UNC Basketball: 2019-20 Stats in Review - Total Rebounds

The 2019-20 Carolina basketball team maintained their strong team rebounding, but there were no standout individual performances. Let's take a look back.

2 + 2 = 4. Coke is better than Pepsi. The adult human body contains 206 bones. The earth is round (you hear that, Kyrie?). Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. I get horrible allergies every May. Roy Williams doesn’t call timeouts. Roy Williams likes to play fast. Roy Williams likes to play with two big men. Roy Williams-coached teams are at or near the top of the NCAA annually in rebounding.

These are all unequivocally true statements. No opinions here. Everything you see above is 100 percent factually correct. If you have beef with me over Coke versus Pepsi, my number is (202) 456-1414. Again though, it’s scientifically accurate that Coke is better, so you have no grievance with me.

Anyway, let’s get down to business. The thing we’re really here to talk about today is rebounding. And the fact that Roy Williams-coached teams are really good at it. Do you need further proof of the veracity of this statement? Good, I’d be happy to help.

In 2019-20, in a down year, the first losing season in Roy Williams’ career, here’s where the Tar Heels ranked in NCAA Division 1 in team rebounding categories:

• Total rebounds per game – 2nd (41.88)
• Rebound margin – 9th (7.6)
• Offensive rebounds per game – 6th (13.76)
• Defensive rebounds per game – tied for 19th (28.12)

“Well sure, okay, fine,” you think, “that’s a one year aberration.” Well all right then, need a bigger sample size, do you? All right fine, but don’t push me anymore. Here is Carolina’s rank in total rebounds per game and rebound margin for the past six years.

Total rebounds per game:

• 2019-20 – 2nd (41.88)
• 2018-19 – 1st (43.81)
• 2017-18 – 1st (42.43)
• 2016-17 – 1st (43.73)
• 2015-16 – 15th (40.60)
• 2014-15 – 2nd (45.37)

Rebound Margin:

• 2019-20 – 9th (7.6)
• 2018-19 – 1st (10.4)
• 2017-18 – 3rd (9.6)
• 2016-17 – 1st (12.3)
• 2015-16 – 9th (8.6)
• 2014-15 – 9th (7.7)

Okay, so yeah, that’s pretty good. Right? Yeah, absolutely it is.

Furthermore, teams that have such strong rebounding numbers must have some really strong individual rebounders, right? Right.

Over the course of those six seasons we just reviewed, a Tar Heel found his way onto the Carolina all-time single-season rebounding top 10 list four times.

• Brice Johnson | 2015-16 | 416 rebounds | 1st
• Kennedy Meeks | 2016-17 | 378 rebounds | 6th
• Luke Maye | 2018-19 | 377 rebounds | 7th
• Luke Maye | 2017-18 | 373 rebounds | 9th

P.S. Yes, Luke Maye is the only Tar Heel to have two different seasons in the top 10 on the single season rebounding list for Carolina. LUKE MAYE.

So what about the 2019-20 Tar Heels? Where will they etch their names in the Carolina rebounding record books? Let’s find out.

North Carolina Tar Heels forward Garrison Brooks (15) blocks the shot of Virginia Tech Hokies guard Jalen Cone (15) / © Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Over the course of the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the stats from the 2019-20 North Carolina basketball team, one category at a time. We began last week by looking at total points. We move today to total rebounds.

As a reminder: while these stats won’t tell the whole story of the season, they will help provide context and insight for both the present and historical context.

The following chart will list each player, how many rebounds they had, and where they ranked in the Carolina history books for total rebounds in a single season.

Observations

• Garrison Brooks led the team with 272 total rebounds. This is the lowest total to lead the team since James Michael McAdoo’s 230 rebounds in 2013-14.
• This is the first team since 2014-15 to not have a player register a top-10 single season rebounding mark for the Tar Heel record book.
• This was also the first time since 2014-15 that no player had 300+ rebounds for the season.
• Cole Anthony is the best rebounding point guard of the Roy Williams era. He recorded 125 rebounds while missing 11 games. At his average of 5.7 rebounds per game, Anthony projects to have added 62.7 rebounds for a total of 187.7. The previous high for a lead guard in the Roy Williams era was Raymond Felton’s 155 in the 2004-05 season.
• The Heels really missed out on Sterling Manley’s rebounding capability. He recorded 133 rebounds in his only fully healthy season (2017-18) while averaging just 10 minutes per game.
• Leaky Black’s rebounding will be important over the next two years. He averaged 5.0 rebounds a game in his sophomore campaign and, similar to Theo Pinson’s rebounding average growth each year, should continue to climb and provide a ton of rebounds from the wing. That will make Roy Williams a happy man.
• The top three rebounders from this team (Garrison Brooks, Armando Bacot, and Leaky Black) all return to school next year. On the flip side, the next four leading rebounders are all gone (Justin Pierce, Cole Anthony, Christian Keeling, Brandon Robinson).

Conclusions

Once again, numbers don’t tell the whole story, but they do help tell the story. So what story do these numbers help tell?

First off, it’s important to keep in mind that these lower rebound totals are, in part, due to the fewer number of games played in 2019-20 (no postseason). Also, several of these lower point totals are due to games missed as a result of injury (Cole Anthony and Sterling Manley, as previously mentioned.).

Despite being down on rebounding numbers individually, the 2019-20 Heels maintained their strong rebounding as a team. With the top three rebounders returning and adding more impact big man in Day’Ron Sharpe and Walker Kessler, the 2020-21 Carolina squad is in a good position to once again be one of the most dominant rebounding teams in the nation.

Hopefully, that also means that 2 + 2 will still equal for and Coke will always be better than Pepsi.

Next stat to investigate on Friday, May 22: Assists.

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