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.
