Jaydon Young enters his second season at UNC with an opportunity to earn more minutes. Can defense, experience, and improved 3-point shooting help the senior carve out a bigger role for Michael Malone?
The annual Locked On Tar Heels basketball roster preview series has reached its 12th installment, and now the attention turns to one of the few holdovers from last season’s roster: senior guard Jaydon Young.
We’ve already worked through UNC’s four freshmen (Maximo Adams, Sayon Keita, Malloy Smith and Kevin Thomas) along with sophomores Matt Able, Neoklis Avdalas, Cade Bennerman, and Isaiah Denis. Alexandros Samodurov represented the expected junior rotation, followed by seniors Terrence Brown and Jarin Stevenson.
Now comes Young, whose second season in Chapel Hill presents one central question: Can he carve out a larger role under Michael Malone?
Young averaged just 7.3 minutes and 1.8 points per game last season, but those numbers don’t necessarily tell the entire story. He started four games and provided one of his most memorable stretches during UNC’s comeback attempt against Cal, when his presence helped spark the Tar Heels’ pressure defense. That performance ultimately helped him earn a starting opportunity in the following game against Notre Dame.
That defensive ability could once again be his avenue onto the floor.
At 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, Young possesses good size and athleticism for a guard. He doesn’t need the basketball in his hands to contribute offensively, and his experience gives him the potential to become a dependable team defender and point-of-attack option off the bench.
But there is one obvious swing skill: three-point shooting.
Young has shot 30% from three for his career and just 28.3% last season. If he wants to separate himself in a crowded competition for reserve backcourt minutes, that number has to rise.
That competition will be fascinating. Terrence Brown, Matt Able and Neoklis Avdalas appear firmly established as UNC’s primary guards, leaving Young to compete with Isaiah Denis, Angelo Brizzi, Kevin Thomas, and potentially others for the minutes behind them. Locked On Tar Heels projected Young somewhere around the ninth-to-11th spot in the rotation, perhaps playing roughly seven to 11 minutes per game.
Young’s offensive ceiling might also be higher than what Tar Heel fans saw last season. During his sophomore year at Virginia Tech, he flashed legitimate scoring ability, including performances of 27 and 26 points. Still, the expectation shouldn’t be for Young to suddenly become a featured scorer at Carolina. Instead, the goal is consistency: defend, knock down open shots, attack closeouts and make winning plays.
Perhaps his greatest value, though, comes from something more difficult to quantify.
Young returned to UNC knowing there were no guarantees about his role. That willingness to stay, compete and accept whatever responsibility comes his way speaks to the veteran presence he can provide for a roster undergoing enormous transition in Malone’s first season.
Our bold prediction on Locked On Tar Heels? Young becomes the catalyst in an ACC victory, playing 15-20 minutes, knocking down three or four triples and scoring 15 points. Jonathan Adams took it even further, predicting Young records five steals in that same game.
Will Young command major minutes every night? Probably not.
But championship-caliber teams inevitably need veteran reserves capable of changing a game when their number is called.
Jaydon Young might just get that opportunity.
