North Carolina coach Roy Williams has said repeatedly that the NIT is important to give seniors Marcus Ginyard and Deon Thompson a proper send-off.

But in another way, this postseason is even more important for its role in the coming-of-age process of two key future assets.

The Tar Heels’ starting frontcourt at the beginning of the year featured Thompson and sophomore standout Ed Davis. But with one graduating and the other mulling over the NBA Draft Lottery, that lineup may look substantially different next year.

This NIT has been a preview of what’s to come, with freshman John Henson and sophomore Tyler Zeller logging some big minutes for UNC’s frontcourt.

“Those guys are definitely, they’re the future of Carolina basketball,” said Thompson, who will pass the torch to the two younger post players at the end of this season.

“John’s been playing really well as of late, ever since he switched to the four-spot, his natural position. And Z, he’s always been good, he’s just had to deal with injuries and stuff like that. So now that they’re both out there and playing their game naturally, it’s good to see.”

The postseason experience is crucial for the two forwards. Henson has never played in these types of games on the college level. And even though Zeller is a sophomore, he missed most of the big games from a season ago.

A broken wrist kept Zeller out of 23 games last year, which included much of the ACC season. Upon returning, the sophomore averaged just 5.5 minutes per game. And in the NCAA Tournament, the only time he played more than six minutes was against 16-seed Radford in a first-round 101-58 blowout.

The injury bug struck again this year, as a foot injury kept him absent from 10 crucial ACC games.

Keeping those absences in mind, the three postseason nail-biters were great learning experiences for Henson and Zeller.

“We’ve had three close games at the end that I’ve never had the chance to play in,” Henson said. “So getting that experience at the end of games — learning what to do, what plays not to make and what to make — it’s good for us as a team for the future and also me as a player just getting better.”

And as their minutes have grown, so has their production.

Henson has averaged nearly 12 points and seven boards per game during the NIT, while Zeller has chipped in with seven points and six boards per contest.

Aside from their individual development, the tandem has been on the court together more often. If they’re to do so in 2011, this has been a head start to their chemistry.

“Just being able to play with him and get used to playing with him will help a lot as far as next year going in,” Zeller said. “We won’t be trying to figure each other out all of the time; we’ll kind of have a good idea of what the other one wants to do.”

After playing in a couple close ACC games, an ACC Tournament contest and most importantly three NIT games, it’s no longer safe to say this pair (and especially the freshman) is lacking experience altogether.

Their play has shown it, but so has their attitude.

“The only time I feel like a freshman out there is when they call my name and say, ‘freshman from Tampa, Fla.,’” Henson said.

“Certain plays and certain things I do, I feel like a freshman. But overall, I feel like I’ve grown into a sophomore like coach said we should.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.