UNC Basketball's Bay Area Blues, Dylan Mingo Update, Drake Maye to AFC Championship
Plus: UNC Football adds LSU running back, Sunshine State sweep for Women's Hoops, Baseball receives $9 million gift, Olympic sports roundup
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…
🏀 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.
“They ran the same play, pretty much every time down the court,” Caleb Wilson said. They were in the same place over and over again. It wasn’t like they were doing anything special.”
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