By R.L. Bynum
On the day Carolina announced it would play in Hawaii in November 2024, Justin McKoy announced he’d head there next season.
McKoy, who played two seasons at UNC after transferring from Virginia, said on social media on Tuesday evening that he is transferring to Hawaii for his fifth college season.
“Next Chapter. The Marathon Continues,” McKoy posted on social media, with a checkered-flag emoji. Hawaii went 22–11 last season, losing in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament.
Earlier Tuesday, UNC announced it would play in the Maui Invitational in the 2024–25 season. Also in the field for the event Nov. 25–27, 2024, will be Auburn, Colorado, Dayton, Iowa State, Memphis, Michigan State and the 2023 NCAA champion Connecticut.
It will be after McKoy exhausts his eligibility, but Carolina will play at Hawaii on Nov. 22, 2024, before going to Maui, according to the Hawaii men’s basketball Twitter account.
McKoy grew up in Cary, is the all-time leading scorer at Panther Creek High School with 2,054 points and earned second-team all-state honors his senior season.
After playing 33 games in two seasons for the Cavaliers and averaging 2.5 points and 9.6 minutes per game, only the number of games went up during his two seasons at Carolina. In 41 games for the Tar Heels, he averaged 1.2 points and 6.6 minutes per game.
He scored 50 points in 269 minutes in his two seasons at Carolina. McKoy came to Chapel Hill with a reputation as a good perimeter shooter but made only five of 19 3-point attempts at UNC.
Six of McKoy’s top seven scoring games in his first four college seasons were at Virginia, with his career-high 11 points on Nov. 27, 2020, in the No. 4-ranked Cavaliers’ 61–60 upset loss to San Francisco in Uncasville, Conn. His UNC-high was six points on Feb. 11 last season in the 91–71 home victory over Clemson.
Last season, McKoy only played double-digit minutes twice, scoring two points in both games: 17 minutes in the 88–79 home victory Jan. 4 over Wake Forest and 15 minutes on Jan. 10 in the 65–58 loss at Virginia.
McKoy played the entire overtime period in the second-round 93–87 NCAA tournament victory in 2022 over Baylor.
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Roster assuming all players with eligibility other than Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar and the seven players who entered the transfer portal return, which would put UNC two under the 15-player limit. The class for next season is listed.
| No./ Stars | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 star | Freshman | Maximo Adams | SF | 6–7 | 205 |
| 3 star | Freshman | Malloy Smith | CG | 6–5 | 190 |
| 5 star | Freshman | Sayon Keita | C | 7–0 | 215 |
| 4 star | Freshman | Kevin Thomas | W | 6–7 | 190 |
| RS freshman | Cade Bennerman — W | C | 7–0 | 205 | |
| Sophomore | Neoklis Avdalas — X | G | 6–9 | 215 | |
| Sophomore | Isaiah Denis | G | 6–4 | 180 | |
| Sophomore | Matt Able — Y | G | 6–6 | 205 | |
| Senior | Terrence Brown — Z | G | 6–3 | 174 | |
| 4 | Senior | Jaydon Young | G | 6–4 | 200 |
| 15 | Senior | Jarin Stevenson | 4 | 6–10 | 215 |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 25 | Junior | John Holbrook | 4 | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Senior | Evan Smith | 2 | 6–1 | 195 |
W — Northwestern transfer. X — Virginia Tech transfer; Y — N.C. State transfer; Z — Utah transfer
Michael Malone’s coaching staff: Chuck Martin, Bryan Tibaldi, Sean May and Pat Sullivan; Deon Thompson will be a graduate assistant, and Brandon Robinson will reportedly have a support staff position.
Players who left for the transfer portal
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luka Bogavac | Senior | W | 6–6 | 215 | Oklahoma State |
| James Brown | Senior | C | 6–10 | 240 | Howard |
| Derek Dixon | Sophomore | G | 6–5 | 200 | Arizona |
| Kyan Evans | Senior | G | 6–2 | 175 | Minnesota |
| Zayden High | Junior | C | 6–10 | 230 | South Florida |
| Jonathan Powell | Junior | G | 6–6 | 190 | Pittsburgh |
| Ivan Matlekovic | Junior | C | 7–0 | 255 |
Key offseason dates
Thursday through May 28 — Kevin Thomas at USA Basketball U18 national team tryouts in Colorado Springs
May 27 (11:59 p.m.) — NCAA early-entry withdrawal deadline
June 13 — Deadline for international players to withdraw from NBA draft and maintain college eligibility
June 23–24 — NBA draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn
Nonconference schedule so far
(Other than the ACC/SEC Challenge, games without links revealed from reporting by Alex Rosinski or Rocco Miller)
(11 of 14 games)
Nov. 2 — vs. Western Carolina
Nov. 6 — vs. Wofford
Nov. 10 — vs. Wyoming
Nov. 13 — vs. Georgia
Nov. 20 — vs. Marshall
Nov. 27 — vs. West Virginia at the Dick Vitale Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center
Dec. 1 or 2 — vs. SEC team in ACC/SEC Challenge (announced last year on June 12)
Dec. 12 — at Georgetown
Dec. 19 — vs. Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
November or December — vs. Butler
