Veesaar Leads UNC Basketball Past Wake, 5-Star PG Beckham Black Offered, Football Transfer Portal Updates
Plus: Hansbrough and Pope to the Hall, Petrino hired, 500th Smith Center win, Women's Basketball's rough day in South Bend, Olympic Sports roundup
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…
🏀 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