By R.L. Bynum
You’ll get a chance to watch the highest-ranked player in Carolina’s Class of 2024 starting Saturday morning when five-star 6–5 guard Ian Jackson goes for his third gold medal in as many summers.
Jackson will play for the United States in the FIBA U19 World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary, as he tries to follow up on gold medals he won in 2021 at the FIBA U16 Americas tournament and last summer at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup, when he averaged 11.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 steals.
The FIBA site lists Jackson, a rising senior at Cardinal Hayes in The Bronx, as the No. 3 player to watch in the tournament. ESPN ranks Jackson No. 5 in the Class of 2024, and he’s part of UNC’s class that includes four-star and No. 34-ranked 6–5 wing Drake Powell and four-star and No. 45-ranked James Brown.
Three other American players were listed on FIBA’s top 20 players to watch: 6–6 guard Tre Johnson of Dallas at No. 7 (No. 1 in ESPN’s Class of 2024 rankings and uncommitted); 6–4 point guard Dylan Harper at No. 11 (No. 2 in the Class of 2024 and uncommitted), the son of former NBA star Ron Harper; 6–8 forward Cody Williams at No. 14, an incoming freshman at Colorado; and 6–2 guard Mark Armstrong at No. 19, a rising sophomore at Villanova.
Colorado coach Tad Boyle is the head coach for the team, which also includes Tennessee’s Tobe Awaka, Iowa State incoming freshman Omaha Biliew, Arizona’s Kylan Boswell, Purdue’s Myles Colvin, incoming Oklahoma State freshman Eric Dailey Jr., Vanderbilt’s Ven-Allen Lubin and Asa Newell (uncommitted Class of 2024 player).
For two of the three U.S. pool-play games in Group B, it will be breakfast with Ian, starting with Saturday’s opener against Madagascar at 9:30 a.m. ET. Sunday’s game against Slovenia is at 2 p.m. and Tuesday’s contest with Lebanon is at 9 a.m.
All games are streamed here.
There are four four-team groups, and all 16 teams automatically advance to Wednesday’s round of 16. After a rest day, the quarterfinals are Friday, June 30, with the semifinals Saturday, July 1 and the championship on Sunday, July 2.
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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
Thursday through May 28 — Kevin Thomas at USA Basketball U18 national team tryouts in Colorado Springs
Thursday through Sunday — Sayon Keita at EuroLeague NextGen Finals in Athens, Greece
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, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
November or December — vs. Butler
Photo courtesy of FIBA
