As an avid Tar Heel, let me try to fill you in on Seventh.
First some background:
This transfer seems odd as one would have thought that were he to transfer, the sensible move would have been to do so after his sophomore season as Coby White was entering the picture and his prospects of more playing time seemed in doubt. However, the thinking at the beginning of the season last year was that we did not know what to expect of Coby, and that left us with a possibility of Seventh starting and receiving a larger role. Thus, IMO, Seventh probably thought this last season would bring a jump for him and he decided to stay.
THE BAD:
Despite the opportunity, Seventh did very little to give the coaching staff any reason to play him more, and Coby White gave every reason why he should never leave the floor. Unfortunately, as a ranked recruit [in the top 100], Seventh never really developed in his three seasons, and certainly showed no improvement last year. His first two seasons were saddled with injuries, which built in an excuse as to why he never seemed to be able to find a rhythm. However, last season showed that the injuries were more nuisance than hindrance.
Seventh’s promise born from his athleticism, never bore the fruit of any sort of game. He is not a scorer in any way, and in fact fails to score at all three levels [whatever that is supposed to mean - side note: as a coach for 25 years, I couldn’t try to explain scoring in any sort of levels - it is a stupid way to describe finishing, mid-range and long range]. Additionally, Seventh has suspect handles and poor decision making skills, and the combination of this with a lack of ability to score makes him almost a liability offensively. The sad fact is that 7th may be athletic, but it never translates into anything on the court. He certainly can play at the lower level of D1, and is good enough to help a mid-major with solid minutes. However, I am baffled as to why a major D1 program would want to take him on just to get backup minutes [or I guess why would 7th want to go somewhere where he is in the same position he was at UNC]. Gonzaga and Michigan make ZERO sense for either. USC is his hometown and lacks depth at PG [TJ Moss will be a Junior by the time he plays].
THE GOOD:
Despite his lack of offensive capability, Seventh is a high level defender. He has very good lateral ability, stays in front of guys, never quits on D and is a ball hawk. Purely on defense alone, Seventh makes a lot of sense because he is easily a top 100 defender in college basketball.
Additionally, in the right role, Seventh could provide capable minutes in a less major role on offense. He certainly was asked to do two things offensively: not turn it over and to keep the offense flowing. There were times when he was able to provide solid minutes in a “don’t do too much” role and play defense. If he were used in this way, he is a solid reserve, and would have been for UNC as well.
Overall, I cannot imagine that Michigan would be able to use him unless they think he was just never given a chance or that his game wasn’t a fit. Of course, that could be, but I lean more toward the idea that Seventh is as he has been - a role playing D1 player with a lot of limitations. I suspect he will end up at South Carolina.