The North Carolina Tar Heels are undergoing a significant makeover this offseason, but they’ve still put together a highly competitive roster heading into next season.
The biggest change starts on the sidelines. After five seasons holding the position, the Tar Heels fired head coach Hubert Davis following back-to-back exits in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In turn, they hired former NBA champion Michael Malone to take over the program.
Malone Facing New Challenge
Malone hasn’t held a position in NCAA basketball in 25 years, and many questioned whether he would be able to manage the chaos of today’s landscape of college basketball, as player movement is at an all-time high with the emergence of the transfer portal and NIL.
Those questions were brought even more into the light following the loss of nearly every rotation player from last season’s team. Players such as Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar opted for the NBA Draft, and talents such as Derek Dixon and Luka Bogavac, among others, entered the transfer portal to find a new home.
Despite this, Malone has done a fine job of bringing in premier talent to remedy those losses. Their transfer portal haul features players such as Terrence Brown from Utah, Matt Able from NC State, Neoklis Avdalas from Virginia Tech, and Cade Bennerman from Northwestern. Despite losing a ton of talent this offseason, UNC has made up for it by bringing in plenty of high-level talent with experience at the Power Four level.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello ranked the Tar Heels’ portal haul as the eighth-best in the country this offseason.
Borzello’s Thoughts
“First-year head coach Michael Malone went overseas to secure frontcourt reinforcements, but procured his perimeter group in the portal, and clearly leaned into high-major experience — including with the ACC-proven Avdalas and Able. Avdalas has shown flashes of first-round potential, while Able seems poised to land in mock drafts after withdrawing this season,” Borzello said.
“Brown is a big-time scorer who has averaged right around 20 points per game at two different programs (FDU before Utah).”
The Tar Heels will have lofty expectations to meet next season in the first year of the Michael Malone era. UNC has put together a roster capable of being extremely competitive next season, and if all of the pieces fall into place correctly, North Carolina could be back amongst the top teams in the country after a handful of underwhelming seasons.
