Is RJ Davis playing tonight? Exploring North Carolina star's availability vs American Eagles (Nov 15)

RJ Davis has a healthy status entering Friday's game against the American Eagles. He has no injuries listed, having played in North Carolina's games against Elon and No. 1 Kansas. The confirmation of his being on the court for the matchup will be determined before the 8 p.m. ET. tip-off.

Davis is in the final season of his collegiate basketball career. He has displayed improvement every year in the Tar Heels' rotation, going from 8.4 points as a rookie to 21.2 points as a senior. After four seasons, he averaged 15.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and a steal in 138 games.

This year, RJ Davis has maintained his standing as the team's top option. He's averaging 20 points, 5.5 assists, four rebounds and a steal per game. However, he's in a shooting rut, with clips of 29.4% overall and 22.2% from beyond the arc.

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RJ Davis is key to North Carolina's success this season

Despite his shooting woes, RJ Davis is important to how the Tar Heels perform this season.

They are 1-1 after two games, beating Elon and losing to No. 1 Kansas. Davis had 24 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals on 7-of-19 shooting from the field and 3-of-11 from downtown in the win against Elon on Nov. 4. However, his efficiency dropped to 16 points and four assists on 3-of-15 shooting overall and 1-of-7 from deep.

North Carolina needs Davis to bounce back from his shooting struggles, especially if they wish to achieve the high expectations they set on themselves when it comes to making deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. Last season, they went 29-8 and won the ACC Championship and reached the Sweet Sixteen of the 2024 NCAA Tournament before losing 89-87 to Alabama.

RJ Davis averaged 19.3 points, 3.3 assists, two rebounds and 1.3 steals during the run to the Sweet Sixteen, showing his importance in the Tar Heels' offense. He received multiple accolades, including ACC Player of the Year and the Jerry West Award, and being named a consensus first-team All-American by many outlets.

The Tar Heels are in their fourth season with coach Hubert Davis at the helm. He has a 79-32 record, leading the program to the 2022 national championship game where they lost 72-69 to Kansas. They will look to return to that stage after being unsuccessful in the last two seasons.

Following the game against American, North Carolina will travel to Hawaii to face the Rainbow Warriors at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on Nov. 23 at 12:30 a.m. ET.