By R.L. Bynum
There were rumors two weeks ago that Caleb Love would decommit from Michigan and the guard shot them down on Twitter. Now, multiple reports Wednesday indicate that he is indeed moving on.
Love, who originally committed to Michigan on April 7, will look for another school, according to On3.com and 247 Sports, and Fox Sports is reporting that he didn’t have the needed academic credits to transfer.
According to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, a higher bar needs to be cleared at Michigan for most credits at a student’s previous school.
Although UNC has three scholarships available, it seems unlikely he’ll decide to return to UNC. Two likely destinations would be Missouri and Indiana.
Love is one of seven players to transfer from last season’s team.
Love’s 3-pointer against Duke in the 2022 Final Four is one of the most iconic shots in Carolina basketball history, immortalized in the Carolina Basketball Museum.
Love shot 29.9% from 3-point range last season while attempting a team-high 244 shots from outside the arc (RJ Davis attempted the second-most with 174). He averaged more turnovers (2.4 per game) than 3-pointers (2.2).
Love is third in program history in 3-point attempts (630), ninth in 3-pointers (200) and 17th in free-throw percentage (81.5). He made at least one 3-pointer in 85 games, including a school-record 45 consecutive games.
Love scored a career-high 34 points in the four-overtime loss to Alabama. Two of his four top-scoring games were against Duke — 29 in the 2022 win in the Final Four when he hit a huge 3-pointer late in the game, and 25 in a win at Duke on Feb. 6, 2021. He scored 30 in UNC’s regional semifinal victory in 2022 over UCLA.
Love scored a career-high six 3-pointers four times — against UCLA and Marquette in the 2022 NCAA tournament, at home this past season against Clemson and against Florida State on Feb. 12, 2022.
He finished his career at Carolina averaging 14.6 points per game over three years, including 16.7 last season.
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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 one 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 |
| Freshman | Alexandros Samodurov | C | 6–11 | 212 | |
| 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 | 6–5 | 196 | |
| 1 | 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 |
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 — vs. Arkansas in ACC/SEC Challenge
Dec. 6 — vs. Butler
Dec. 12 — at Georgetown
Dec. 19 — vs. Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
ACC games
Home and away: Duke, Louisville
Home only: California, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU, Stanford, Virginia
Away only: Boston College, Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
