Harrison Ingram really does bring this interesting dynamic for North Carolina," Schade said. "Ingram brings in this unique, playmaking, point forward [skill set]. Does that allow RJ Davis to play a bit more off the ball?"
Gonzaga and North Carolina likely won't begin the season as the preseason top two teams, but their recent additions should have them squarely in the top 25 as they look to get back toward the top during the 2023-24 campaign.