Latest On Luka, 5-Star Visits, Football, and UNC Women Ready to Compete
Football, lineup projections, Luka Bogavac news, recruiting visits, and top-tier women’s basketball matchups highlight a busy week for UNC Athletics
Thanks to the many new subscribers who joined us over the past few days and those of you who are already on board!
One thing I’ve learned so far is that there tends to be way too much information to pack into two weekly newsletters. I’m faced with either having to omit newsworthy items, make the posts too long, or add another 1-2 posts per week. If you’ve got an opinion on how I should adjust, I’ve included a poll further down and would love your feedback. Now, on to the updates…
Basketball
Luka Bogavac has completed the student visa approval process, and is expected to arrive in Chapel Hill next week. He now awaits clearance from the NCAA. ESPN included Bogavac in its projected starting lineup for the Tar Heels.
Kyan Evans (10.6 PPG at Colorado State)
Seth Trimble (11.6 PPG)
Luka Bogavac (14.9 PPG for SC Derby in Montenegro)
Caleb Wilson (No. 5 in ESPN 100)
Henri Veesaar (9.4 PPG at Arizona)
Former UNC great and longtime NBA standout Reggie Bullock is living his best life in retirement, having bought his own “Bullock Island” in Belize, just outside Placencia. He hosted a basketball camp for local youth this summer. Click on the image below for the Instagram video…it’s worth a watch:
And Roy Williams, having just celebrated his 75th birthday, has moved from Chapel Hill to his own personal golfer’s paradise in Pinehurst. I’m not sure if that info is new, but it’s new to me. He’ll still be at UNC basketball games, FYI.
Here’s a great breakdown of what to expect from the Ivan Matlekovic addition to the UNC Basketball roster from Inside Carolina.
Former UNC forward Harrison Ingram signed a two-way contract with the San Antonio Spurs. This allows him to move between the Spurs’ NBA roster and their G League affiliate Austin Spurs.
Following Mia Hamm’s lead as UNC’s graduation speaker in May, fellow Tar Heel GOAT Tyler Hansbrough will lead Carolina’s convocation on Aug. 17. Hopefully, the celebration doesn’t include jumping off a frat house balcony into a pool:
Basketball Recruiting
Five-star wing Anthony Thompson has scheduled an official visit to UNC for Aug. 22, per Joe Tipton. Thompson included the Tar Heels in his top 7 in July. Other upcoming visits include Ohio State (Aug. 29), Michigan (Sept. 5), Indiana (Sept. 12), Texas (Sept. 19), and Kentucky (Sept. 24).
Andrew Jones and David Sisk at TarHeel247 hosted a nice video discussion of top basketball recruiting targets Deron Rippey, Jr., Tahj Ariza, Cameron Holmes, Cole Cloer, and Bryson Howard. Each of these players has scheduled visits to UNC.
And I’ve removed 5-star combo guard Jordan Smith from the 2026 UNC basketball recruiting board after he announced a top 6 of Arkansas, Duke, Georgetown, Indiana, Kentucky, and Syracuse on Tuesday.
Poll
Football
The college football preseason coach's poll was released Monday and UNC is not among the 51 teams that received a vote.
Players and coaches spoke with the media on Wednesday. Here are links to their YouTube videos:
🎥 Bill Belichick (head coach)
🎥 Steve Belichick (defensive coordinator)
🎥 Freddie Kitchens (offensive coordinator)
🎥 Mike Priefer (special teams coordinator)
UNC Football has ordered throwback uniforms from the 1980 11-1 season with the hopes of debuting them this season, per former UNC Football letterman and Dan LeBatard Show Video Producer Taylor Vippolis. No word on whether the “stairstep logo” helmets will be included:
Of the 63 Tar Heel players listed as participants in last year’s regular-season finale against NC State, only 25 remain on the current 2025 UNC football roster.
UNC Football General Manager Michael Lombardi signed a three-year contract through January 15, 2028. He'll be paid $1.5M annually, per WRAL’s Brian Murphy.
Football Recruiting
UNC Kicker commit David Green announced on social media that he has been invited to the UA All-American game.
UNC Football commit Jaden Jefferson was named California Junior Athlete of the Year. He ran a state record 10.01 in the 100 meters and nabbed all-state junior honors in football. With that elite speed, he can play any position he wants on the football field.
Carolina is in the top-6 for 2027 4-star Rolesville, N.C. safety Marquis Bryant, going up against some big-time competition in Clemson, Tennessee, Florida State, Notre Dame, and Georgia:
And Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech four-star athlete CJ Sadler will announce his college decision on Aug. 15. North Carolina is trending among recruiting analysts, but he says he is also still considering Colorado, Maryland, and Michigan.
Women’s Basketball
The 2025-26 UNC Women’s Basketball non-conference schedule was released Tuesday, with high-profile games against South Carolina, UCLA, Kansas State, Texas, and Baylor.
Women’s Basketball Recruiting
5-star forward Leelee Bell included UNC in her top 5, and four-star forward Mimi Thiero has UNC in her top 12.
Baseball
UNC Baseball has been very active (and successful) in the transfer portal this offseason. Here’s a great rundown of incoming baseball transfers from the Daily Tar Heel.
Carolina also landed former Wake Forest pitcher commit Rhett Britt after his coach left for Duke.
And on a bittersweet note, the ACC’s first-ever Athletics Rehabilitative Facility Dog, dugout mascot, and very good boy Home Run Remington has called it a career and is entering retirement after 9 seasons with the Diamond Heels.
Olympic Sports
UNC Women’s Soccer is gearing up to defend their national title, and Inside Carolina put together a great story and video on Coach Damon Nahas’ 2025 squad.
Congratulations to UNC Women’s Lacrosse assistant coach Marie McCool, who was named co-captain of the U.S. Women’s Lacrosse team for The World Games 2025 in Chengdu, China beginning Thursday, Aug. 7. Other Tar Heels on the roster include Chloe Humphrey, Ally Mastroianni, and Taylor Moreno.
And Carolina (and global) soccer legend Mia Hamm has been inducted into the Washington, D.C. Sports Hall of Fame. It seems odd that this no-brainer of a decision took so long.
Tar Heel Tidbits
A great collection of photos of 5 of UNC’s most elite locker rooms 😍
Final Thoughts
As a reminder, this newsletter will remain free through the end of August, giving you a chance to see what it’s all about while giving me time to dial in the content that’s most valuable to you. Starting Labor Day, it will switch to a paid model: $5/month or $50/year, with a 1-week free trial you can cancel anytime.
So, why the paid subscription model? It’s simple. Tar Heel Times will always remain a free website, but this newsletter is something new—more personal, more focused, and directly supported by readers like you. It’s a clean, ad-free UNC digest delivered straight to your inbox, without clutter or clickbait. Your support helps cover the time and effort it takes to put it all together.
Go Heels, and a sincere thank you to the many of our over 1,300 subscribers who have already become paid supporters.
James
Just some thoughts on the newsletter and the site, James...
The site gives us links to key stuff and that is great, and the newsletter does not NEED to cover all the same stuff. But the newsletter should be readable and an overview of things, so I like the idea of two longer posts a week to do more of a narrative overview of happening along with some information not covered on the site. My guess is that MOST of your newsletter readers are looking at the site at least once a day -- I often bounce there two or three times a day.
And I will repeat my oft-mentioned note that coverage of the "minor" sports is very interesting to me. The women's soccer team played an exhibition yesterday evening but NOTHING about that anywhere -- I checked in Perplexity and Comet and nothing about results. They are Defending National Champions, so we should look to GENERATE interest.
Neat to see Marie McCool on the world team along with our other stars. THAT is the stuff that won't appear on the site and the background stuff that would make the newsletter more valuable to people like me.
Understand that so many of us are FAR from Chapel Hill. Keeping us informed is valuable.
Have FUN out There!
This is the best Tar Heel site!
Thanks for all you do and for being the Database!