When you juxtapose the North Carolina Tar Heels' season opener with Friday night, they were night and day.
The players clearly heard the criticism and responded. Despite issues that bled through from the discouraging win over Western Carolina, the Tar Heels took care of business in a comfortable 109-70 win over Wofford on Friday night.
There were several standout performances . For the second straight game, Maximo Adams made a significant impact. In his postgame press conference, Malone talked about Adams' outing against Wofford.
Nov 2, 2026; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Michael Malone looks on during the first half against the Western Carolina Catamounts at Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
"Maxi [Maximo Adams] was great tonight," Malone said. "Obviously his first career double-double. We won the rebound battle, we still gave up 17 [offensive rebounds], but thank goodness, 19-10 second chance points in our favor tonight, which was nice. And we took another step forward in terms of taking care of the basketball -18 assists, only eight turnovers."
"But Maxi, he can play the three, he can play the four. There'll be times where maybe he plays the five for us."
"But just relentless pursuit, and we've seen that every day in practice," Malone continued. "So tonight wasn't just like a one-off. This is something that Maxi prides himself on: attacking the glass, working the [offensive] boards, getting us extra possessions. He was our defensive player of the game tonight: seven defensive boards, two blocks, three deflections. I thought he had a huge impact and imprint on the game tonight."
Through two games, Adams is averaging 10.5 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 53.3 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point range. Although it's a small sample, the 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward playing at this level as an incoming freshman could expedite North Carolina's development in the coming weeks.
Nov 2, 2026; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Western Carolina Catamounts forward Fola Sodipo (23) looks for a pass during the first half against North Carolina Tar Heels forward Maximo Adams (25) at Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The former 4-star recruit is currently coming off the bench, but that could change sooner rather than later. Adams played sparingly with the majority of the starting five - excluding Sayon Keita - in the season opener.
That narrative carried over into Friday night, as Keita was phased out of the game, playing 14 minutes. Meanwhile, Adams saw 22 minutes of action. This could be a shift to Adams eventually usurping Keita in the starting lineup.
At this point, Adams has proven to be a legitimate rebounder. If that continues, Malone might as well insert him into the starting lineup, as Adams offers much more offensively than Keita. The Tar Heels' rebounding doesn't improve greatly with the former FC Barcelona center on the floor. Deploying a small-ball lineup with Jarin Stevenson at center could be problematic against certain teams, but it's time for this coaching staff to test it out during this time of the season.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/unc as How Maximo Adams Establishing Himself As UNC Cornerstone .
