UNC officially announced five newcomers; what does Coach Davis say about them?

By R.L. Bynum

Coach Hubert Davis officially welcomed four transfers and just-reclassified incoming point guard Elliot Cadeau to the program for next season on Wednesday.

Here’s what Davis had to say about those five players:

— Cadeau, a 6–2 guard from West Orange, N.J., joins two other incoming freshmen in Simeon Wilcher, a 6–5 guard from Plainfield, N.J., and Zayden High, a 6-10 forward from San Antonio, Texas:

“Elliot is an elite passer and playmaker. He always wants his team to win and excels at making his teammates around him better. Elliot is a selfless teammate who consistently celebrates the success of others. He is a great addition to our team and program, and we are excited he is a Tar Heel.”

— Harrison Ingram (top photo), a 6-7 forward from Dallas, where he attended the St. Mark’s School, totaled 682 points, 405 rebounds and 218 assists in two seasons at Stanford. He was the 2022 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, when he won conference freshman-of-the-week honors six times:

“I love Harrison’s elite versatility on both ends of the floor. He’s a great passer, playmaker and scorer with size. He is a great leader and teammate who has a burning desire to win. We initially recruited him in high school and are glad he’s a Tar Heel.”

Photo courtesy of the ACC

— Cormac Ryan, a 6–5 guard from New York City, has scored 1,173 points and made 212 three-pointers in 116 games over four seasons. He played three years at the Milton Academy in Massachusetts before beginning his collegiate career at Stanford in 2018–19 (he scored 14 points vs. UNC in Chapel Hill that season). He transferred to Notre Dame, where he red-shirted in 2019-20 and then averaged 10.5 points for the Irish from 2020–23.

“Cormac is an accomplished college basketball player who has consistently performed at the highest level on the biggest stages. He’s a great shooter, defender, leader and fierce competitor every time he steps on the floor. We are thrilled to have him here at UNC.”

Photo courtesy of the ACC

— Jae’Lyn Withers, a 6-9 forward, made 64 starts in 81 games over the past three seasons at Louisville, where he averaged 8.0 points and 5.6 rebounds. Originally from Charlotte, where his father, Curtis, was a three-time all-conference standout for the 49ers, Withers attended North Mecklenburg High School in Huntersville for three years before finishing his prep career at Cleveland Heights High School in Ohio.

“Jae’Lyn is a versatile big man who can do a number of things really well on both ends of the court. He can consistently make three-pointers, run the floor, post up, attack the offense and create plays off the bounce. He is also an excellent defender and rebounder, exactly what we were looking for at that position. He is a North Carolina kid and we are glad he is back home.”

— Paxson Wojcik, a 6–5 guard, has played two seasons at Loyola Chicago and the most recent two at Brown, where he earned second-team All-Ivy League honors, Academic All-Ivy honors and was a team captain for the Bears in 2022–23. He’s originally from Chapel Hill, where his dad, Doug, was an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 2000–03:

“Paxson is a talented basketball player who excels at doing everything on the court at a high level. He brings consistent perimeter shooting, rebounding and passing from the wing. He will be a great leader for us. We are excited to have Paxson as part of the Carolina Basketball family.”


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.ClassPlayerPos.HgtWgt
FreshmanJames Brown (4 star)56–8225
FreshmanIan Jackson (5 star)26–4180
FreshmanDrake Powell (5 star)26–5185
2Soph.Elliot Cadeau PG6–1180
1Soph.Zayden High46–9225
13JuniorJalen Washington56–10230
0JuniorSeth Trimble26–3195
5GraduateRJ DavisPG6–0180
Eligible for fifth season
24GraduateJae’Lyn Withers 46–9215
Walk-ons eligible for 5th season
14GraduateCreighton LeboPG6–1180
22GraduateRob Landry26–4190

DateMonth/dayScoreOpponent/event
(current ranks)
Record
October
27FridayW, 117–53vs. St. Augustine’sExhibition
November
6MondayW, 86–70vs. Radford1–0
12SundayW, 90–68vs. Lehigh2–0
17FridayW, 77–52vs. UC Riverside3–0
Battle 4 Atlantis
in the Bahamas
22WednesdayW, 91–69Northern Iowa4–0
23ThursdayL, 83–81, OTVillanova4–1
24FridayW, 87–72Arkansas5–1
ACC/SEC
Men’s Challenge
29WednesdayW, 100–92vs. No. 6 Tennessee6–1
December
2SaturdayW, 78–70vs. Florida State7–1,
1–0 ACC
Jimmy V Classic
in New York
5TuesdayL, 87–67No. 1 Connecticut7–2
CBS Sports Classic
in Atlanta
16SaturdayL, 87–83No. 12 Kentucky7–3
Jumpman Invitational
in Charlotte
20WednesdayW, 81–69Oklahoma8–3
—————————
29FridayW, 105–60vs. Charleston Southern9–3
January
2TuesdayW, 70–57at Pittsburgh10–3, 2–0 ACC
6SaturdayW, 65–55at Clemson11–3, 3–0 ACC
10WednesdayW, 67–54at N.C. State12–3, 4–0 ACC
13SaturdayW, 103–67vs. Syracuse13–3, 5–0 ACC
17WednesdayW, 86–70vs. Louisville14–3, 6–0 ACC
20SaturdayW, 76–66vs. Boston College15–3, 7–0 ACC
22MondayW, 85–64vs. Wake Forest16–3, 8–0 ACC
27SaturdayW, 75–68at Florida State17–3, 9–0 ACC
30TuesdayL, 74–73at Georgia Tech17–4, 9–1 ACC
February
3SaturdayW, 93–84vs. No. 13 Duke18–4, 10–1 ACC
6TuesdayL, 80–76vs. Clemson18–5, 10–2 ACC
10SaturdayW, 75–72at Miami19–5, 11–2 ACC
13TuesdayL, 86–79at Syracuse19–6, 11–3 ACC
17SaturdayW, 96–81vs. Virginia Tech20–6, 12–3 ACC
24SaturdayW, 54–44at Virginia21–6, 13–3 ACC
26MondayW, 75–71vs. Miami22–6, 14–3 ACC
March
2SaturdayW, 79–70vs. N.C. State23–6, 15–3 ACC
5TuesdayW, 84–51vs. Notre Dame24–6, 16–3 ACC
9SaturdayW, 84–79at No. 13 Duke25–6, 17–3 ACC
ACC tournament
Washington
14ThursdayW, 92–67Quarterfinals:
Florida State
26–6
15FridayW, 72–65Semifinals:
Pittsburgh
27–6
16SaturdayL, 84–76Final:
N.C. State
27–7
NCAA tournament
21ThursdayW, 90–62First round in Charlotte:
Wagner
28–7
23SaturdayW, 85–69Second round in Charlotte:
Michigan State
29–7
28ThursdayL, 89–87Sweet 16 in Los Angeles:
No. 19 Alabama
29–8

Top photo via @StanfordMBB

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