UNC Basketball Feast Week, Football 'Flip Season,' Dylan Mingo Trims List
Plus: Stuart Scott '30 for 30,' heartbreak on the soccer pitch, baseball schedule and commitment, Jenny Levy to Hall of Fame
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you’re enjoying some well-earned down time with friends, food, family, and Tar Heel sports. This weekend, we’ve got men’s and women’s basketball playing big games in tropical locations, Football keeps flipping recruits and now heads to Raleigh for a tough night game, and 5-star guard Dylan Mingo has trimmed his list. All that and much more. On to the updates…
🏈 Football
Carolina Football enters its toughest environment of the season, when the Tar Heels travel to Raleigh on Saturday night to face a hungry NC State team and a hostile crowd.
Sitting at 4-7 (2-5 ACC), we’ll find out a lot about what this UNC team is made of. Have the players mentally checked out now that a bowl game is no longer on the table? Are they more interested in their next transfer destination and NIL deal, or have they bought in to Bill Belichick’s program and the importance of the rivalry.
One player already looking ahead is offensive tackle William Boone, who announced his plans to transfer this week after missing the last eight games with an injury.
🏀 Basketball
On the hardwood, the No. 16 Tar Heels were tested by a scrappy St. Bonaventure team before UNC pulled away for the 85-70 win.
Henri Veesaar had career highs of 24 points and 13 rebounds, and he may be emerging as the Tar Heels’ most important player. Obviously, Caleb Wilson is the most talented player, but Veesaar’s shot-blocking, three-point ability, and high-low passing game takes a lot of pressure off Wilson and prevents defenses from constantly double-teaming him. When the Bonnies tried double-teaming Wilson, it resulted in a career night for Veesaar. Opponents can’t defend both.
Next up for Carolina is a Thanksgiving matchup against No. 11 Michigan State (4:30, FOX) in another “measuring stick” contest to see where the Tar Heels stand against top competition without Seth Trimble in the lineup.
On a related note, Seth Trimble’s forearm cast is off, and he seems to be progressing nicely toward an end-of-year return.
In other news, Michael Jordan donated $10 million to the Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, N.C., which will name its neuroscience institute after his mother, Deloris Jordan.
And former Tar Heel forward Garrison Brooks has been selected to the November 2025 USA Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team as Team USA prepares to take on Nicaragua on Nov. 28 and Dec. 1.
🏀 Basketball Recruiting
On the basketball recruiting trail, 5-star guard Dylan Mingo has trimmed his list to four schools: Baylor, Penn State, North Carolina, and Washington, with his most recent and final visit being to UNC.
🏈 Football Recruiting
It’s “Flip Season” for UNC Football, as Bill Belichick continues to bring in loads of talented players who were previously committed to other programs.
This week alone, the Tar Heels received commitments from four players (3 flips).
3-star Linebacker Jordan Avinger (Orangeburg, SC)
3-star Offensive Lineman Jonah Rodriguez (San Diego, CA)
3-star Cornerback Julian Peterson (Atco, NJ)
3-star Wide Receiver WR Kymistrii Young (Parrish, FL)
That puts the 2026 UNC Football Recruiting Board at close to 40(!) players.
🏀 Women’s Basketball
No. 12 UNC Women’s Basketball is spending Thanksgiving in Cancun, Mexico and faces the South Dakota State Jackrabbits on Thursday at 11 a.m. ET as part of the 2025 Cancun Challenge.
The Tar Heels then face Kansas State on Friday at 11 a.m., followed by Columbia on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Congratulations to UNC freshman Nyla Brooks, who was named ACC Rookie of the Week after averaging 16.0 points per game in wins at N.C. A&T and UNC Greensboro.
And kudos, as well, to Kayla McPherson on having her high school jersey retired last weekend! McPherson unfortunately was forced to end her playing career prior to this season due to injuries, but she’s serving as a student assistant coach for the Tar Heels and gaining a valuable foothold into her desired field of college coaching.
Former UNC all-everything Alyssa Ustby is living her best life as a professional basketball player in Italy and recently posted an Instagram video of her day trip to Rome. Click below to check it out.
⚾ Baseball
The 2026 North Carolina Baseball schedule was released this week, which consists of 37 regular-season home games at Boshamer Stadium. According to UNC’s announcement, it looks to be a tough slate:
“17 teams that Carolina will face finished the 2025 season inside the top 100 of the RPI, with 12 of those falling in the top-75. Seven of the Heels’ 2026 opponents made the NCAA postseason with three advancing to supers and two on to the CWS.”
⚾ Baseball Recruiting
Along with this week’s baseball schedule release, head coach Scott Forbes received a commitment from Walters State shortstop Kole Fenton. Here’s the Newbern, Tennessee native’s Perfect Game profile.
🏅 Olympic Sports
UNC Women’s Soccer fell to No. 2 seed TCU on Monday in penalty kicks 1(4)-1(3) in Fort Worth, Texas to end their season.
Unfortunately, all but one team in the NCAA Tournament ends the season on a winning note, and there was a lot of heartbreak for Tar Heel teams this past week, as summed up by Inside Carolina’s Tommy Ashley:
No. 15 UNC Volleyball swept the Virginia Cavaliers in their final ACC road match of the year and next host No. 13 Miami on Saturday to end their regular season.
And legendary UNC Women’s Lacrosse coach Jenny Levy was inducted into the IWLCA Hall of Fame. Just an incredible resume…
“Levy ranks second in all-time wins with 443, including an ACC-high 118 league victories. She is one of only four people to win NCAA titles as a coach and player and is one of only four coaches with four or more national titles. She’s been named National Coach of the Year four times and earned eight ACC Coach-of-the-Year honors.”
📰 Tar Heel Tidbits
Set your DVRs! ESPN will premiere a 30 for 30 special on former SportsCenter anchor and proud UNC alumnus Stuart Scott, who passed away from cancer at age 49 in January, 2015.
The episode, entitled “Boo-Yah: A Portrait of Stuart Scott,” airs Dec. 10 and 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.
⏪ Throwback Thursday
In honor of UNC Football’s trip to Raleigh on Saturday night, we’re throwing it back ten years to Nov. 28, 2015, when Marquise Williams surpassed Darian Durant to become UNC’s all-time leader in total offense with 9,632 career yards as the Tar Heels beat NC State 45-34 in Raleigh to cap an 11-1 (8-0 ACC) regular season.
🏁 Final Thoughts
Thanks again to everyone for supporting the Tar Heel Times Newsletter. I hope you have 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