Is North Carolina the Most Talented College Basketball Team In 20 Years?

That's a pretty bold question, but I think next season's UNC team ranks among the most talented collection of college players ever to be assembled. Let's look at the facts:

• This past season, UNC made it to the Final Four.
• UNC is losing just two players (Quentin Thomas and Alex Stepheson) who averaged just 16 and 15 minutes per game respectively. They ranked 7 and 8 among minutes played.
• UNC is gaining four players. Two of which are ranked among the top 15 incoming freshmen and one that is in the top 50. Three were McDonald's All-Americans.
• UNC loses a backup point guard and backup power forward, but gains a top 15 point guard, No. 11 overall power forward, No. 12 overall 7-foot center, and an unrated shooting guard who averaged 22 points a game last year.
• UNC gains a healthy Bobby Frasor.
• UNC returns the consensus National Player of the Year in Tyler Hansbrough.
• UNC has one of the top three best point guards in Ty Lawson.

Here is the depth chart:

Point Guard:

• Ty Lawson
• Bobby Frasor
• Larry Drew

Shooting Guard:

• Wayne Ellington
• Danny Green
• Will Graves
• Bobby Frasor
• Justin Watts

Small Forward:

• Marcus Ginyard
• Danny Green
• Will Graves

Power Forward:

• Tyler Hansbrough
• Ed Davis
• Danny Green

Center:

• Deon Thompson
• Tyler Zeller

The starting five is unchanged from last season:

• Ty Lawson
• Wayne Ellington
• Marcus Ginyard
• Tyler Hansbrough
• Deon Thompson

The second five is probably a top 25 team too:

• Bobby Frasor
• Will Graves
• Danny Green
• Ed Davis
• Tyler Zeller

What about the 2004-2005 UNC team? They are probably the best comparison to next season's team:

Starting 5:

• Ty Lawson vs. Ray Felton (my pick: Lawson - when healthy)
• Wayne Ellington vs. Rashad McCants (my pick: McCants, no-brainer)
• Marcus Ginyard vs. Jackie Manuel (my pick: Ginyard, no-brainer)
• Tyler Hansbrough vs. Jawad Williams (my pick: Hansbrough-POY)
• Deon Thompson vs. Sean May (my pick: May)

Second 5:

• Bobby Frasor vs. Quentin Thomas (my pick: Frasor)
• Will Graves vs. Wes Miller (my pick: Graves)
• Danny Green vs. Reyshawn Terry (my pick: Green)
• Ed Davis vs. David Noel (my pick: Noel, until Davis proves me wrong)
• Tyler Zeller vs. Marvin Williams (my pick: Williams, until Zeller proves me wrong)

That's six picks for the 08-09 team and four for 04-05. There is a very good chance Ed Davis will be a stud and be better than David Noel. There is only a slight chance Tyler Zeller will be better than Marvin. So there is a good chance my picks would go 7-3, and that's compared to a national championship team!

Let me caveat this brief analysis by emphasizing one word: talent. I did not say the best team in college basketball. I wouldn't even make that claim for next season. This past season, UNC was arguably the most talented, and we know how that went.

Just as we heard so much talk this year and in 2004-05, everyone wonders how a team with so much talent will gel. With three players seriously looking at the NBA this year, and one of whom got into trouble off the court, there are questions about chemistry next season.

Will Danny continue to remain satisfied being the best sixth man in the country? Will Bobby Frasor and Will Graves get more significant minutes?

How well the team takes advantage of its talent will dictate how successful they will be. We won't know until the end of next season.

The one question we can tackle now is which team is the deepest and has the most talent. My vote is for UNC 08-09 being among the most talented in the last 20 years.