It’s been a bit of a rough year for Nassir Little.
The former 5-star recruit came into Chapel Hill this season with high expectations, but things haven’t quite gone according to plan for the 19-year-old freshman. Instead of being the centerpiece of Roy Williams’ offense, Little has been mostly a second-unit guy and did not start a single regular season game.
No matter what your talent level is, it’s tough to stand out with limited opportunities.
However, the uber-athletic wing might be turning things on at the right time. After an inconsistent season that featured maybe an equal number of highlights as it did head-scratchers, Little has exploded during the first two games of the NCAA tournament.
In the Tar Heels’ first game vs Iona, Little scored 19 points on 69% shooting. Against Washington, he led the team in scoring with 20 points on 72% shooting. Little had scored 19 or more points for UNC just three times before the tournament began.
UNC’s built for a deep tournament run again this year. If Little can keep performing at a high level on college basketball’s biggest of stages, he may sway some of his doubters. If not, Little’s still young enough to grow out of some of his issues. Hopefully.