By R.L. Bynum

After playing sparingly in his sophomore season at North Carolina, wing Dontrez Styles is entering the transfer portal to find a new basketball home, according to On3.

It was always going to be a tough decision for the 6–6, 210-pound former Kinston High School star, who grew up as a UNC fan and with his room decorated with Carolina items. When he committed to the Tar Heels, he said it was something that he had been “dreaming of since I was a little kid.”

Possible destinations for Styles include N.C. State because of his good relationship during recruiting with Coach Kevin Keatts, Clemson or Vanderbilt. Coaching the Commodores is former Carolina star Jerry Stackhouse, the SEC Coach of the Year, who was also a Kinston star.

His best moment as a Tar Heel was a huge corner 3-pointer in overtime of the second-round NCAA tournament victory over No. 1 seed and reigning NCAA champion Baylor when the Bears had all the momentum. Carolina went on to advance, on its way to the NCAA championship game, with a 93–86 victory.

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

It didn’t go the same way for Styles at Carolina, though. After Styles played 30 games as a freshman and got double-digit minutes in six games, he got into only 15 games this season, with double-digit minutes in three games.

Styles scored nine points, which tied his career-high, against The Citadel in a season-high 16 minutes. He scored five points in 11 minutes in the Tar Heels’ 85–61 win over Boston College in the ACC Tournament last Wednesday and four points in 10 minutes in the 77–66 victory at Florida State on Feb. 27.

Key events, dates

April 27 (at 11:59 p.m. ET) — Deadline for players to submit their names to the NBA draft
May 1 — Transfer portal closes
May 11–12 — NBA G League Elite Camp in Chicago
May 12–19 — NBA Combine in Chicago
May 17–19 — Evaluation for high school players at NCAA-certified events (EYBL in Indianapolis is on those)

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Potential 2024-25 UNC men’s roster

No.	Class	Player	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
—	Freshman	James Brown (4 star)	5	6–8	225
—	Freshman	Ian Jackson (5 star)	2	6–4	180
—	Freshman	Drake Powell (5 star)	2	6–5	185
2	Soph.	Elliot Cadeau	PG	6–1	180
1	Soph.	Zayden High	4	6–9	225
13	Junior	Jalen Washington	5	6–10	230
55	Senior	Harrison Ingram	4	6–7	235
		Eligible for fifth season
5	Graduate	RJ Davis	PG	6–0	180
24	Graduate	Jae’Lyn Withers	4	6–9	215
		Walk-ons eligible for 5th season
14	Graduate	Creighton Lebo	PG	6–1	180
22	Graduate	Rob Landry	2	6–4	190

2023–24 UNC players to enter transfer portal

Class	Player	Date entered	Pos.	Hgt.	Next school
Senior	James Okonkwo	April 5	F	6–8	Akron
Junior	Seth Trimble	April 9	G	6–3	TBA