UNC Men’s Basketball: Incoming freshman jersey numbers announced

While there’s still one scholarship out there, and UNC apparently out there looking to fill it, for the most part the North Carolina men’s basketball team are almost fully into “get ready for next season” mode. While it seems like an eternity away now, before you know it, we’ll have reached “Late Night” and then watching games.

However, we’re not there yet, and we’re still firmly in the “learning things about next season” phase. One of the things we have recently learned is the uniforms numbers that the incoming freshman will be wearing next season. UNC released them Wednesday, so let’s see what we’ll see on the court next season.

In numerical order, we’ll start with Seth Trimble, who will be donning #0. The number was most recently worn by Anthony Harris before he transferred away this offseason. The most notable Tar Heel to wear #0 was probably 2017 national champion Nate Britt.

Incoming big man Jalen Washington will be donning #13. Said number is often considered unlucky, and the number hasn’t worked out great for UNC in recent years as the last three players to wear it are Dawson Garcia, Walker Kessler, and Jeremiah Francis, all of whom went on to transfer from Carolina. However immediately before those three, the player to wear it was one of the best Tar Heel success stories in recent memory: Cam Johnson. A Carolina player from the 1940s, John “Hook” Dillon received honored jersey status while wearing #13 after being named an All-American in 1946.

Will Shaver has been on campus for a while, enrolling early last January and redshirting. Now, he’s set to take the court this season and will do so in #21. The number has a history of key national contributors wearing it as Jimmy Black (1982), Donald Williams (1993), Jawad Williams (2005), and Deon Thompson (2009) all wore the number as starters in national championship wins. Donald Williams and Mitch Kupchak both have banners in the rafters with the #21 as honored players.

Last but not least, Tyler Nickel will take the court in #24. Kerwin Walton had been wearing the number before transferring away. Other notable names to don the number include Marvin Williams, Kenny William, Joe Wolf, and Walter Davis, who is in the rafters as an honored player.

Players have been known on occasion to switch up their jersey numbers to more notable ones after upperclassmen leave, so these aren’t necessarily the numbers these four will spend their entire careers in. That being said, who knows, maybe someday one of these numbers will end up in the rafters for one of the four incoming freshman.