After suffering back-to-back NCAA Tournament first-round exits, the North Carolina Tar Heels fired head coach Hubert Davis and hired NBA champion-winning coach Michael Malone. The former Denver Nuggets head coach has little to no idea about coaching at the college level; therefore, the ongoing transfer portal will be interesting for UNC in many aspects.
The change in head coach often results in plenty of departures and UNC is suffering from the same. Malone is adjusting to the new system and here’s everything you’ll need to know about the program’s activity in the transfer portal.
Michael Malone’s UNC Basketball Transfer Portal
Players Joining
Neoklis Avdalas is the first player UNC has added from the transfer portal. The former Virginia Tech guard becomes Malone’s first transfer portal addition. The 6-foot-9 Greek standout averaged 12.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game across 31 starts in his freshman season in Blacksburg.
Avdalas ranked eighth in assists per game in the ACC and earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors twice last season.
Players Leaving
Derek Dixon (Committed to Arizona)
Luka Bogavac (Committed to Oklahoma State)
Isaiah Denis (Expected to enter transfer portal)
Jonathan Powell (Committed to Pittsburgh)
James Brown (Expected to enter transfer portal)
Zayden High (Expected to enter transfer portal)
Kyan Evans (Expected to enter transfer portal)
Jaydon Young (Entered but opted out of transfer portal to return to Chapel Hill)
Among the above-mentioned names mentioned, the exit of Derek Dixon will probably hit the UNC program the hardest. Across 33 appearances, including getting the nod to start the final 16 games, Dixon averaged 6.5 points, 2.7 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game while shooting 39.7% from 3-point range. Now, Dixon is headed to Arizona.
22-year old Luka Bogavac leaving UNC is also a big news, given he averaged 9.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 34.9% (52 of 149) from 3-point range.
Additional Roster Moves
Michael Malone managed to convince Jarin Stevenson to return for another season. He started games and when not, he was the first person to come off the bench. He joins Jayden Young as the only other player returning to Chapel Hill next season.
Notably, five-star Dylan Mingo has decommitted from UNC and has opened his recruitment.
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