The saying goes, “You can’t let the highs get too high and you can’t let the lows get too low.” Hubert Davis and his Tar Heels are in grave trouble. With their second straight loss to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, UNC is in a precarious position, standing 5th in the ACC. Where did it all go wrong for the North Carolina team? Their brief four-game win streak had given a lot of hope to their fans and supporters. UNC legends Raymond Felton, Theo Pinson, and Justin Jackson sat down to discuss all of this and more.

On the podcast To The Baha, Raymond Felton addressed the issues with UNC this year. “We got out-NIL’ed,” the former NBA star said, as he stated one of the biggest issues was the lack of a solid big. “I am willing to bet a good amount of money that doesn’t happen again. We understood before, ‘damn, we don’t have no big,’ we’re not gonna let that happen again.”

But there’s a deeper issue going on in the NCAA, however. Athletes right now aren’t prioritizing their development as players, rather they are focusing on just one thing—money. “Kids nowadays don’t go to schools for the fit anymore,” said Felton, “They go to schools where the money is.” He went on to give the example of Coleman Hawkins, a former Illini who transferred over to Kansas State for the money. The fit wasn’t there, but the money was.

It is always an issue when an agent disagrees with the college over money. For example, if someone was considered a $50k player by UNC and their agent was looking for nearly triple that amount. One thing is for certain, however, that monetary limitations are not conducive to winning in today’s NCAA.

“We need more money. If we want to compete, the Carolina name is not going to mean much anymore because these kids just want bread. It’s just how it is.” But Raymond Felton also went on to give the squad their flowers. The former NCAA champion said that UNC had competed closely in every game but one, Alabama.

The situation at UNC isn’t unsalvageable. They have good talent in RJ Davis and company, all they need to do is band together. Hubert Davis has been doing his best with the talent he has, and it will be interesting to see if he can pull UNC out of the hole that they have dug for themselves.

What went wrong for UNC against Wake Forest?

A one-point victory always hurts. It is a different feeling altogether when you take a game to the wire and end up losing. North Carolina has had two of these losses back-to-back. Against Wake Forest, however, it seemed like luck was not in favor of the Tar Heels.

The Demon Deacons starting squad was a lot more consistent than the Tar Heels. Wake Forest only scored two points off the bench, while UNC scored 14. What separated the two teams, however, was the way the starters showed up. In such a close victory, each point counts, and Wake Forest understood that. Their ball movement was a lot better than the Hubert Davis-led team.

According to analysts like Felton, the lack of size at UNC is concerning. The fact that they might have missed out on a good big because of NIL money is concerning for sure. While the Tar Heels aren’t in too deep of a hole, they do have a daunting stretch coming up. They face the undefeated Blue Devils next, who are present twice on their schedule. If they manage to figure out Cooper Flagg, UNC might just force themselves into success.

What do you think? Will the Tar Heels recover from these losses? Can they make a title run this year? We will find out as the season progresses.