After two exhibition games, North Carolina is looking forward to kicking off their men's college basketball season with a home game at the Dean E. Smith Center on Monday against Elon.

RJ Davis and Elliot Cadeau have been on plenty of preseason lists, from ACC Player of the Year to Breakout Star to Top Player in the Nation. However, two different UNC stars find their name on the Julius Erving Award watch list.

The Julius Erving Award is named after the Class of 1993 Hall of Famer and 16-year professional basketball player for multiple franchises. The award goes to the top small forward in Division I men's college basketball.

Tennessee's Dalton Knecht won the award in 2024, preceded by Kansas' Jalen Wilson, Duke's Wendell Moore, and Gonzaga's Corey Kispert in the previous four years.

This year, Ian Jackson and Drake Powell, two UNC stars and some of the top freshmen in college basketball were on the preseason watch list.

The Tar Heels are the only team on the watch list with two players represented. Other notable freshmen on the list include Duke's Cooper Flagg, Rutgers' Ace Bailey, and UConn's Liam McNeeley.

The notable non-freshmen include Auburn's Chad Baker-Manaza, Indiana's Mackenzie Mgbako, Kansas's AJ Storr, and Miami's Matthew Cleveland.

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire : UNC basketball has two players on Julius Erving Watch List