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CHAPEL HILL — Harrison Barnes is back. The ACC's freshman of the year announced Monday morning that he had decided to be a sophomore at North Carolina instead of a rookie in the NBA.

And now — one season removed from the NIT — next season's Tar Heels are the nearest thing to a lock to be the preseason No. 1 team in the nation since, well, North Carolina. In Tyler Hansbrough's senior year, the 2008-09 Tar Heels received all 72 votes in the AP preseason poll.

That could happen again. Because it's not just Barnes.

The Heels welcome back all five starters and the top seven scorers from a team that reached the NCAA's Elite Eight last month before losing to Kentucky.

That includes three players who likely would've been picked in the first round of the NBA draft this year: the starting frontcourt of 6-foot-8 Barnes, 6-10 John Henson and 7-0 Tyler Zeller.

Henson and Zeller announced their decisions to stay put nearly two weeks ago.

Barnes weighed his options a little longer, but he hinted he would return on the second day of the ACC tournament in Greensboro when he spoke with the News & Record about the threat of an NBA lockout.

"As a player, you're going to have to realize that nothing's going to happen to the college game. It's going to be there," Barnes said March 11. "Players aren't going to protest against the NCAA. And scholarship checks are great. So you have to take those things into consideration. You have to ask yourself whether or not you want to take a chance of possibly not playing for a year and sitting on the sideline, or whether you want to continue playing college basketball and work on your degree."

So Barnes will work toward the college degree. And he'll work toward the biggest prize in college basketball.

"As a team, we're preparing for a special season," Barnes said in a statement released by the school. "My offseason plans are to diligently work on honing my basketball skills in all areas with one team goal in mind: to bring the 2012 national championship home to UNC."

It's not a far-fetched goal.

Along with the starting frontcourt, Carolina welcomes back point guard Kendall Marshall and combo guard Dexter Strickland. The Heels should have shooter Reggie Bullock back from knee surgery, along with sixth man Leslie McDonald and forward Justin Watts.

A pair of McDonald's All-Americans — 6-8 forward James McAdoo and 6-4 shooting guard P.J. Hairston from Greensboro — lead a recruiting class that more than makes up for the loss of reserve big man Justin Knox and the transfer of point guard Larry Drew II.

Both incoming freshmen will push for playing time. The recruiting class also includes three projects: 6-9 forward Desmond Hubert, 6-8 forward Jackson Simmons of Sylva and 6-0 point guard Stilman White of Wilmington.

But Barnes is the game-changer.

A second-team All-ACC pick as a freshman, he averaged 15.7 points per game and led the Heels with 67 3-pointers. He made the go-ahead or game-winning basket seven times in a 29-8 season, and he averaged 21 points in the NCAA tournament.

It's a lot of talent gathered in one place. A virtual lock to be No. 1 before the season starts.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com