By R.L. Bynum
How will Coach Hubert Davis’ team mesh with only four returnees after losing nine players from last season and bringing in seven newcomers?
His third team will get tough tests of its progress, starting in late November as the Tar Heels play at least seven — and potentially nine — games against teams ranked in ESPN’s way-too-early Top 25 ranking.
The ACC released the full schedule Tuesday night, including league game dates, and it includes only two 9 p.m. games so far.
Carolina, No. 15 in that ESPN list, faces No. 2 Duke twice (Feb. 3 in Chapel Hill and March 9 in Durham), No. 5 UConn at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 5 (no time announced yet), No. 8 Tennessee at home on Nov. 20 in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge, No. 17 Kentucky in the Dec. 16 CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta and No. 18 Miami twice (Feb. 10 at Miami and Feb. 26 in Chapel Hill).
Additionally, UNC could face No. 17 Villanova on the second day of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Nov. 23 and No. 14 Arkansas on Nov. 24, the final day of that event.
UNC doesn’t play a game between the Dec. 5 UConn contest and the Dec. 16 Kentucky game.
Carolina plays an exhibition Oct. 27 against St. Augustine’s, followed by its first three games at home — against Radford on Nov. 6, Lehigh on Nov. 12 and UC Riverside on Nov. 17 — before heading to the Bahamas to play in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
UNC, which went 20–13 last season and missed the NCAA tournament, opens ACC play on Dec. 2 at home against Florida State.
In addition to Duke and Miami, other league teams the Tar Heels play at home and on the road are N.C. State (Jan. 10 in Raleigh and March 2 in Chapel Hill), Clemson (play in Chapel Hill on Feb. 6), Florida State (play at Tallahassee on Jan. 27) and Syracuse (at Chapel Hill on Jan. 13 and at Syracuse on Feb. 13).
UNC only plays Louisville (Jan. 17), Notre Dame (March 5), Virginia Tech (Feb. 17) and Wake Forest (Jan. 22) at home and only meets Boston College (Jan. 20), Georgia Tech (Jan. 30), Pittsburgh (Jan. 2) and Virginia (Feb. 24) on the road.
The only four returning players are guards RJ Davis and Seth Trimble and big men Jalen Washington and Armando Bacot.
Gone from last season’s team are the Charlotte Hornets’ Leaky Black and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Pete Nance, along with seven players who transferred: Caleb Love (Arizona), Dontrez Styles (Georgetown), Tyler Nickel (Virginia Tech), Justin McKoy (Hawaii), Will Shaver (UAB), as well as D’Marco Dunn and Puff Johnson, who both are now at Penn State.
Five transfers and two freshmen replenish the roster. Incoming transfers are wings Cormac Ryan (from Notre Dame), Paxton Wojcik (Brown) and Harrison Ingram (Stanford), as well as big men James Okonkwo (West Virginia) and Jae’Lyn Withers (Louisville).
Expected to start at point guard is freshman Elliott Cadeau. The other member of the freshman class is big man Zayden High.
| Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
| Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
| 22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
| 24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
| ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
| Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
| 5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
| January | ||||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
| 10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
| 20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
| 22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
| 27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
| 30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
| 6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
| 13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
| 17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
| 26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
| 5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
| 9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
| ACC tournament Washington | ||||
| 14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
| 16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
| 28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama | 29–8 |
Key events, dates
Saturday, April 27, was the deadline for players to submit their names to the NBA draft
Wednesday was the deadline for players to enter the transfer portal
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 one of those)
May 29 at 11:59 p.m. — Deadline to withdraw from NBA draft and maintain college eligibility
June 16 at 5 p.m. — Deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft
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 are 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 |
| — | Junior | Cade Tyson | 3 | 6–7 | 203 |
| 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 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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