Isaiah Denis has decided to leave Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for his sophomore season, following the Tar Heels’ dismissal of head coach Hubert Davis in March. His participation in the Tar Heels’ 2025-26 season was extremely limited due to a re-injury to one of his pinky fingers, which he originally injured during his senior year of high school.
Denis only played 10 games in the entire season, most of them in North Carolina’s non-conference schedule. He only played in three conference games, two in January and one in February, but was shut down after that.
Fans were quick to react to the news of Isaiah Denis’ decision to leave North Carolina, with some fans speculating that the decision was due to Hubert Davis’ firing. Some expected more departures to come.
“Mass exodus incoming,” wrote one fan.
“Uh oh, what’s going on in carrboro?,” asked another person
Some fans complained about the state of the transfer portal.
“The portal is getting out of hand. Every Freshman who barely played is going through recruiting all over again,” said someone else
Others speculated where Isaiah Denis could end up next season.
“There is a good chance he ends up at Tennessee or NC State,” floated one fan
“Charlotte!,” ventured another fan
Others simply thought Hubert Davis didn’t properly develop Denis.
“Why did Hubert hate this kid?,” asked another person.
Other fans didn’t seem overtly preoccupied with the fact that Isaiah Denis was leaving Chapel Hill.
“Who is this?,” wrote one fan
Jon Rothstein Believes That North Carolina Shouldn’t Have Fired Hubert Davis
On Saturday, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein shared with the fandom a somewhat controversial opinion of his: Hubert Davis shouldn’t have been fired by North Carolina. According to Rothstein, the Tar Heels didn’t have that bad of a season, and it’s the biggest of sins that they didn’t have a replacement standing by:
“Everybody wants to pile on Hubert Davis. Everybody wants to say this is not Carolina basketball. The last two years that North Carolina was operating under Roy Williams, you know what North Carolina’s record was? 32-30,” Rothstein said. “Hubert Davis, and look, everybody can say whatever they want. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion. I did not think he should have been fired at all because I did an interview with him on this show the Thursday before North Carolina was going to play its regular-season finale against Duke. North Carolina was 24-6. North Carolina had beaten Duke and Kansas and won road games at Kentucky and Virginia…”
“Caleb Wilson was getting ready to come back from a hand injury that weekend. Hubert and I taped the interview. He says there’s a chance he could play Saturday against Duke. Caleb Wilson goes to practice. He breaks a finger in the other hand, out for the season. Carolina loses to Duke, loses to Clemson in the ACC Tournament, loses to VCU in the NCAA Tournament and had a 19-point lead. I understand the optics. I understand it was a terrible loss. But if you’re going to fire Hubert Davis, who was 24-6 before a top-five pick in the draft breaks a finger and is out for the season, you better have somebody to replace him…”
As of April 6, North Carolina hasn’t found a replacement for Davis, who was fired on March 24.
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