By R.L. Bynum
On the day Carolina announced it would play in Hawaii in November 2024, Justin McKoy announced he’d head there next season.
McKoy, who played two seasons at UNC after transferring from Virginia, said on social media on Tuesday evening that he is transferring to Hawaii for his fifth college season.
“Next Chapter. The Marathon Continues,” McKoy posted on social media, with a checkered-flag emoji. Hawaii went 22–11 last season, losing in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament.
Earlier Tuesday, UNC announced it would play in the Maui Invitational in the 2024–25 season. Also in the field for the event Nov. 25–27, 2024, will be Auburn, Colorado, Dayton, Iowa State, Memphis, Michigan State and the 2023 NCAA champion Connecticut.
It will be after McKoy exhausts his eligibility, but Carolina will play at Hawaii on Nov. 22, 2024, before going to Maui, according to the Hawaii men’s basketball Twitter account.
McKoy grew up in Cary, is the all-time leading scorer at Panther Creek High School with 2,054 points and earned second-team all-state honors his senior season.
After playing 33 games in two seasons for the Cavaliers and averaging 2.5 points and 9.6 minutes per game, only the number of games went up during his two seasons at Carolina. In 41 games for the Tar Heels, he averaged 1.2 points and 6.6 minutes per game.
He scored 50 points in 269 minutes in his two seasons at Carolina. McKoy came to Chapel Hill with a reputation as a good perimeter shooter but made only five of 19 3-point attempts at UNC.
Six of McKoy’s top seven scoring games in his first four college seasons were at Virginia, with his career-high 11 points on Nov. 27, 2020, in the No. 4-ranked Cavaliers’ 61–60 upset loss to San Francisco in Uncasville, Conn. His UNC-high was six points on Feb. 11 last season in the 91–71 home victory over Clemson.
Last season, McKoy only played double-digit minutes twice, scoring two points in both games: 17 minutes in the 88–79 home victory Jan. 4 over Wake Forest and 15 minutes on Jan. 10 in the 65–58 loss at Virginia.
McKoy played the entire overtime period in the second-round 93–87 NCAA tournament victory in 2022 over Baylor.
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| 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 — U | C | 7–0 | 205 | |
| Sophomore | Neoklis Avdalas — W | G | 6–9 | 215 | |
| Sophomore | Isaiah Denis | G | 6–4 | 180 | |
| Sophomore | Matt Able — X | G | 6–5 | 196 | |
| 1 | Senior | Terrence Brown — Y | G | 6–3 | 174 |
| 4 | Senior | Jaydon Young | G | 6–4 | 200 |
| 15 | Senior | Jarin Stevenson | F | 6–10 | 215 |
| Graduate | Angelo Brizzi — Z | G | 6–3 | 193 | |
| Graduate | Cameron Fens — V | C | 7–0 | 255 | |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 25 | Junior | John Holbrook — SA | F | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Senior | Evan Smith | G | 6–1 | 195 |
V — South Dakota transfer; U — Northwestern transfer; W — Virginia Tech transfer; X — N.C. State transfer; Y — Utah transfer; Z — Buffalo transfer; SA — Holbrook is a designated student-athlete, so he doesn’t count against UNC’s 15-player limit.
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 revealed so far
| Date | Month/day | Opponent/event (final ranks) |
|---|---|---|
| October | ||
| 18 | Sunday | vs. Indiana in Indianapolis (exhibition) |
| November | ||
| 2 | Monday | vs. Western Carolina |
| 6 | Friday | vs. Wofford |
| 10 | Tuesday | vs. Wyoming |
| 13 | Friday | vs. Georgia |
| 20 | Friday | vs. Marshall |
| 27 | Friday | vs. West Virginia in Charlotte |
| December | ||
| 1 | Tuesday | ACC/SEC Challenge vs. No. 13 Arkansas |
| 6 | Sunday | vs. Butler |
| 12 | Saturday | at Georgetown |
| 15 | Tuesday (date tentative) | vs. N.C. State in Greensboro |
| 19 | 2:30 Saturday | CBS Sports Classic vs. Kentucky in New York |
| 21 | Monday | vs. The Citadel |
| January | ||
| 30 | Saturday | vs. No. 5 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn. |
ACC games
Home and away: Duke and Louisville
Home only: California, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU, Stanford and Virginia
Away only: Boston College, Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest
