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.

Key events, dates

Saturday at 11:59 p.m. ET — Deadline for players to submit their names to the NBA draft
Wednesday — 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)

UNC schedule so far

Nov. 8 — at Kansas (final AP rank No. 20; final NET ranking No. 19)
Nov. 22 — at Hawaii (final NET ranking No. 172)
Nov. 25–27 — Maui Invitational — Auburn (final AP rank No. 18; final NET ranking No. 5), Colorado (unranked; No. 25), Connecticut (No. 1; No. 2), Dayton (No. 24; No. 23), Iowa State (No. 8; No. 6), Memphis (unranked; No. 75), Michigan State (unranked; No. 24)
Dec. 14 — vs. La Salle (final NET ranking No. 195)
Likely in late November — Opponent TBA in ACC/SEC Challenge
December — vs. UCLA (final NET ranking No. 107) in CBS Sports Classic (date, location TBA)
December — vs. Florida (final NET ranking No. 29) in Jumpman Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center (date TBA)
— Games home and away against Duke, N.C. State and Pittsburgh
— Home games vs. Boston College, California, Georgia Tech, Miami, SMU, Stanford and Virginia
— Road games vs. Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest
Note: 2024 NCAA tournament teams in bold.

Potential 2024-25 UNC 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
0	Junior	Seth Trimble	2	6–3	195
5	Graduate	RJ Davis	PG	6–0	180
		Eligible for fifth season
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