UNC Basketball: Biggest Thing We've Learned About Tar Heels in 2014-15

At the beginning of the year, much was expected of North Carolina. The Tar Heels were ranked sixth in the preseason's AP poll. Midway through February, results have been pretty consistent as UNC currently ranks 12th in the nation.

The few ups and downs the Heels have encountered, though, stem from a few problems that fans were hoping would have been solved this offseason. Instead, things continue to desert UNC mainly from behind the arc.

From three, the Heels rank outside the top 300 nationally in both makes and attempts. Their three-point percentage (33.1) is also not where it needs to be.

We've learned the reason for this in 2014-15, and it should have been expected entering November. The players who were supposed to solve this shortcoming, the incoming freshmen, are in their first year and have not reached their peak performance.

Also, no matter the expectations and rankings of these young players, all talented freshmen advance and mature at different rates.

It's hard to get on this batch of freshmen too hard, considering two of the three have been out with injuries for a long while and the third, Justin Jackson, has started every game this season. Yet no one has made an impact on the outside where this team really needs help for returning guards Marcus Paige and Nate Britt.

Joel Berry has seen just 184 minutes this year, while Theo Pinson logged 277. Jackson has played plenty, and yet none of the three players has made even a dozen shots from distance this year.

Current results do not guarantee future events. Just because Jackson isn't hitting shots from the outside now and neither Berry nor Pinson has made an impact doesn't mean these things won't change.

Karl B DeBlaker/Associated Press

All came to Chapel Hill with glowing scouting reports. Jackson especially was supposed to be a fluid shooter from outside. Whether because of nerves or because of adjustments to coaching and competition, they haven't lived up to expectations.

The takeaway is that freshmen shouldn't be counted on as saviors. Rare is the talent that comes in and produces like a Jahlil Okafor or Jabari Parker at rival Duke. Instead, many elite freshmen go the route of Isaiah Hicks.

Hicks was nearly worthless as a freshman, but in his sophomore campaign, he has become a useful and efficient interior defender and finisher who is getting continually better.

The same may occur for these newcomers, but it may not happen in time to alter this season's results.