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.

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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.

UNC roster

Here is a rundown of the Tar Heels’ scholarship players from the just-completed season, with their class should they return next season listed. UNC has four available scholarships.

No.	Class	Player	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
		Possible returnees			
4	Sr.	RJ Davis	PG	6–0	175
0	Soph.	Seth Trimble	PG	6–3	192
11	Jr.	D’Marco Dunn	3	6–5	190
13	Soph.	Jalen Washington	4	6–10	225
5	5th year	Armando Bacot	5	6–11	235
		Eligibility over			
1		Leaky Black	3	6–9	205
32		Pete Nance	4	6–11	230
		Incoming transfer
	5th year	Paxton Wojcik	2	6–5	200
		In transfer portal			
		Will Shaver	5	6–10	260
		Puff Johnson	3	6–8	200
		Justin McKoy	4	6–8	220
		Tyler Nickel	3	6–7	220
		Dontrez Styles	4	6–6	210
		Caleb Love	2	6–4	200
		Incoming freshmen			
		Simeon Wilcher	2	6–4	185
		Zayden High	4	6–9	225

Photo via @UNC_Basketball