UNC Basketball: Luke Maye withdraws his name from the NBA Draft

This morning, soon-to-be senior Luke Maye posted on instagram that he will be returning to UNC this fall. While this is not very surprising, this is still huge news for the 2018-19 version of the Tar Heels. Maye had a strong junior season, and one can only imagine that he will be able to meet or exceed his success during his final year in Chapel Hill.

Here’s what Luke Maye had to say about his return:

“I have had a great experience learning from the NBA process and growing as a basketball player during the past couple weeks. I would like to thank my friends, coaches, and teammates for all of their support. Through this process, I have decided that I am going to come back to school to improve as a player and finish my college career. I am looking forward to the opportunities and challenges that I will face and there is no better group to do it with than my teammates and the Carolina family! Time to finish the right way with two of the best players and leaders that I know! Let’s finish our legacy the right way! #RoadtoMinneapolis”

With Luke Maye’s return, the 2018-19 North Carolina Tar Heels roster is officially set. With only three (really good) freshmen making their way to campus, this should be yet another experienced team that should be able to do a lot of good things this fall. Luke Maye, Garrison Brooks, Sterling Manley, and Brandon Huffman make up what should be an improved group of big men, which will hopefully lead to Roy Williams being able to return to his inside-out style of offense. Five-star freshman Nassir Little should have an immediate impact on the floor, and we can expect Coby White and Rechon “Leaky” Black to battle for minutes to support junior point guard Seventh Woods.

We’re truly excited to see that Luke Maye has decided to return. Having received input during the draft process, I’m hoping that we see a Justin Jackson-like improvement to Maye’s game. If there’s any truth to that, he has a great shot to finish his career as a First-Team All-ACC player. It should be another fun season in Chapel Hill, and hopefully the Heels will indeed help Maye and Kenny Williams finish their legacies the right way.