Official 2014-15 Basketball Roster Released

This is always fun, especially to note any significant weight changes.

The full roster can be found here. GoHeels covers the pertinent physical changes.

Jonas Sahratian, the squad's strength & conditioning coordinator, measured the official heights and weights for each returning player this week as benchmarks prior to the start of preseason running and conditioning on Monday.

Sophomore forward Kennedy Meeks weighed in at 270 pounds, dropping almost 50 in just over a year after enrolling at Carolina in the summer of 2013 at 317 pounds.

At the other end of the spectrum, Meeks' frontcourt mate Brice Johnson has bulked up by over 40 pounds in two years.  Johnson proudly tipped the scales at 228 pounds this week after weighing 187 as a freshman.

Another Tar Heel to bulk up in the weight room was forward Isaiah Hicks, who is up to 230 pounds from 220 last season as he vies for more frontcourt minutes as a sophomore this winter.

In the height department, all Tar Heel players are at the same height as when the 2014-15 roster was first released in June with the exception of junior wing J.P. Tokoto, who is now 6-6.  Tokoto has grown slightly since entering Carolina at a shade over 6-5 two summers ago.

The transformations of both Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson are truly phenomenal. This is both a testimony to the work of both athletes but also to what the strength and conditioning program Jonas Sahratian is running at UNC. Now that both of UNC's presumptive post players are in prime physical condition the next step is to see if their basketball skill sets have also improved.

The other player to note here is Isaiah Hicks gaining ten pounds to 230. Hicks will play this season as the backup for Johnson at power forward so the weight game was necessary to permit him to operate in the post.

One additional item. Today is Marcus Paige's 21st birthday.