Henri Veesaar declared for the NBA Draft as UNC Basketball landed three transfer portal commitments. UNC Football hosted recruits and signed four players to NFL contracts. Baseball blasted Duke. The Tar Heels set a new NCAA Track & Field record, won the ACC Women’s Lacrosse Title, crowned a new home run queen, earned an ACC P.O.Y. honor and more. On to the updates…

🏀 Basketball, Recruiting & Transfer Portal

The transfer portal has closed, but there’s been plenty of movement as players already in the portal can still be recruited and signed. Last week, the UNC Basketball coaching staff added three players from the portal, lost Henri Veesaar to the NBA Draft, and now find themselves combing the portal and international market for Veesaar’s replacement.

Here’s the latest on who’s in, who’s out, and who could be still be added to the roster…

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UNC Basketball fans are on Terrance Brown watch as the transfer portal churns. Neoklis Avdalas became Michael Malone’s first portal commitment, Henri Veesaar remains undecided, Kim English backed out, Malloy Smith signed, UNC Baseball blasted No. 2 Georgia Tech, Women’s Basketball landed three transfers, and Women’s Soccer is joining UNC Football in Ireland. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball, Recruiting & Transfer Portal

UNC Basketball’s wild offseason ride continues as the Tar Heels continue to assemble their coaching staff, recruit the transfer portal, and say goodbye to some familiar faces.

Coaching Staff

Former Providence head coach Kim English had just joined Michael Malone’s staff after three seasons with the Friars in which his teams posted a 48-52 record (23-37 Big East). However, on Sunday Pete Thamel reported that English “informed UNC officials that he’s decided not to pursue an assistant coach position at North Carolina.“ No reason has been made public, but Kim didn’t just decide “not to pursue” the job. He was already in Chapel Hill working 🤔

That leaves new associate head coach Chuck Martin, Sean May, Pat Sullivan, and Eric Hoots on the Tar Heels’ staff with two assistant coaching spots left to fill.

Who’s in?

Former Virginia Tech guard Neoklis Avdalas is Malone’s first transfer portal commitment. Avdalas will arrive in Chapel Hill with three seasons of eligibility remaining. At 6-foot-9, the Kalamata, Greece native has the size and skills to play multiple positions and should make a big impact.

Avdalas joins returning players Jarin Stevenson, Jaydon Young, and Isaiah Denis, who all announced their intentions to remain with the Tar Heels over the past week, as well as incoming freshman Malloy Smith (son of Kenny Smith), who officially signed with UNC on Wednesday.

So, where do the Tar Heels stand with Henri Veesaar and top transfer portal targets like Terrence Brown, Juke Harris, Paul McNeil, and others? Here’s the latest…

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What a week! Michael Malone was hired as UNC’s new Men’s Basketball coach, the transfer portal is in overdrive, Maximo Adams is still a Tar Heel, Bill Belichick went Bananas, Women’s Basketball landed three commitments, there was a Softball no-hitter, and a new Baseball commitment. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball, Recruiting & Transfer Portal

24-year NBA coaching veteran Michael Malone, who led the Denver Nuggets to the 2023 NBA title, is UNC’s 21st men’s basketball head coach. Iowa’s Ben McCollum turned down the offer to interview for the job, and the search quickly pivoted to Malone, per Matt Norlander of CBS Sports.

Malone was far from a “last resort” hire by the Tar Heels. He’d been on the search committee’s radar from the beginning, having visited UNC basketball practices while spending time in Chapel Hill with his daughter, Bridget, who plays volleyball at Carolina. Malone was also a top name in the New Orleans Pelicans and other NBA coaching searches.

Now the real work has begun for Malone as he continues building his staff and next season’s roster for the Tar Heels. Here’s the latest on where things stand in the transfer portal and on the recruiting trail…

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The UNC Basketball coaching search is coming into focus now that Tommy Lloyd and Dusty May have committed to remain with their programs. Transfer portal losses have begun in men’s and women’s basketball, Marcus Paige has found a new coaching home, Football gained one commitment and lost another, and rapper J. Cole has teamed up with Brady Manek in China. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball

It’s been a whirlwind week in UNC’s basketball coaching search. Tommy Lloyd signed a contract extension with Arizona. Dusty May told the Michigan administration on Sunday that he will not be pursuing the UNC job. And Dan Hurley said that he’s “a UConn coach to the end.“ So, where does that leave Carolina? Here’s the latest…

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The UNC Basketball coaching search is in full swing, Caleb Wilson is off to the NBA Draft, the Smith Center/new arena debate is tabled, spring Football kicks off with two commitments, Women’s Basketball falls in the Sweet 16, Baseball has a 4-0 week, and Women’s Lacrosse’s win streak ends at 31. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball

As we all know by now, Hubert Davis is out as UNC Men’s Basketball coach following his termination last Tuesday. A coaching search is now underway. UNC Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham and AD-in-waiting Steve Newmark are leading the search, and Carolina has hired executive search firm Turnkey ZRG to assist.

Here are some news and notes regarding Davis’ dismissal and a behind-the-scenes recap from CBS Sports:

• The search firm Turnkey ZRG assisted Michigan with the hiring of their current basketball coach, Dusty May, who is also one of the Tar Heels’ top-3 targets.

• Hubert Davis released a statement Tuesday via his Instagram account expressing his desire to “coach again in the very near future.”

  “Tonight, I was let go by the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. My desire was to continue to coach here. This opportunity has truly been such a blessing. I thank Jesus literally every day for giving me the opportunity, relationships and experiences with the kids and my staff. I am very proud of what we were able to accomplish together. My goal is to coach again in the very near future.“

• UNC will pay out all the remaining money on Davis’ contract. Davis’ buyout exceeds $5 million.

• “Players and staff were informed of the change of leadership at a 9 p.m. team meeting Tuesday at Davis’ house, minutes after an email from athletics director Bubba Cunningham arrived in the inboxes of members of the basketball staff.“

UNC is now almost a week into its coaching search, with three prominent names remaining from a candidate pool that once exceeded half a dozen. Here’s the latest on each…

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Has Hubert Davis coached his final game at North Carolina? We’ll likely find out very soon. UNC Women’s Basketball advanced to the Sweet 16, Caleb Wilson’s jersey is headed to the Smith Center rafters, Tar Heel Football is hosting its Pro Day Monday, the Diamond Heels downed Louisville, and there’s another National Champion in Chapel Hill. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball

We’ll start with the good news. Caleb Wilson’s No. 8 jersey is headed to the Smith Center rafters after being named Second Team Associated Press All-American. When asked why he chose to wear No. 8 ahead of his standout freshman season, Wilson noted that there was no No. 8 currently in the rafters. Talk about calling your shot!

Now to the big news. Carolina lost 82-78 to VCU in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Greenville, South Carolina after blowing a 19-point second-half lead. It was the largest comeback ever in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and it may have cost Hubert Davis his job.

The Tar Heels are now 48-2 all-time when leading by 10+ points at halftime in the NCAA Tournament. Both losses have come under Hubert Davis, per ESPN’s Bryan Ives. The other blown Tournament lead came in the 2022 National Championship game, when UNC led Kansas 40-25 at halftime.

Speculation is rampant that Davis is out. Monday’s “Hubert Davis Live!” radio show has been “postponed,” per Jones Angell. And Hubert Davis’ son Elijah Davis has removed all UNC photos from his Instagram account.

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March Madness is upon us, UNC Baseball swept Cal, three Tar Heels were named All-ACC in Men’s Basketball, and there are six new UNC Track All-Americans. Ryan Switzer, Dre Bly, and Wes Miller hop on the coaching carousel as other Tar Heels make NFL moves, while Chloe Humphrey, Emily LeGette, and Kate Harpring continue to amaze. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball

Congratulations to Henri Veesaar for being named a finalist for the Kareem Abdul Jabbar Award as the nation’s top center.

Veesaar, along with Caleb Wilson and Seth Trimble, were also named to this season’s All-ACC Teams. Wilson nabbed First-Team honors, while Veesaar was named to the Second Team and Trimble received Honorable Mention recognition.

Veesaar lived up to those lofty honors in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals Thursday, scoring 28 points and pulling down 17 rebounds. However, North Carolina fell to Clemson after falling behind by as many as 18 points, only to rally and lose, 80-79 (Box Score).

The Tar Heels will need to bottle that late-game intensity and carry it with them into the NCAA Tournament if they want to make any sort of postseason run, which begins Thursday in Greenville, South Carolina as the No. 6 seed in the South Region.

Carolina will face the No. 11 seed VCU Rams, who are 27-7 and have won 16 of their last 17 games, at 6:50 p.m. Thursday on TNT.

No stranger to March Madness, Tar Heel assistant coach Marcus Paige is still receiving awards long after his playing career has ended. Paige has been elected to the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Hall of Fame after a standout high school career at Linn-Mar, where he was a four-time all-state pick, a McDonald’s All-American, Iowa’s Mr. Basketball, and Gatorade Player of the Year in 2012.

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UNC Basketball experienced a big win and a big loss this past week, the Tar Heels landed a commitment from combo guard Malloy Smith (son of Kenny Smith), Caleb Wilson broke his other thumb, Armando Bacot is safe in the Middle East, Baseball and Softball split ACC series, UNC alumnae won the SheBelieves Cup, Women’s Hoops awaits their Tournament fate, and more. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball

Carolina Basketball’s week got off to a great start with Seth Trimble being named ACC Player of the Week after averaging 25 points, four assists, and three rebounds in UNC's wins over No. 24 Louisville and Virginia Tech.

On Tuesday, Carolina took care of a tough Clemson team at home, 67-63, behind Luka Bogavac’s 20 points, which included 6(!) three-pointers.

But it was all downhill from there as news broke Friday that star freshman forward Caleb Wilson had broken his other hand after banging his thumb on the rim during a dunk at practice Thursday. Wilson had surgery Friday, and the future first-round NBA Draft pick has likely played his final game as a Tar Heel.

On the other side of the globe, former UNC rebound king Armando Bacot and several members of his Turkish basketball team were stranded in Dubai amid the attacks between the U.S., Israel, and Iran. They eventually made it back to Istanbul once air travel was safely restored, but that had to be one stressful day at the airport.

And to cap off the week, No. 17 UNC fell at Duke, 76-61, after trailing by just 5 points at halftime. Derek Dixon was Carolina’s star in the losing effort, scoring 17 points and draining five three-pointers. The difference in the game? Duke led in second-chance points and points-off-turnovers by a combined 38-8 margin. There’s your ball game in a nutshell.

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Welcome to March! UNC Men’s Basketball’s had a 2-0 week and looks to clinch a double-bye in the ACC Tournament, Women’s Hoops beat Duke for Courtney Banghart’s 150th win at UNC, the Diamond Heels won 5 games by a combined score of 71-10(!), Softball’s undefeated streak ended at 17, Malloy Smith and Kate Harpring visited, and Mack Brown was back on campus. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball & Basketball Recruiting

Add another big win to Hubert Davis’ 2025-26 resume as the Tar Heels took care of No. 24 Louisville on Monday night, 77-74. With the win, UNC has now beaten Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Ohio State, Virginia, and Louisville this season (with a few obvious bad losses mixed in).

Seth Trimble had a huge week, scoring 30 against the Cardinals and 20 in Saturday’s 89-82 win against Virginia Tech as his late-season surge continues in the absence of Caleb Wilson. Carolina’s role players have stepped up as well. Jonathan Powell (15) and Zayden High (12) combined for 27 points in the win over the Hokies.

The Tar Heels are now fourth in the ACC Standings with games against Clemson (home) and Duke (away) remaining as they look to clinch a coveted double-bye in next week’s ACC Tournament.

During Tuesday’s game against Clemson, UNC will honor RJ Davis as his jersey is hoisted to the Smith Center rafters following his 2024 ACC Player of the Year award. The ceremony was originally scheduled for Monday’s game against Louisville but severe weather in the Northeast complicated travel plans for Davis and his family.

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It was another terrific week in Carolina Athletics. Five-star guard Dylan Mingo committed to the Tar Heels, Henri Veesaar returned from injury to help lead North Carolina past Syracuse as Zayden High continues to step up, UNC Softball is off to a dominant 14-0 start, Lilly Parrish pitched a no-hitter, and Women’s Basketball had a 2-0 week. We also remember Doug Moe and more. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball

Following the Tar Heels’ thrilling last-second win over Duke, a letdown was imminent as Carolina came out flat against NC State in Raleigh on Tuesday and got humbled, 82-58, playing without Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar in front of a rowdy crowd and against a team who just wanted it more on that night. Hopefully, a postseason rematch is in the cards since the two longtime foes only play once this regular season.

On Saturday, Henri Veesaar returned from his lower-body injury as the Tar Heels looked much mor like their normal selves in a 77-64 road win over Syracuse.

One major silver lining from the injuries to Wilson and Veesaar has been the emergence of forward Zayden High, who tied for a team-high 13 points at NC State and followed that up with a 9-point, 11 rebound effort against the Orange. High also led all players with a +17(!) on-court point differential.

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It’s been quite the eventful week in UNC Athletics. Caleb Wilson suffered a broken hand, the Diamond Heels swept their season opener, Kenny Smith’s son Malloy Smith received a basketball offer, Carolina Football signed a transfer quarterback, Courtney Banghart secured win No. 400, Softball scored 44(!) runs in 2 games, and Dylan Mingo is set to commit. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball

Following UNC Basketball’s dramatic victory over Duke last week (which was ESPN’s most-watched college basketball game in four years), you could almost guarantee that a letdown would follow on Tuesday in Miami…and that’s exactly what happened. UNC’s starting backcourt combined for just six points on 1-of-14 shooting, the Tar Heels were out-rebounded by seven, and fell 75-66 in a lackluster performance (Box Score).

The hits kept coming long after the game when it was discovered that star freshman Caleb Wilson’s “sprained” wrist was actually a fractured left hand upon re-evaluation in Chapel Hill. Wilson’s timetable for return has not been determined, but it seems the earliest he’d be back would be for the ACC Tournament, if at all.

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What a week in UNC sports! Seth Trimble became a legend, Women’s Basketball beat State in their house, Chazz Surratt won a Super Bowl ring, two future Tar Heels were named McDonald’s All-Americans, Coby White is coming home, RJ Davis was honored, and we remember the life and legacy of James Spurling. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball

Maybe it was just a case of UNC looking ahead to Saturday’s game against Duke, but the Tar Heels let their foot off the gas against Syracuse last Monday and watched a 32-point lead dwindle to six before holding on to defeat the Orange, 87-77 (Box Score).

Against the No. 4 Blue Devils on Sunday, UNC senior guard Seth Trimble became a legend. Trimble, the only Tar Heel on this season’s roster ever to play a game in the UNC-Duke rivalry, nailed a clutch corner-three with 0.4 seconds remaining to give Carolina its only (and final) lead of the game, 71-68 (Box Score).

It was UNC’s first last-second game-winner since Luke Maye beat Kentucky with 0.3 seconds left in the 2017 NCAA Elite Eight.

Needless to say, Franklin Street was electric:

Former UNC Basketball All-American and 2024 ACC Player of the Year, RJ Davis, was named the NBA G League player of the week last week:

“The New York native opened the week against College Park with 21 points. Davis recorded his first career triple-double against Salt Lake City on Jan. 29, finishing with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. On Jan. 31 vs. Salt Lake City, the UNC product set a career high with 45 points.”

Another all-time great Tar Heel guard, Coby White is coming home to North Carolina after being traded from the Chicago Bulls to the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday.

🏈 Football, Recruiting & Transfer Portal

A former UNC quarterback is now a Super Bowl Champion after Sunday night’s big game…it’s just not the one we expected.

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I hope everyone is safe and warm as many of us continue to dig out of the snow. Since we last caught up, Caleb Wilson had a happy homecoming in Atlanta, Bill Belichick was denied election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first ballot, UNC Women’s Tennis took down No. 9 NC State and No. 1 Georgia, soccer legend Crystal Dunn retired, and more. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball

No. 16 UNC took care of business against Georgia Tech on Saturday, 97-75 in Caleb Wilson’s homecoming. Here are some noteworthy nuggets from the win:

• Caleb Wilson scored 22 points and set two UNC freshman records. It was his 21st consecutive game scoring in double figures, the longest streak to begin a career by a freshman and it was his 15th 20-point game.

• The Tar Heels committed just 2(!) turnovers, which were the fewest ever by UNC on the road.

• UNC also set a school record for fewest turnovers in consecutive games with six (four at Virginia and two at Georgia Tech).

Carolina will need to put that win behind them quickly, though, as they have a short turnaround before hosting Syracuse on Monday (7:00, ESPN).

Caleb Wilson has obviously been a star on the offensive end of the court all season, but he’s starting to be recognized for his defensive abilities as well. Wilson was named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List on Thursday.

It was also announced that Carolina Basketball will face Kentucky in the 2026 CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 19 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Kansas will face Ohio State in the other half of the double-header.

And the Smith Center will be this site of ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday, Feb. 7 ahead of UNC’s game against Duke.

Per ESPN producer (and UNC alum) Bryan Ives, Saturday will mark the 88th meeting in which both Duke and North Carolina are ranked. That is 47 more than any other matchup. In those games:

• North Carolina: 44 wins, 77.9 PPG

• Duke: 43 wins, 77.4 PPG

Two Tar Heels very familiar with the North Carolina-Duke rivalry, Makhtar N’Diaye and Antawn Jamison reunited recently at the invitation of the Dakar Youth Olympics Committee to work with basketball players in N’Diaye’s home country of Senegal. N’Diaye posted a great photo gallery on Instagram of Jamison’s first trip to Africa.

In “where are they now?” news, former UNC guard and 1993 NCAA Champion Dante Calabria is continuing his basketball coaching career this season with the Montreal Toundra, which is part of Canada’s Basketball Super League founded in 2023.

🏈 Football, Recruiting & Transfer Portal

North Carolina’s 2026 football schedule has been announced, and it could be another tough season. The Tar Heels begin with a rematch against TCU in Dublin, Ireland. UNC also visits, Clemson, Pitt, and Virginia and hosts Notre Dame, Miami, Louisville, and NC State. The Tar Heels likely will not be favored in any of those matchups.

In surprise news of the week, Bill Belichick did not receive enough votes to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, failing to receive 40 of the 50 necessary votes. Apparently, several voters decided to “punish” Belichick for his alleged involvement in the infamous “Deflate-gate” and “Spy-gate” NFL scandals. This is not a good look for the voting committee, and blowback by fans and media was fierce.

Former North Carolina defensive lineman Jahvaree Ritzie has signed a Reserve/Future contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers, which guarantees him a slot on the team’s 90-player training camp roster next season.

And on a sad note, UNC Football Team Chaplain Mitch Mason announced his transition to hospice care as a result of his lengthy battle against idiopathic small fiber neuropathy, an incurable, debilitating nerve disorder. Here is the announcement he posted on social media last Monday. Please keep Mitch in your thoughts:

🏀 Women’s Basketball

There was no Women’s Basketball game this past week, but there is a HUGE game Monday as coach Courtney Banghart’s squad heads to Raleigh to face the Wolfpack at 6:00 p.m. (ESPN2). The UNC men’s team plays Syracuse at 7:00 on ESPN, so it will be a split screen or channel surfing night as the games overlap for a half.

Congratulations to Indya Nivar, who was named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List last week. Nivar is averaging an impressive 2.1 steals per game in ACC play.

Finally, 2026 5-star UNC Women’s Basketball signee Kate Harpring has been nominated for the prestigious McDonald’s All-American game.

⚾ Baseball

The Diamond Heels continue spring practices leading up to the season-opener against Indiana at Boshamer Stadium on Feb. 13. UNC held an intrasquad scrimmage this past Thursday, with Erik Paulsen blasting a 372-foot home run to right center while going 2-3 with two RBI and a run scored.

UNC Baseball was picked to finish second in the ACC behind Georgia Tech during the media preseason poll released last week.

🏅 Olympic Sports

It was a big week for No. 3 UNC Women’s Tennis. On Tuesday, reigning ITA national champion Reese Brantmeier was named ACC player of the week along with doubles partner Alanis Hamilton.

On Friday, the Tar Heels scored a huge come-from-behind victory to beat No. 9 NC State, 4-3. And if that wasn’t enough, UNC followed that up with a convincing 5-2 victory over No. 1 and defending national champion Georgia.

Former UNC Women’s Soccer and U.S. Women’s National team great Crystal Dunn announced her retirement from professional soccer. A legend in the sport, here is a link to Dunn’s farewell post on Instagram and a few of her too-many-to-list accolades:

• 2012 Honda Award for Soccer

• 2012 NCAA Champion

• 2013 MAC Hermann Trophy Winner

• 2013 ACC Athlete of the Year

• 2019 World Cup Champion

• 2020 Olympic Bronze Medalist

• 2024 Olympic Gold Medalist

• 13-year US Women’s National Team Veteran

• 3x NWSL Champion

⏪ This Week In Tar Heel History

February 2, 1995: Jerry Stackhouse (25 points), Rasheed Wallace (25), and Donald Williams (24) combined for 74 points as Carolina beats Duke, 102-100, in double overtime. Blue Devil guard Jeff Capel sends the game into a second overtime with a halfcourt three-pointer, but a Jeff McInnis steal and basket provides the winning margin for UNC.

🎂 This Week’s Tar Heel Birthdays

Happy birthday shouts out to…

• Lawrence Taylor, 2x Super Bowl champion, 1986 NFL MVP, Pro Football Hall of Fame, ACC POY, UNC No. 98 Honored Jersey, All-American: Feb. 4 (67)

• Kennedy Meeks, 2017 Basketball National Champion, 9-year Overseas Professional: Feb. 5 (31)

• John Kuester, 1977 ACC Tournament MVP, 3-year NBA player, longtime college/NBA coach, 2004 NBA Champion (asst. coach): Feb. 6 (71)

• Fiona Crawley, Women’s Tennis All-American, 2023 ITA National POY, Honda Award Winner, Doubles National Champion: Feb. 7 (24)

• Mike O’Koren, 3x Basketball All-American, Longtime NBA Player and Asst. Coach, Feb. 7 (68)

🏁 Final Thoughts

Thanks again to everyone for supporting the Tar Heel Times Newsletter. I hope you had a great weekend, and please leave a comment to let me know how you’re enjoying the content, what you’d like to see more of, or anything else that’s on your mind. I truly appreciate your support.

Go Heels!
James

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Jarin Stevenson had himself a game in UNC’s upset of Virginia, Drake Maye and Chazz Surratt are heading to the Super Bowl, Tar Heel basketball commits Maximo Adams and Kate Harpring are doing big things, Women’s hoops went 2-0 this week, and the Diamond Heels have a week of spring scrimmages in the books. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball

North Carolina got back on track after losing three of its previous four games by handling Notre Dame, 91-69, on Wednesday (Box Score).

Freshman point guard Derek Dixon got his second straight start and looked sharp, scoring 11 points and going 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar did most of the heavy lifting, though, scoring 22 and 15 points, respectively. Defensively, the Tar Heels were much improved, holding Notre Dame to just 36% shooting.

Leading up to the game, former UNC point guard and 2017 national champion Joel Berry weighed in on the defensive issues plaguing the Tar Heels:

On Saturday at Virginia, it looked like the “bad Tar Heels” had shown up again after falling behind by as many as 16 points in the first half. But Jarin Stevenson came off the bench to score 17 second-half points and lead a massive turnaround that led to an 85-80 upset of the No. 14 Cavaliers (Box Score) and the biggest comeback by a Virginia opponent in the history of John Paul Jones Arena.

Freshman point guard Derek Dixon continued to shine in his starting role, scoring 11 points and finishing the game at +22(!).

UNC is now 3-1 vs. ranked opponents this season:

• No. 19 Kansas - W 87-74

• No. 11 Michigan State - L 74-58

• No. 18 Kentucky - W 67-64

• No. 14 Virginia - W 85-80

Off the court, the debate over the future of the Smith Center continues to intensify, with Roy Williams weighing in with his vote to renovate the historic arena rather than build a new off-campus facility:

“I was Coach Smith’s assistant for ten years. We had many discussions about basketball, about life, about the golf course, everything. But I do know, during the conversation about what to get out of this building…that Coach Smith wanted this place on campus. That was his wish. There was no question.”

🏀 Poll

🏈 Football, Recruiting & Transfer Portal

Football season may be over, but the transfer portal apparently never ends. UNC added former West Virginia offensive lineman Brandon Homady this past week. Homady played mostly on special teams his freshman season in Morgantown and has three seasons of eligibility remaining.

And the biggest news of the weekend…former UNC quarterback Drake Maye is heading to the Super Bowl after leading the New England Patriots to a 10-7 victory over the Broncos during a second-half blizzard at Mile High Stadium on Sunday.

Maye becomes the second youngest QB to lead his team to a Super Bowl, behind Dan Marino in 1985. Maye also was named Pro Football Writers of America Most Improved Player of the Year last week, to no one’s surprise.

Former UNC quarterback-turned-linebacker Chazz Surratt is also heading to the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks. Surratt missed the NFC Championship win against the Rams with an injury but should be ready to play in the Super Bowl.

🏀 Basketball Recruiting

Class of 2026 North Carolina Basketball 5-star small forward commit Maxi Adams boosted his chances of making the McDonald’s All-American team this past week at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass.:

“The North Carolina commit was stellar in Sierra Canyon’s dominant 75-58 win over Columbus with 24 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes. He was 9 of 14 from the field including four 3-pointers. He also added two assists and two steals.“

🏀 Women’s Basketball

UNC Women’s Basketball got a much-needed ACC road win at Georgia Tech on Thursday, beating the Yellow Jackets, 54-46, behind 11 points apiece from Reniya Kelly and Lanie Grant. The Tar Heels only shot 29%(!) but dominated the glass with 55 rebounds. Ciera Toomey had 15 of those boards to go with nine points.

Nyla Harris only scored six points in the win over GT, but they were six very important points that pushed her over the 1,000 career points mark. Congrats!

On Sunday against Syracuse at Carmichael Arena, UNC committed 5 turnovers and gave up an 8-0 run over the last 3:30 of regulation to send the game to overtime. But from there is was all Tar Heels, as Carolina held on to win 77-71.

Nyla Harris continued her big week, leading UNC with 21 points and 11 rebounds. And Lanie Grant got hot from deep, scoring 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.

Next up is a huge game in Raleigh on Monday, Feb. 2 against NC State (14-6, 7-2 ACC)

🏀 Women’s Basketball Recruiting

On the recruiting trail, Class of 2026 5-star UNC Women’s Basketball commit Kate Harpring has been named to USA Basketball’s 12-player 2026 Nike Hoop Summit Roster. The star guard will compete against the World team on April 11 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.

Harpring, the daughter of former Georgia Tech and longtime NBA forward Matt Harpring, also was named to the Naismith Trophy Girls’ High School Player Of The Year Midseason Team and crossed the 3,000 career point mark for her high school. That’s a lot of buckets…30 points per game for 100 games.

⚾ Baseball

UNC Baseball wrapped up its first week of Spring Practice on Friday with a scrimmage at Boshamer Stadium. Three Tar Heels received preseason All-American honors from D1Baseball last week: Pitchers Jason DeCaro and Walker McDuffie took spots on the second time while Gavin Gallaher was honored on the third team.

Another pitcher to keep an eye on entering the season is Ryan Lynch. Grace Nugent at Inside Carolina wrote a fantastic longform piece on the right-handed sophomore who once had dreams of playing in the NBA.

“Ryan Lynch is the Joe Burrow of the UNC clubhouse. He’s meticulous and detail oriented. He’ll wind down from an outing by watching an OG Pixar movie such as Toy Story 2 or Cars, listening to rock music, booting up Photoshop, or maybe even tending to a woodworking project.”

🏅 Olympic Sports

🏑 Congratulations to UNC Field Hockey coach Erin Matson for receiving the NFHCA Under 30 Award, which “honors field hockey coaches under the age of 30 who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and progress within their club, high school, or collegiate programs.”

🥍 Six Tar Heels have been named to the U.S. Women’s World Lacrosse Championship roster. U.S. veterans Ally Mastroianni, Marie McCool and Caylee Waters will join current Tar Heels Sam Forrest, Chloe Humphrey, and Eliza Osburn this summer.

🥍 And eight UNC Women’s Lacrosse players have been named preseason All-America by USA Lacrosse, including Chloe Humphrey who was named preseason player of the year.

🥍 UNC’s Owen Duffy and Brady Wambach were selected to the USA Lacrosse Preseason All-America men’s team.

🎾 No. 3 UNC Women’s Tennis had no problem dispatching No. 14 Virginia, 6-1, and followed up that effort with a 4-0 win over Charlotte that qualifies the Tar Heels for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, Feb. 6-9.

🎾 Men’s Tennis opened its season with a comfortable 7-0 win over Queens but fell in a tight match to Vanderbilt, 4-3, on Friday.

🎾 Finally, congratulations to Oby Kajuru for being named ACC Women’s Tennis Player of the Week. The senior transfer from Oklahoma State downed No. 5 Savannah Dada-Mascoll in straight sets in the Tar Heels’ win over Appalachian State.

⏪ This Week In Tar Heel History

January 27, 1993: Florida State led by 17 at halftime and 73-54 with less than nine minutes to play. Carolina reeled off 15 straight points and took the lead for good on a George Lynch steal and dunk with just under two minutes to play. UNC outscored the Seminoles, 28-4, over the last nine minutes.

🎂 This Week’s Tar Heel Birthdays

Happy birthday shouts out to…

• William Blumberg, NCAA’s first 10x Tennis All-American (5 singles, 5 doubles): Jan. 26 (28)

• Vince Carter, 8x NBA All-Star, No. 15 UNC Honored Jersey: Jan. 26 (49)

• Caitlin Van Sickle, 3x UNC Field Hockey All-American, NCAA Champion, 2016 Olympian: Jan. 26 (36)

• Wes Miller, 2005 UNC Basketball National Champion, College Basketball Coach: Jan. 28 (43)

• Lori Chalupny, Women’s Soccer 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist, FIFA World Cup Champion: Jan. 29 (42)

• Mark Maye, UNC Quarterback, Football Team Captain: Jan. 30 (61)

• Quincy Monk, 3-Year NFL Linebacker: Jan. 30 (1979-2015)

• Kealia Ohai, U.S. Women’s National Team, 8-Year NWSL Veteran: Jan. 31 (34)

🏁 Final Thoughts

Thanks again to everyone for supporting the Tar Heel Times Newsletter. I hope you had a great weekend, and please leave a comment to let me know how you’re enjoying the content, what you’d like to see more of, or anything else that’s on your mind. I truly appreciate your support.

Go Heels!
James

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Hubert Davis’ seat is heating up as UNC Basketball continues its disappointing defensive run by dropping both games of its California road trip, Dylan Mingo pushes back his commitment date, Drake Maye leads the Patriots to the AFC Championship game, Women’s Basketball sweeps the Sunshine State, Football loses a transfer portal commitment, and more. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball

What were troubling warning signs against Wake Forest and SMU turned into a 5-alarm fire for UNC’s defense after its 95-90 loss at Stanford on Wednesday. The Cardinal shot 57 percent (16-28) from 3-point range, and the backcourt trio of Ebuka Okorie, Jeremy Smith-Dent, and Ryan Agarwal combined for 76(!) points.

It was more of the same on Saturday, as Cal lit up UNC’s defense for 14 3-pointers, shooting 54% from beyond the arc and handing the Tar Heels an 84-78 loss. Carolina leaves the Bay area with two Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad losses, putting coach Hubert Davis and his job security squarely on the hot seat.

On a positive note, freshman point guard Derek Dixon got his first career start and made the most of it, scoring 14 points and draining four crucial 3-pointers as UNC fought to make a game of it in the second half.

Caleb Wilson has been named to the Sporting News 2025-26 midseason college basketball All-America team.

And former Tar Heel forward James Michael McAdoo had his Norfolk Christian High School basketball jersey retired last week. McAdoo, a two-time NBA Champion who is currently playing his 11th professional season in Japan, had his parents attend the ceremony on his behalf. Here’s an Instagram photo gallery of the event.

🏈 Football, Recruiting & Transfer Portal

Be sure to catch UNC Football coach Bill Belichick on ACC Network Monday night at 6:00 p.m. as he joins the “ACC Huddle” crew as an analyst prior to the Miami vs. Indiana national championship game.

The football transfer portal window closed on Friday, Jan. 16, and there’s been some movement following last week’s chaos…

Key Tar Heels returning defensive back Greg Smith entered the transfer portal early in the week but then did an about-face and decided to remain in Chapel Hill.

UNC also landed a transfer commitment from former LSU running back Kaleb Jackson, per On3’s Steve Samra. In three seasons in Baton Rouge, the former 4-star recruit recorded 82 carries for 331 yards and four touchdowns.

Baylor transfer offensive lineman Sean Thompkins won’t be making it to UNC after all. Thompkins flipped commitment from North Carolina to LSU just before portal closed.

Former UNC quarterback Drake Maye is one win away from playing in the Super Bowl after leading the Patriots to a 28-16 victory over the Texans on Sunday in snowy Foxborough. Maye was 16-of-27 passing for 179 yards with three TDs, one interception, and one fumble lost. New England visits Denver next Sunday in the AFC Championship game.

🏀 Basketball Recruiting

It was an interesting weekend in the Dylan Mingo recruiting sweepstakes.

On3’s Joe Tipton reported Saturday that the 5-star point guard had set a commitment date of Jan. 22. Then later in the day, Mingo told Adam Zagoria at ZAGSBLOG that the commitment date “just got pushed back a bit.”

Finally, On3’s Jamie Shaw reported that UNC assistant coaches Marcus Paige and Sean May were watching Mingo play at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Massachusetts on Sunday, where UNC commit Maximo Adams was also playing. Adams scored 24 points in 27 minutes during his game.

Prior to this shakeup, Baylor had been (and may still be) the perceived favorite to land Mingo.

🏀 Women’s Basketball

In Women’s Basketball, it was a career night for UNC guard Reniya Kelly, who lit up the Miami Hurricanes for 24 points in the Tar Heels’ 73-62 win Thursday. Kelly’s 4-for-5 3-point barrage combined with Carolina’s 24-point third quarter was the difference in the game (Box Score).

It was a Sunshine State sweep on Sunday, as the Tar Heels jumped on Florida State early and never looked back in an 82-55 win over the Seminoles (Box Score). Four players scored double figure, led by Ciera Toomey’s 14 points in just 18 minutes.

⚾ Baseball

The Diamond Heels will enter the season with several All-America candidates. Infielder Gavin Gallaher and pitchers Jason DeCaro and Ryan Lynch have been named Perfect Game preseason All-Americans.

Perfect Game also released their 2026 Preseason College Baseball Top 25, and UNC comes in at No. 18. Seven other ACC teams joined the Tar Heels in the Top 25, including Georgia Tech (2), Florida State (9), Virginia (14), Louisville (16), Clemson (20), NC State (22), and Miami (24). Talk about a tough league!

The baseball program held its annual First Pitch Dinner, headlined by former Tar Heel great and Chicago Cubs first baseman Michael Busch, to begin the new season.

During the dinner, head coach Scott Forbes made the huge announcement that a $9 million anonymous donation has been made to the Carolina Baseball program.

🏅 Olympic Sports

⚽ Several UNC Women’s Soccer stars are heading to the NWSL. Linda Ullmark and Kate Faasse have signed with the Houston Dash, where they will reunite with former Tar Heel forward Avery Patterson.

⚽ And Tessa Dellarose has signed with the Chicago Stars, joining former Carolina star Brianna Pinto.

⚽ Among current UNC Women’s Soccer players, Bella Devey and incoming transfer Lilliah Blum have been called up to the U.S. Women’s National Team Development Camp.

🤸‍♀️ UNC’s Gwen Fink was named ACC Gymnast of the Week after winning the All-Around competition at last weekend’s Florida Quad Meet.

🏊‍♀️ Sofia Knight was named ACC Co-Diver of the Week after winning the the 1-meter and 3-meter events against Boston College and UNCW last Friday.

🤼‍♂️ No. 12 UNC Wrestling (8-1, 1-0 ACC), got off to a strong start to its ACC season, going on the road to take care of Virginia 25-10 on Friday night. Former UNC All-American Evan Henderson has been added to the staff as an assistant coach.

🎾 Finally, No. 3 UNC Women’s Tennis swept Saturday’s double-header against Gardner Webb and Appalachian State, beating both teams by a score of 7-0 as legendary head coach Brian Kalbas recorded his 800th(!) career victory.

⏪ This Week In Tar Heel History

January 18, 1986: Steve Hale scores 28 points and Brad Daugherty adds 23 and 11 rebounds as No. 1 North Carolina beats No. 3 Duke, 95-92, in first game played in the Smith Center.

🎂 This Week’s Tar Heel Birthdays

Happy birthday shouts out to…

• Julius Peppers, Pro Football Hall of Fame, 9x NFL Pro Bowl, College Football Hall of Fame: Jan. 18 (46)

• Jonathan Cooper, 2012 All-American Offensive Lineman, 7-year NFL Veteran: Jan. 19 (36)

• Len Szafaryn, 1948 All-American Offensive Lineman, 10-year NFL Veteran: Jan. 19 (1928-1990)

• Joan Nesbit, 3x Track & Field All-American, 1996 Olympian: Jan. 20 (64)

• Lennie Rosenbluth, 1957 National Champion, ACC Basketball POY, Retired #10 UNC Jersey: Jan. 22 (1933-2022)

🏁 Final Thoughts

Thanks again to everyone for supporting the Tar Heel Times Newsletter. I hope you had a great weekend, and please leave a comment to let me know how you’re enjoying the content, what you’d like to see more of, or anything else that’s on your mind. I truly appreciate your support.

Go Heels!
James

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UNC Basketball’s defensive deficiencies reared their head again in a narrow win over Wake Forest, 5-star point guard Beckham Black received a UNC Basketball offer, there was major movement in the Football transfer portal, Tyler Hansbrough and Eddie Pope are headed to the NC Sports HOF, and Women’s Basketball had a rough showing against Notre Dame. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball

No. 17 UNC recorded the program’s 500th victory in Smith Center history on Saturday against Wake Forest, but to the Tar Heels it felt like a losing effort after blowing a 15-point lead and hanging on for an 87-84 victory.

Henri Veesaar led UNC with 25 points and Caleb Wilson scored 22, but it was Carolina’s defense that proved problematic for the second straight Saturday, allowing the Deacs’ starting guards to combine for 56 points and shoot 12-of-23 from beyond the arc. Expect more of the same from opponents going forward unless the Tar Heels can tighten up on their perimeter defense.

North Carolina freshman forward Caleb Wilson has been named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 list.

“Wilson is the first Tar Heel freshman ever to score 20 or more points in six consecutive games, he leads the ACC in rebounds and double-doubles and is first in the nation among freshmen in both categories.”

Congratulations to UNC Basketball’s (and the ACC’s) all-time leading scorer, Tyler Hansbrough, who was elected to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame this past week. Hansbrough joins former UNC Men’s Soccer standout Eddie Pope as part of the 2026 class.

On a personal note, please indulge me as I also congratulate (and thank) my former high school wrestling coach Jerry Winterton, who is also a part of the 2026 HOF class. Over 29 seasons at Cary (NC) High School, Winterton’s teams produced 19 state titles with an overall record of 620-16 (.975).

Kudos to former UNC guard and 2005 national champion Jackie Manuel, who has been named to the Silver Waves Media 100 Most Impactful Mid-Major Assistants list as an assistant coach at American University.

In “where are they now” news, Seth Trimble’s brother J.P. Tokoto is playing his 11th professional season with Start Lublin in Poland following previous international stops in Australia, Israel, Spain, and Germany.

And 2017 national champion Kennedy Meeks is continuing his overseas career after signing this past week with the Saitama Broncos of the Japanese B League.

🏈 Football, Recruiting & Transfer Portal

It’s finally official. Bobby Petrino was announced this past week as UNC Football’s new offensive coordinator. “Petrino joins the Tar Heels after spending the past two seasons at Arkansas, where he served as offensive coordinator and interim head coach for the final seven games of 2025.”

Petrino brings with him a reputation as a brilliant offensive mind and will have some new players to work with as the transfer portal continues to churn.

Here’s who’s in and who’s out for the Tar Heels over the last week via the transfer portal:

Who’s In:

• Defensive back Ade Willie (Michigan State)

• Defensive end Melkart About Jaoude (Returner)

• Defensive end Jaylen Harvey (Penn State)

• Defensive lineman Isaiah Johnson (Returner)

• Defensive lineman Tarvorise Brown (Florida)

• Defensive lineman Donovan Hoilette (Richmond)

• Kicker Aeron Burrell (LSU)

• Linebacker Peyton Seelmann (Richmond)

• Linebacker Derek McDonald (Syracuse)

• Offensive lineman Sean Thompkins (Baylor)

• Offensive lineman Shaq McRoy (Arkansas)

• Offensive lineman Rowan Byrne (Clemson)

• Quarterback Miles O’Neill (Texas A&M)

• Tight end Jelani Thurman (Ohio State)

• Tight end Jordan Washington (Texas)

• Wide receiver Jordan Shipp (Returner)

• Wide receiver Trech Kekahuna (Wisconsin)

• Wide receiver Mason Humphrey (Lehigh)

Who’s Out:

• Defensive lineman C.J. Mims

• Defensive lineman D’Antre Robinson

• Quarterback Gio Lopez (Wake Forest)

• Wide receiver Jonathan Bibbs (Flipped to UCF)

Finally, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has been named to the AP All-Pro Second Team and won his first NFL playoff game Sunday night, leading New England to a 16-3 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. Maye was 17/29 passing for 268 yards with 1 TD and 1 interception. He also rushed for 66 yards.

🏀 Basketball Recruiting

On the basketball recruiting trail, Hubert Davis has offered class of 2027 5-star point guard Beckham Black. UNC had already offered two of his elite Southeastern Prep teammates, 5-star forwards C.J. Rosser and Obinna Ekezie Jr.

Black becomes the seventh player offered on UNC’s 2027 basketball recruiting board.

🏀 Women’s Basketball

No. 22 UNC Women’s Basketball had a rough Sunday at unranked Notre Dame, falling 73-50 and dropping to 2-3 in the ACC standings. The Tar Heels shot just 35%, including 28% from 3-point range, and dished out a mere 6 assists while committing 22 turnovers.

Nyla Harris was the lone bright spot for Carolina, scoring 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. UNC hopes to end their two-game skid when they host Miami on Thursday.

🏅 Olympic Sports

Now that the calendar has flipped to 2026, we’re beginning to see some spring sports previews and polls.

🥍 Defending national champion UNC Women’s Lacrosse (to no one’s surprise) will start the season as USA Lacrosse’s No. 1 team in their preseason poll.

🥍 UNC Men’s Lacrosse has been tabbed No. 5 in the USA Lacrosse Poll as well.

🥍 Kudos to former UNC Women’s Lacrosse All-American, current assistant coach, and Team USA member Marie McCool on being nominated for The 2025 World Games Athlete of the Year.

⚽ Five former UNC Women’s Soccer standouts have been called up to the U.S. Women’s National Team Training Camp Roster for January matches against Paraguay and Chile: Ally Sentnor, Maddie Dahlien, Claudia Dickey, Avery Patterson, and Sam Meza.

🎾 UNC Women’s Tennis begins the spring season in at No. 3 in the ITA Preseason Poll and backed up that ranking Sunday with a 7-0 shutout of Campbell. Five-star freshman Anna Frey made her Tar Heel debut with an easy 6-1, 6-0 victory.

🏃‍♂️ Former UNC Patterson Medal winners Ethan Strand and Parker Wolfe made their debuts on the international stage Saturday, racing for Team USA in the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Fla.

Strand finished first in the leadoff leg of the Mixed Relay as Team USA finished 5th.

Wolfe finished 12th overall and was the top American finisher in the Men’s Senior 10k cross country race with a time of 29:28.

⏪ This Week In Tar Heel History

January 12, 1984: Michael Jordan comes up with the steal and then slams home his legendary "rock the cradle" dunk in UNC’s 74-62 win at Maryland. “Jordan…Look at that! Ho-ly cow.”

🎂 This Week’s Tar Heel Birthdays

Happy birthday shouts out to…

• Brian Blados, 1983 All-American Offensive Lineman, UNC Honored Jersey No. 60, 9-year NFL Veteran : Jan. 11 (64)

• Nate Britt, 2017 National Champion Point Guard: Jan. 13 (32)

• Nat Cartmell, First UNC Basketball Coach, Olympic Track & Field Medalist (1904, 1908): Jan. 13 (1883-1967)

• Chad Holbrook, UNC All-ACC Baseball Player and Asst. Coach: Jan. 14 (55)

• Hakeem Nicks, All-ACC Receiver, Super Bowl XLVI Champion, 8-year NFL Veteran: Jan. 14 (38)

• Tyler Zeller, 2012 ACC Basketball Player of the Year, 2009 NCAA Champion, UNC No. 44 Honored Jersey, All-American, 9-year NBA Veteran: Jan. 17 (36)

🏁 Final Thoughts

Thanks again to everyone for supporting the Tar Heel Times Newsletter. I hope you had a great weekend, and please leave a comment to let me know how you’re enjoying the content, what you’d like to see more of, or anything else that’s on your mind. I truly appreciate your support.

Go Heels!
James

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Happy New Year, and I hope it’s off to a great start. Here’s how the Tar Heels have started 2026. UNC Men’s Basketball handled Florida State before falling at SMU, Football landed a transfer portal QB and re-signed several key starters, Hubert Davis is back on the recruiting trail, Drake Maye made his 2nd NFL Pro Bowl, Women’s Basketball split a pair of games, and much more. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball

The No. 12 UNC Men’s Basketball team started ACC play on the right foot last Tuesday, handling visiting Florida State, 79-66. Caleb Wilson put on a show in front of numerous NBA scouts, scoring 22 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. Seth Trimble continued to show how vital he is to this team, scoring 20 on a night that Henri Veesaar “struggled” with “only” 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Other postgame notes include:

• UNC allowed fewer than 75 points for the 14th time in as many games, the most-such games to begin a season since 1981-82.

• Caleb Wilson became the first UNC freshman to score 20 or more points in six consecutive games, breaking Phil Ford’s record of 5.

• This was the seventh game when both Wilson and Veesaar had double-doubles, which is already third most by a Tar Heel duo in a single season.

The outcome wasn’t so great in Dallas on Saturday, as the No. 12 Tar Heels ran into a hot-shooting, athletic SMU team that exploded for a 58-point second half en route to a 97-83 win (Box Score), dropping UNC to 1-1 in the ACC Standings.

Carolina shot 48% for the game, made 12 3-pointers, outrebounded SMU, committed just 10 turnovers to go with 21 assists, and outscored the Mustangs from the foul line. But the Tar Heels defense that has played so well to begin the season ran into a team that couldn’t miss. It happens.

Now, UNC has a week to learn from the loss and get ready for Wake Forest next Saturday in Chapel Hill.

🚨 DVR Alert! The ACC Network in collaboration with ESPN is releasing a documentary on UNC’s 1993 NCAA Championship team:

“We’re No. 1! 1993 North Carolina Tar Heels,” a documentary chronicling the national championship-winning Tar Heels men’s basketball team will debut Saturday, Jan. 10 at 8 p.m. on ACC Network immediately following the game between Wake Forest at UNC (6 p.m., ACCN).

And Brice Johnson is continuing his overseas basketball career, signing with Darkhan United in Mongolia and posting a 21-point double-double in his first game back following a 6-month layoff.

🏈 Football

North Carolina quarterback Gio Lopez announced his intentions to remain with the Tar Heels next season, per On3’s Pete Nakos. This follows the news that the Tar Heels will be hiring new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, although no official announcement has been made.

Several Tar Heel standouts also re-signed with the team over the past week, including defensive lineman Leroy Jackson, defensive back Jaiden Patterson, running back Demon June, and defensive back Kaleb Cost.

Congratulations to UNC cornerback Marcus Allen for being selected to the East-West Shrine Bowl, which takes place Jan. 27 in Frisco, Texas. It’s a great opportunity for NFL Draft hopefuls to show off in front of scouts and pro personnel.

Former North Carolina quarterback and NFL MVP contender Drake Maye has been selected to the 2026 Pro Bowl, making Maye just the fourth quarterback in NFL history to begin his career with multiple consecutive Pro Bowl invitations.

Last Sunday in the Patriots’ 42-10 win over the Jets, Maye became the first player in NFL history to complete 90% of his passes while throwing for 250 yards and five(!) touchdowns. His 99.8 quarterback rating was the highest single-game rating ever, dating back to 2006 when the metric was established.

🏈 Football Recruiting & Transfer Portal

On the football recruiting trail, the Tar Heels finished 2025 on a high note, landing class of 2027 Mission Hills, California 3-star safety Chuck Roberts, whose other finalists included Florida, Miami, Missouri, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington.

The transfer portal officially opened on Friday, Jan. 2, and several more players have entered the portal: LB Chinedu Onyeagoro, DL Kamarion Thomas, RB Jaylon Nichols, LB Austin Alexander, and TE Connor Cox. Inside Carolina has the complete list of transfers if you’d like to keep up.

UNC is also hosting numerous potential incoming transfers now that the portal is in full swing. Here are the The Tar Heels four weekend commitments with links to their commitment articles.

• Wisconsin quarterback Billy Edwards

• Charleston Southern offensive lineman Andrew Threatt

• Louisiana-Monroe wide receiver Jonathan Bibbs

• Colorado State tight end Jaxxon Warren

🏀 Basketball Recruiting

Class of 2026 5-star UNC small forward commit Maximo “Maxi” Adams was named co-MVP of the Les Schwab Invitational over the holiday break. Adams averaged 14.3 points per game for his championship Sierra Canyon squad.

Hubert Davis was also on the recruiting trail at Broughton High School in Raleigh to get a look at class of 2027 5-star big men CJ Rosser and Obinna Ekezie. Both players hold offers from UNC and spoke with TarHeel247 about their recruitment and play at the event.

🏀 Women’s Basketball

No. 15 UNC Women’s Basketball tipped off the new year in strong fashion, using a 21-8 fourth-quarter run to put away the visiting California Golden Bears, 71-55. Nyla Harris came up big, scoring 13 points, pulling down 10 rebounds, and leading the Tar Heels with a +22 on-court point differential.

Sunday was a different story, however, as UNC shot just 3-of-14 (21%) from 3-point range and 18-of-30 (60%) from the free-throw line in a humbling 77-71 overtime loss to Stanford in Chapel Hill (Box Score). Nyla Harris led the Tar Heels with 18 points.

And welcome home to mid-year freshman enrollee Noelle Bofia, who signed with the Tar Heels in November. Bofia will practice with the team the remainder of this season before joining them on the court next season.

🏅 Olympic Sports

⚽ UNC Women’s Soccer announced the signing of three highly rated transfers:

• Summer Denigan: A Georgia transfer, First-Team All-American midfielder, and 2025 MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist.

• Lilliah Blum: Transferred from Utah after leading the Utes with four goals as a midfielder last season, including the game-winner over NC State.

• Izzi Stratton: A defender transferring from BYU after receiving Second Team All-Big 12 and Second Team All-Midwest Region honors.

🤼‍♂️ No. 13 UNC Wrestling 125-pounder Kysen Terukina was named ACC Wrestler of the Week following two tough wins last weekend over wrestlers from No. 6 Nebraska and No. 12 Northern Iowa.

🎾 Finally, UNC Women’s Tennis has announced the signing of former NC State standout Maddy Zampardo, who played No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles for the Wolfpack.

⏪ This Week In Tar Heel History

January 8, 2017: UNC men's basketball beats NC State 107-56 in Chapel Hill (Box Score). It's the most points ever scored by the Tar Heels against the Wolfpack, and the 51-point win is the largest margin of victory over NCSU since 1921.

🎂 This Week’s Tar Heel Birthdays

Happy birthday shouts out to…

• James Michael McAdoo, 2× NBA champion (2015, 2017), 11-year NBA/Overseas Veteran: Jan. 4 (33)

• Kivuusama Mays, 2x All-ACC Linebacker, 4-year NFL Veteran: Jan. 7 (51)

• John “Hook” Dillon, 2x Basketball All-American: Jan. 8 (1924-2004)

• Al Goldstein, 1958 All-American End: Jan. 8 (1936-1991)

• Jesse Holley, 2005 NCAA Basketball Champion, 5-Year NFL Wide Receiver: Jan. 8 (42)

• Amos Lawrence, 2x All-ACC Running Back, Super Bowl XVI Champion: Jan. 9 (68)

• Eddie Mason, 8-year NFL Linebacker: Jan. 9 (54)

• Robert Woodard, 3x All-ACC Pitcher, UNC’s All-Time Winningest Pitcher, College Baseball Coach: Jan. 10 (41)

🏁 Final Thoughts

Thanks again to everyone for supporting the Tar Heel Times Newsletter. I hope your New Year is off to a great start! Please leave a comment to let me know how you’re enjoying the content, what you’d like to see more of, or anything else that’s on your mind. I truly appreciate your support.

Go Heels!
James

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There’s a lot to cover before we log off for the holidays, so let’s dive in. Seth Trimble is back, UNC Football landed a new offensive coordinator and a 4-star safety, 5-star forward CJ Rosser paid a visit, Smith Center discussions are intensifying, Women’s Basketball keeps blowing out opponents, and more. On to the updates…

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🏈 Football

UNC Football and coach Bobby Petrino are reportedly finalizing a deal to make the former Arkansas and Louisville head coach the Tar Heels’ new offensive coordinator.

Petrino has a history of turning around offenses quickly. This past season, Petrino’s Arkansas team climbed all the way to fourth in the SEC in total offense, racking up 455 yards and 33 points per game. Petrino may come with some personal baggage, but no one questions his ability to build a high-powered offense.

Congratulations to North Carolina defensive lineman Leroy Jackson, who was named Second Team Freshman All-American by The Athletic.

A couple of Tar Heel defensive backs and NFL Draft hopefuls have been invited to participate in senior showcase games. Cornerback Thad Dixon has accepted an invitation to play in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., while fellow secondary mate Gavin Gibson is headed to Hawaii for the Hula Bowl in January.

Three other players also ended their Carolina Football careers this past week, as defensive back Malcolm Ziglar, linebacker Tyler Thompson, and quarterback Bryce Baker announced plans to enter the transfer portal when it opens Jan. 2.

Ziglar played the bulk of his time on special teams this past season, while Thompson was one of UNC’s top pass rushers and will be sorely missed. Baker was brought in as Bill Belichick’s prized recruit in the 2025 class but did not play at all his freshman season.

That brings the total number of players entering the transfer portal to 22 so far. Inside Carolina has the complete list of transfers.

In the NFL, Drake Maye continues to string together MVP-caliber performances. His first career 300-yard passing game helped New England rally past the Ravens on Sunday night to clinch a playoff berth. Maye will also be facing a former teammate in practices going forward, as former UNC linebacker Amari Gainer was added to the Patriots’ practice squad last week. Here’s more on Tar Heels in the NFL from R.L. Bynum at Tar Heel Tribune.

🏈 Football Recruiting

UNC Football claimed a big win on the recruiting trail last week as Rolesville, NC 4-star safety Marquis Bryant chose to stay home and commit to the Tar Heels. Bryant is the second commitment in UNC’s 2027 football recruiting class, joining 3-star athlete Skylar Robinson from Gardena, Calif.

🏀 Basketball

Seth Trimble is back after missing more than a month due to a weight-room accident that resulted in a broken left forearm. Aside from the obvious benefit of Trimble’s defense, athleticism, and leadership, the Tar Heels benefit greatly from the added lineup flexibility his return provides.

In No. 12 UNC’s dramatic 71-70 win over Ohio State, Trimble scored 17 points, dished out the game-winning “assist” to Veesaar, and defended the Buckeyes’ best player, Bruce Thornton.

Against ECU on Monday night, Henri Veesaar did his best Dirk Nowitzki impression, making 4-of-5 3-pointers and scoring 16 points. In the post-Dean Smith era prior to Veesaar’s arrival, there had only been two 3-pointers made by a Tar Heel 7-footer. Veesaar has 15(!) 3-pointers this season alone and leads UNC in three-point percentage.

Discussions on the future of the Smith Center are in high gear. Greg Barnes at Inside Carolina details the latest developments, which include conversations between UNC administrators and former Tar Heel Basketball players on whether to renovate the Smith Center, build a new off-campus arena, or maintain the status quo.

There are no “off days” for Seth Trimble. Despite having a day off from practice, “Santa Seth” chose to blend his entrepreneurship and philanthropy by treating kids from the local Boys and Girls Clubs to a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream party. Trimble purchased the Ben & Jerry’s franchise on Franklin Street over the summer.

Fan favorite Brady Manek is playing for the Nanjing Monkey Kings in the Chinese Basketball Association this season and still shooting the lights out, recently going 9-10 from 3-point range. Bang Bang! 💥💥

Deon Thompson is still going strong 16 years after UNC’s 2009 national championship. The former Tar Heel forward is playing this season with Kesatria Bengawan Solo of the Indonesian Basketball League.

This marks Thompson’s 16th(!) country in his professional basketball journey, having played previously in Greece, Slovenia, Germany, China, Israel, Turkey, Serbia, Spain, Lithuania, Puerto Rico, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Philippines, and Libya.

🏀 Basketball Recruiting

CJ Rosser, the No. 1 prospect in the 2027 basketball recruiting class, paid an unofficial visit to UNC on Monday night to watch the Tar Heels take on ECU. The Rocky Mount, NC native, who attends Southeastern Prep in Orlando, Fla., was the first player in the class to receive an offer from Hubert Davis.

🏀 Women’s Basketball

No. 16 UNC Women’s Basketball heads into the holiday break following two blowout wins over UNCW (84-34) and Charleston Southern (93-74).

It’s games like these that allow coach Courtney Banghart to develop depth by playing the younger players, and Nyla Brooks benefitted in a big way. The 5-star freshman had back-to-back career games, scoring a season-high 16 points vs. UNCW and following that up with another personal best of 19 vs. Charleston Southern.

🏅 Olympic Sports

🏑 Congratulations to Ryleigh Heck (first team), Charly Bruder (second team), Sietske Brüning (second team), and Dani Mendez (second team), who received All-America honors from the National Field Hockey Coaches Association last week.

⚽ UNC Men’s Soccer had three players selected in the MLS SuperDraft on Thursday. Jack Sandmeyer was selected 18th overall by Chicago Fire. Dylan Kropp went 25th to Real Salt Lake. And Luca Nikolai heard his name called with the 87th selection by New York City FC.

⚽ UNC Women’s Soccer scored a major win in the transfer portal, as BYU Freshman All-America center back Izzi Stratton announced she is transferring to North Carolina.

⏪ This Week In Tar Heel History

December 18, 2008: Tyler Hansbrough scores with 7:42 to play in the first half of a 91-73 win against Evansville for his 2,292nd career point, breaking Phil Ford’s UNC scoring record.

🎂 This Week’s Tar Heel Birthdays

Happy birthday shoutouts to…

• Charlie Shaffer, UNC Basketball/Tennis Team Captain, Morehead Scholar, Class President: Dec. 21 (1941-2021)

• Jacob Stallings, 10-year MLB Catcher: Dec. 22 (36)

• Steve Streater, All-ACC Safety and Punter, 1980 ACC Champion: Dec. 22 (1958-2009)

• Alge Crumpler, 2x All-ACC & 4x NFL Pro Bowl Tight End: Dec. 23 (48)

• P.J. Hairston, 2014 1st Round NBA Draft Pick: Dec. 24 (33)

• Eddie Pope, National Soccer Hall of Fame, UNC Place Kicker: Dec. 24 (52)

• Lenoir Chambers, UNC Basketball, Football, Tennis, Pulitzer Prize Winner: Dec. 26 (1891-1970)

🏁 Final Thoughts

Thanks again to everyone for supporting the Tar Heel Times Newsletter. I hope you and your families have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year! Please leave a comment to let me know how you’re enjoying the content, what you’d like to see more of, or anything else that’s on your mind. I truly appreciate your support.

Go Heels!
James

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It was a big week for the Tar Heels. Jonathan Powell had a breakout game, Bill Belichick shook up the UNC Football staff, Seth Trimble is on the mend, Women’s Basketball let one slip away, UNC Wrestling is off to dominant start, Men’s Basketball gives back, Armando Bacot closed another deal, and more. On to the updates…

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🏈 Football

The UNC Football staff shakeup that many had thought would happen, finally did. Offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens and special teams coordinator Mike Priefer were let go by head coach Bill Belichick on Friday:

“The UNC offense ranked among the worst in the nation in 2025. Among 136 FBS teams, the Tar Heels finished the regular season No. 131 in total offense, No. 121 in scoring offense (19.3), and No. 119 in red zone offense (77.1% scoring rate). Only seven teams scored fewer touchdowns (25) than UNC.”

Now the search begins for the Tar Heels’ next offensive coordinator, and several names are starting to surface as potential candidates. Here are a few:

• Chip Kelly: Former Oregon Ducks head coach, Ohio State offensive coordinator, and Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator

• Andy Kotelnicki: Former Penn State offensive coordinator

• Brian Daboll: Former New York Giants head coach

• Bobby Petrino: Arkansas interim head coach

Wide receiver Kennedy Uzoma has announced his intention to enter the transfer portal when it opens Jan. 2. Inside Carolina has the complete list, which currently stands at 17 players.

In the NFL, Drake Maye rushed for two touchdowns but passed for a season-low 155 yards as the Patriots blew a 24-7 halftime lead in falling to the Bills, 35-31. Other Tar Heel notables from this week in the NFL, courtesy of R.L. Bynum at Tar Heel Tribune, include…

• Javonte Williams ran for 91 yards and a touchdown in the Cowboys’ 34-29 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

• Omarion Hampton rushed for 61 yards in the Chargers’ 16-13 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

• Josh Downs caught an 8-yard TD pass from 44-year old, recently un-retired QB Philip Rivers in the Colts’ 18-16 loss to the Seahawks.

🏀 Basketball

The box score says that the Tar Heels beat USC Upstate by 18 points on Saturday, outscoring the Spartans by 9 in each half, but it sure didn’t feel that way to Hubert Davis, the players, or UNC basketball fans. As Caleb Wilson pointed out postgame:

“Our preparation in practice the couple of days before wasn’t as good as it should’ve been. As a team, we’ve just got to approach it stronger, better, just have more energy and enthusiasm, no matter who we play.”

One player who didn’t exhibit a post-exam hangover was Jonathan Powell. The sophomore shooting guard had a career day off the bench, posting 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-6 from three-point range.

A few other nuggets from the postgame notes:

• Caleb Wilson led both teams with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks.

• UNC had 20 assists on 28 field goals, its highest assist-percentage of the season (71.4%).

• It was the eighth time in 10 games at least four Tar Heels scored in double figures.

Seth Trimble continues to progress in his recovery from a broken arm. Trimble had the cast removed two weeks ago, switched to a brace last week, and watched from the sidelines on Saturday with nothing on his arm. Hubert Davis on Trimble’s recovery:

“It’s going very well. In regards to him working out, he’s doing everything that’s non-contact. And so the next step is doing everything with contact. And so my hope is that Seth will be out there soon.”

Off the court, UNC Basketball continued its annual tradition of taking local children on a holiday shopping spree, funded by the sale of Tar Heel autographed basketballs. There are still some signed team basketballs available at the link above for those Carolina fans on your shopping list.

Finally, former North Carolina forward Armando Bacot continues his entrepreneurial acquisitions, even as he’s playing professionally in Turkey this season. The UNC rebounding king announced that he has closed on his second hotel property. This one in Raleigh near Crabtree.

🏀 Women’s Basketball

No. 12 UNC Women’s Basketball got off to an 0-1 start in ACC play after falling to No. 22 Louisville, 76-66, on Sunday night in Chapel Hill.

Freshman Taliyah Henderson had a breakout game going 3-for-3 from 3-point range to lead the Tar Heels with 13 points. But with UNC leading by one point with 5.4 seconds remaining in regulation, the Tar Heels missed two free throws, allowing the Cardinals to tie the game with 0.4 seconds remaining. Carolina would be outscored 10-0 in overtime.

⚾ Baseball

Congratulations to former UNC pitcher and current Arizona Diamondbacks star Zac Gallen, who put to rest all of the free-agent rumors swirling around him this offseason by clarifying that he’s no longer “on the market” after getting married last weekend. 💍

Also in UNC-related MLB news, the Diamond Heels will be featured in the 2026 edition of the “MLB The Show” video game.

UNC is one of 11 college baseball programs who will be added to the video game “MLB The Show 26” as part of its “Road to the Show” mode.

🏅 Olympic Sports

🏃‍♀️ Vera Sjöberg is your ACC Women’s Track Performer of the Week after running the 8th-fastest 3,000m time in NCAA history last week (8:43.06). Sjöberg shattered UNC’s twenty-two-year-old school record previously held by Shalane Flanagan.

⚽ On the pitch, UNC Men’s Soccer standouts men’s soccer standouts Dylan Kropp (second team) and Luca Nikolai (third team) have been named United Soccer Coaches All-South Region after their outstanding seasons.

🏑 At the Field Hockey Junior World Cup in Santiago, Chile, UNC’s Reese Anetsberger, Dani Mendez, and future Tar Heel Sofia Ferri upset No. 4 England to advance to the 5th-place match, where they fell to Germany, 3-1.

Finally, No. 22 UNC Wrestling upset No. 17 West Virginia and is off to their best start (6-0) in 20(!) years following their dominant 27-7 victory over the Mountaineers on Friday.

🎂 This Week’s Tar Heel Birthdays

Happy birthday shoutouts to…

• Sam Aiken, 8-year NFL wide receiver: Dec. 14 (45)

• King Rice, 2x ACC Champion point guard, Monmouth basketball head coach: Dec. 14 (57)

• Carlton Bailey, All-ACC defensive lineman, 10-year NFL veteran: Dec. 15 (61)

• Charlie Scott, Basketball Hall-of-Fame; 2x NCAA All-American; 3x NBA All-Star; Olympic Gold Medalist: Dec. 15 (77)

• Pat Sullivan, 1993 Basketball National Champion, UNC asst. coach: Dec. 15 (54)

• Bill Chamberlain, Second Black basketball player in UNC history, honored Smith Center jersey: Dec. 16 (1949-2025)

• Sara Daavettila, Seven-time Women’s Tennis All-America, National Champion: Dec. 17 (28)

• James Hurst, 3x All-ACC offensive lineman, 10-year NFL veteran: Dec. 17 (34)

• Joe Wolf, All-ACC forward, 13-year NBA veteran, 21-year college & pro basketball coach: Dec. 17 (1964-2024)

• Neil Fingleton, UNC Basketball center, former tallest man in European Union, film actor: Dec. 18 (1980-2017)

• Bobby Jones, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, UNC All-American, 1983 NBA Champion, 4x NBA All-Star, 1972 Olympian: Dec. 18 (74)

• Ethan Horton, 1984 ACC Player of the Year, 1991 NFL Pro Bowl running back, UNC honored No. 12 jersey: Dec. 19 (63)

• Chuck Hartman, Baseball, American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame: Dec. 20 (1934-2020)

🏁 Final Thoughts

Thanks again to everyone for supporting the Tar Heel Times Newsletter. I hope you had a great weekend, and please leave a comment to let me know how you’re enjoying the content so far, what you’d like to see more of, or anything else that’s on your mind. I truly appreciate your support.

Go Heels!
James

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UNC Basketball cruised to a 20-point win over Georgetown, Women’s Basketball split a pair of games, Tar Heel Football’s transfer list keeps growing, Olivia Thomas and Linda Ullmark are Women’s Soccer All-Americans, Volleyball bows out of the NCAA Tournament, and more. On to the updates…

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🏀 Basketball

After clinging to a slim 5-point lead at halftime, UNC put the defensive clamps on Georgetown, holding them to just 22% second-half shooting en route to a comfortable 81-61 win on throwback night at the Smith Center.

The Tar Heels’ frontcourt duo of Henri Veesaar (18 points, 15 rebounds) and Caleb Wilson (20 points, 14 rebounds) led the way once again. And freshman guard Derek Dixon continued to show that he’s the future of UNC’s backcourt.

Here’s more from the postgame notes:

• It was the fourth time this season and the second game in a row Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar both had double-doubles.

• It was the first time two Tar Heels scored 18 or more points and had 14 or more rebounds since Sean May and Marvin Williams against Iowa State in 2005 NCAA Tournament

• This was only the second time since 1972 two Tar Heels had 14 or more rebounds in the same game.

• Freshman Derek Dixon scored a season-high 14 points, his first game in double figures.

Here are the complete UNC Basketball season stats through the first nine games. The Tar Heels next host USC Upstate on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 2:00.

🏈 Football

With North Carolina’s football season over, the following players declared their intentions this week to enter the transfer portal when it officially opens on Jan. 2:

• DB Khalil Conley

• RB Davion Gause

• WR Javarius Green

• LB Khmori House

• QB Max Johnson

• OL Miles McVay

• OL Jani Norwood

• DB Ty White

Several of these names seem like big losses, but with so much offseason player movement in the current environment, it’s becoming more and more difficult to get upset about these departures, especially now that the default assumption is that most high-level players are only being rented for one or two seasons. Have we seen the end of the 4-year college athlete?

If you’re keeping up, Inside Carolina has the complete list of transfers, that is only expected to grow in the coming weeks.

🏀 Women’s Basketball

No. 11 UNC Women’s Basketball led No. 2 Texas, 21-16, after one quarter at the ACC/SEC Challenge in Austin, Texas on Thursday, but it went downhill after that. The Tar Heels fell to the Longhorns 79-64 after committing 20 turnovers to just 7 assists. Carolina was led by Indya Nivar (17 points) and Elina Aarnisalo (16). Here’s the full box score.

The Tar Heels bounced back in a big way on Sunday, blowing out the Boston University Terriers, 82-40, at Carmichael Arena. Five players scored double figures, as UNC rained down 11 three-pointers, making it their fifth game with 10 or more threes this season. Elina Aarnisalo led Carolina’s scoring with 14.

🏅 Olympic Sports

It was a big weekend for Tar Heels shattering longstanding records.

🏃‍♀️ UNC’s Vera Sjöberg became the eighth-fastest 3k athlete in NCAA history after finishing the 3,000 meters in 8:43.06(!) at this weekend’s Winston-Salem Season-Kickoff meet, breaking the 22-year-old school record.

🏃‍♂️ Former UNC All-Americans and Patterson Medal Winners Parker Wolfe and Ethan Strand will represent Team USA at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida.

Wolfe claimed his first national title as a professional athlete, winning the 10k at the 2025 XC Championships over the weekend. His time for the 6.2-mile race was 29:16…on a wet, muddy, hilly golf course 😲

Ethan Strand will compete for Team USA in the mixed 4x2k relay after winning the event alongside his teammates at the 2025 XC Championships.

🏐 UNC Volleyball’s season ended in the NCAA round of 32, but not before the Tar Heels made some noise. Despite being unseeded and among the final four chosen for the Tournament, the Tar Heels knocked off No. 6 seed UTEP, 3-1, in dominant fashion on Thursday, before falling to No. 3 seed Wisconsin, 3-0, on Friday in Madison.

In other Volleyball news, ESPN’s Elizabeth Merrill wrote a fantastic longform piece on UNC Volleyball standout Jackie Taylor and the legacy she carries for her late father and former NFL great Sean Taylor.

⚽ Congratulations are in order for several current and former Tar Heel Women’s Soccer standouts. Linda Ullmark and Olivia Thomas received United Soccer Coaches All-America honors for their outstanding play this season.

And Alessia Russo, a two-time United Soccer Coaches All-American while at UNC, was named the 2025 FSA (Football Supporters’ Association) Women’s Player of the Year, winning the fan-voted award for her performances with Arsenal and England.

🏑 Finally, UNC Field Hockey placed six players on the NFHCA All-South Region team after reaching the Final Four. Charly Bruder, Sietske Brüning, Ryleigh Heck, and Dani Mendez led the way on the first team with Isabel Boere and Sanne Hak slotting in to the second team. Brüning and Heck are four-time All-Region selections.

🎂 This Week’s Tar Heel Birthdays

Happy birthday shoutouts to…

• Shaun Draughn, 7-year NFL Running Back: Dec. 7 (38)

• Brie Felnagle, Track & Field 12x All-American, 2x National Champion: Dec. 9 (39)

• Vonnie Holliday, All-ACC Defensive Lineman, 15-year NFL veteran: Dec. 12 (50)

• Kris Lang, 17-year International Basketball Career: Dec. 12 (46)

• Makhtar N’Diaye, First Senegalese NBA Player: Dec. 12 (52)

• T.J. Jaworsky, 3x NCAA Wrestling Champion (1993-1995); 4x National Team Member: Dec. 13 (55)

🏁 Final Thoughts

Thanks again to everyone for supporting the Tar Heel Times Newsletter. I hope you had a great weekend, and please leave a comment to let me know how you’re enjoying the content so far, what you’d like to see more of, or anything else that’s on your mind. I truly appreciate your support.

Go Heels!
James

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