As teams begin their preparations for the upcoming 2026-2027 season, ACC and SEC teams are also preparing to face off against one another, and that includes North Carolina. This will be Mike Malone’s first true test as a head coach for the Tar Heels, as their opponent for that game will be none other than the Arkansas Razorbacks and their legendary head coach, John Calipari.
Malone may be an NBA championship-winning coach, but he has a largely unproven roster, especially with a lot of players entering the transfer portal after the coaching change. However, Locked on Tar Heels podcaster Isaac Schade believes otherwise and thinks that North Carolina has a chance of making a massive statement by turning things around and beating the Hogs.
“Arkansas is gonna be good, but I think it’s gonna be a lot of young talent… but I think Carolina, assuming they are gonna do what we think they’re gonna do, it’s just hard to know because of the mystery, of Coach Malone, of all of it, but I’m gonna project right now that Carolina will win this matchup.” (6:10)
Schade added that North Carolina had dominated Arkansas in the last few meetings, including in 2017 when the Tar Heels escaped the Razorbacks in a nail-biter of a second round during March Madness. However, both teams now have new coaches and completely new rosters, so this one could potentially show how each team could fare this season.
Following the firing of Hubert Davis, the Tar Heels have started a rebuild, taking in NBA champion coach Mike Malone, who immediately went to work and brought back several players from the transfer portal, added some high school recruits, and some transfer portal additions.
Who Has Mike Malone Added To North Carolina Since Arriving?
When Mike Malone arrived at Chapel Hill, the first thing he had to deal with was replacing all those players who declared for the transfer portal and trying to get back some of them. He had so far succeeded in doing both, getting two players back plus several new faces.
Five-star Spanish center Sayon Keita is the jewel of his incoming freshman class, along with four-star forwards Maximo Adams and Kevin Thomas. He also added unstarred combo guard Malloy Smith and Greek power forward Alexandros Samodurov.
For his transfer portal additions, Neoklis Avdalas is his biggest catch, along with shooting guard Matt Able. He also added guard Terrence Brown and power forward Cade Bannerman.
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