UNC Basketball: Biggest Storyline to Watch in Tar Heels Offseason

Good postseason showings in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments helped to cover up for the fact that the North Carolina Tar Heels were super shaky down the stretch of the season.

Now heading into the offseason, a number of concerns and storylines remain in the forefront of fans' minds, not the least of which is the overarching wonder/worry about the alleged academic scandal at the university.

However, there is nothing really to say on that front. There is no relevant news unless you glean something from the Syracuse penalty handed down this month, although the situations are vastly different.

The biggest storyline to follow is thus basketball-related, and it has to do with the roster this team will have in 2015-16.

Said simply, there are just going to be too many guys who will need minutes for North Carolina. Is there such a thing as being too deep? In all likelihood, not a single Heel is leaving school early. No one is a projected first-round NBA pick, let alone a lottery pick. The best pro prospect on the roster is probably Justin Jackson, and he couldn't even hit a three until March.

So if the entire roster returns (with the exception of walk-ons and sparsely used seniors Desmond Hubert and Jackson Simmons), and a solid recruit, Luke Maye, is coming in and will garner rotation minutes, what does Roy Williams do with this team? There are too many guys.

Marcus Paige ~ 30 MPG	Justin Jackson ~ 27	Nate Britt ~ 6
J.P. Tokoto ~ 23	Joel Berry ~ 20	Joel James ~ 5
Brice Johnson ~ 25	Theo Pinson ~ 12	Luke Maye ~ 10
Kennedy Meeks ~ 24	Isaiah Hicks ~ 18

The entire starting lineup will presumably be back. In that group, Kennedy Meeks will be in even better shape and will demand more minutes. He only played 23.3 MPG this year even though he was one of the most effective post scorers in the conference.

The pending sophomores will also want more minutes both in the starting lineup (Jackson) and off the bench (Joel Berry and Theo Pinson). Isaiah Hicks also needs more minutes for the third straight season.

Add in incoming freshman Maye, who is a good outside shooter that will bring this team much-needed spacing, and we are already up to nine guys. That doesn't even include Nate Britt or Joel James, who combined to play more than 25 minutes per game this season and had effective bursts. 

Folks with a keen eye will notice that even the fullest of rotations gets shortened when games matter most. The Kentucky Wildcats have shortened their rotation through the NCAA tournament, giving fewer minutes to their backup bigs (the West Virginia game notwithstanding).

What does that say for Williams' plan when A) he is known for using lots of guys to begin with, and B) it isn't remotely clear who the team's best six or seven players even are for next season?

This situation is certainly better than the alternative of having no bench to turn to, and recruiting this past offseason was surely predicated on the belief that most, if not all, of this season's players would be coming back to school. Bringing in just one freshman was acceptable in that regard.

Even so, the Tar Heels are left with a pile of potential upset egos and uncomfortable rotations that can thwart the best-laid plans.