Styles will go from his dream school in UNC to Georgetown

By R.L. Bynum

Dontrez Styles, who decided to leave Carolina after playing sparingly as a sophomore, is transferring to Georgetown, hoping to get more chances to show what he can do.

Styles, who also was considering N.C. State, East Carolina and South Carolina, will play for Ed Cooley, who takes over as head coach at Georgetown after Patrick Ewing, who was 75–109 in six seasons as head coach, left the program. Cooley was 242–153 in 12 seasons as the coach at Providence.

“The connection between me and coach Cooley has been great, and I trust him,” Styles told on3.com. “The opportunity is there, and I’m ready to go take it and run with it.”

Styles is the fourth of the six players transferring from UNC to pick a team after Tyler Nickel (Virginia Tech), Justin McKoy (Hawaii) and Caleb Love (Michigan). Puff Johnson and Will Shaver haven’t announced their plans.

His decision completes a painful transition for a player who grew up in Kinston as a Carolina fan. Styles decorated his room with Carolina items. When he committed to UNC, he said it was something he had been dreaming of since childhood.

Styles’ finest moment as a Tar Heel was a huge corner 3-pointer when No. 1 seed and reigning NCAA champion Baylor had all of the momentum heading into overtime of the second round of the 2022 NCAA tournament victory over the Bears. Carolina went on to advance, on its way to the NCAA championship game, with a 93–86 victory as Styles scored a career-high nine points (which he matched last season against The Citadel) in a career-high 25 minutes.

Styles averaged 30.3 points and 10.3 rebounds his last three seasons at Kinston High School, then followed the paths of Stackhouse and Reggie Bullock from Kinston to Chapel Hill.

Unlike those two, Styles’ dreams weren’t realized at Carolina. After he played 30 games as a freshman and played double-digit minutes in six, he got into only 15 games this past season, with double-digit minutes in three games.

He played a season-high 16 minutes against The Citadel.


UNC roster

No.ClassPlayerPos.HgtWgt
Returnees
4Sr.RJ DavisPG6–0180
7Soph.Seth TrimblePG6–3195
13Soph.Jalen Washington46–10230
55th yearArmando Bacot56–11240
Transfer newcomers
35th yearCormac Ryan (Notre Dame)36–5195
85th yearPaxson Wojcik (Brown)36–5195
55JuniorHarrison Ingram (Stanford)36–7235
32JuniorJames Okonkwo (West Virginia)46–8240
24SeniorJae’Lyn Withers (Louisville)46–9215
ESPN rankFreshmen
210 (Class
of 2024)
Elliot Cadeau (5 star)PG6–1180
164 (Class
of 2023
Zayden High (4 star)46–9225
Walk-ons
14Creighton LeboPG6–1180
22Rob Landry26–4190
34Dewe Farris46–7210
Eligibility over
Leaky Black36–9205
Pete Nance46–11230
Players who transferred out
Caleb Love (Arizona)26–4200
D’Marco Dunn (Penn State)36–5190
Dontrez Styles (Georgetown)46–6210
Tyler Nickel (Va. Tech)36–7220
Justin McKoy (Hawaii)46–8220
Puff Johnson (Penn State)36–8200
Will Shaver (UAB)56–10260
ESPN rank2024–25 freshman class
12Drake Powell (5 star)26–5185
17Ian Jackson (5 star)26–4180
68James Brown (4 star)56–8225

Photo via @UNC_Basketball

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