By R.L. Bynum
Ready to take on college basketball, point guard Elliot Cadeau is taking his game to Chapel Hill a year earlier than expected.
Cadeau announced Tuesday morning on social media that he is reclassifying: “I would like to announce that I will be joining the team this upcoming fall!”
The highly touted five-star 6–1, 165-pound Brooklyn native, who was part of Carolina’s talented four-player Class of 2024, will reclassify and join the Tar Heels as a freshman next season. The No. 1 point guard in the Class of 2024, his overall ranking is No. 8 by 247 Sports, No. 11 by ESPN and No. 15 by Rivals.
Cadeau gives UNC a pure point guard, allowing RJ Davis to shift to the two spot. Cadeau, who was born deaf in his right ear, has amazing court vision and impressive passing ability. He’ll likely be the best passer at Carolina since Kendall Marshall and get many more fast breaks going than the Tar Heels had last season.
“The ball will be in my hands a lot when I’m on the floor,” Cadeau told ESPN. “I will run the team as much as I can as a freshman, and think I can really help the team win a lot of games.”
By reclassifying, Cadeau can enter the 2024 NBA draft.
“My goal was always to be one and done,” he told ESPN. “Reclassing doesn’t change that. It’s definitely my end goal — to be in the draft as soon as possible — but this takes pressure off me to be one and done and gives me the option of staying two years if needed.”
In the EYBL event that concluded over the weekend, he had 29 points, 15 assists, three rebounds and a steal in the New Heights Lightning’s 110–96 victory over the Oakland Soldiers. Over 17 EYBL games, he averaged 15.7 points, 9.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game as the Lightning went 13–4. He shot 50% from the floor, 35.4% from 3-point range and 87.9% from the free-throw line.
Cadeau, who turns 19 on Sept. 4, was named MaxPreps Freshman All-American first team after averaging 11.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists in ninth grade for Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, N.J., as its starting point guard.
After a high ankle sprain forced him to miss his sophomore season, he played at Link Academy in Branson, Mo., last season. Link finished 27–1, beating AZ Compass Prep 73–55 to win the Geico Nationals, with Cadeau contributing 11 points, three rebounds and five assists with no turnovers despite battling foul trouble.
Cadeau, whose mother is Swedish, has plenty of international experience representing Sweden. Playing for its junior team, he was the tournament MVP, leading it to the FIBA Europe U18 Championship in 2022. He averaged 21.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists during that tournament. In the championship game victory over Denmark, he collected 36 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
At age 17, Sweden called him up to the senior team for a pair of FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
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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 | 6–5 | 196 | |
| 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
Wednesday (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, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
November or December — vs. Butler
