It may be a great day for those 3 "youngsters", they are all going to go in the first round of the NBA draft and possibly even have another UNC Lottery Party, but while your not going to see North Carolina at the bottom of the ACC "rebuilding" you are still going to have to watch some growing pains next year.
Personally I think it should have played out a little different if we were being logical....Kendall Marshall won the Bob Cousy Award today as the top point guard in the country so his stock was not going to get any higher and there isn't much debate as to another player that will jump him in most people's minds. Yes there are a ton of great players that are going to be going this year, it's an incredibly deep draft compared to recent years....but that's excluding point guards. It's about as shallow at that position as it is deep at many others. I can't think of any reason that Marshall would come back unless it was to win a championship and after he was injured this year you can't blame him for not taking the risk.
Sadly Harrison Barnes is a different story in my eyes at least. All year it's just seemed like we kept waiting for him to flip that switch like last year and start playing more controlled, being a vocal leader who shows it on and off the court and seeing a few jumpers fall. The thing is, he ended this year like he started last year....too much hype and not enough substance. I have a bad feeling he is going to get manhandled in the league and that's not where you wanna go to build confidence. There's no more Roy to hide you from the media when Kobe holds you scoreless and puts up 48 on you. I hope i'm wrong and I wish him all the best but I just don't see it yet and I wish he came back and worked out all summer on his ball-handling like he supposedly did last year.
I feel like Henson is the most improved player in America over the last year and a half. When I first saw him play he was so tentative and unassuming that he was not able to play his game. Once Roy brought out his personality and he got acclimated to Chapel Hill it was like a whole new player. He's obviously worked on his shooting a ton but he still needs to keep getting up 500 shots daily from that 10-15 foot range if he wants to have a coach that doesn't cringe and give him the yank everytime he shoots from outside the paint. His defensive skills are what really drive his draft stock though, the shotblocking ability he has shown by improving his timing is incredible to watch and what will allow him to leave while he's still under construction and the cement isn't dry. I think that's why right now even though Harrison Barnes is probably going to get drafted a pretty good amount higher with a ton more hoopla, Henson is going to have an easier transition.
