By R.L. Bynum

James Okonkwo reportedly became the first North Carolina’s men’s player to enter the transfer portal.

According to 24/7 High School Hoops, the 6–8, 240-pound center from Maidenhead, England, will transfer after getting limited playing time in his only season at UNC.

That leaves Carolina with five remaining scholarships available, as the program awaits hearing if RJ Davis and Jae’Lyn Withers will return for their fifth seasons.

Okonkwo went from playing 31 games as a sophomore at West Virginia to playing only 43 minutes all season over 15 games at UNC. He averaged 11 minutes, 2.5 points and 3.2 rebounds a game two seasons ago against the Mountaineers with career-highs of 10 points and 10 rebounds on Feb. 4, 2023, against Oklahoma. But he collected only 15 points and 15 rebounds as a Tar Heel.

Okonkwo got first-half minutes on Jan. 20 in the 76–66 win at Boston College, taking an alley-oop pass from Elliot Cadeau and slamming home a dunk at the halftime buzzer for his only points in the game.

He was stuck on the bench behind Armando Bacot, Jalen Washington and Zayden High, and much of his playing time came alongside the walk-ons at the end of one-sided games. He twice earned a biscuit discount for the fans by scoring Carolina’s 100th point.

Ultimately, his biggest role for UNC was playing tough defense on Bacot and Washington in practice.

He arrived in Chapel Hill in late July after playing for Great Britain in the FIBA U20 European Championships Division B in North Macedonia.

His best game for UNC was against Charleston Southern, when he scored seven points and four rebounds. His best ACC game was the home blowout of Syracuse, when he scored four points and three rebounds.

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Date	Time/ scores	Month/day	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
		October	Exhibitions
9	W, 88–70	Friday	vs. No. 21 USC in Greensboro	—
18	L, 76–58	Sunday	vs. Indiana in Indianapolis	—
27	W, 89–82, OT	Tuesday	vs. Charlotte	—
		November	Regular season
2	W, 80–72	Monday	vs. Western Carolina	1–0
6	W, 109–70	Friday	vs. Wofford	2–0
10	W, 76–63	Tuesday	vs. Wyoming	3–0
13	7 p.m.	Friday	vs. Georgia	ESPN2
20	9 p.m.	Friday	vs. Marshall	ACCN
23	7 p.m.	Monday	vs. Monmouth	ACCN
27	7 p.m.	Friday	Dick Vitale Invitational vs. West Virginia in Charlotte	ESPN
		December
1	7:30	Tuesday	ACC/SEC Challenge vs. No. 19 Arkansas	ESPN
6	3 p.m.	Sunday	vs. Butler	ESPN2
12	Noon	Saturday	at Georgetown	Peacock
15	7 p.m.	Tuesday	Tobacco Road Classic vs. N.C. State in Greensboro	ESPN2
19	2:30	Saturday	CBS Sports Classic vs. No. 24 Kentucky in New York	CBS
21	8 p.m.	Monday	vs. The Citadel	The CW
30	4 p.m.	Wednesday	vs. California	ACCN
		January
2	4 p.m.	Saturday	at Boston College	ESPN or ESPN2
5	9 p.m.	Tuesday	at No. 10 Louisville	ESPN or ESPNU
9	Noon	Saturday	vs. N.C. State	ESPN2
13	7 p.m.	Wednesday	at Florida State	ESPN2 or ESPNU
16	2:15	Saturday	vs. Stanford	The CW
19	9 p.m.	Tuesday	vs. No. 6 Virginia	ESPN
23	Noon	Saturday	at Syracuse	ESPN or 2 or U
26	7 p.m.	Tuesday	vs. SMU	ESPN or ESPN2
30	6 or 6:30	Saturday	Nashville Hoops Showdown vs. No. 3 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn.	ESPN
		February
2	7 p.m.	Tuesday	at Notre Dame	ESPN or ESPN2
6	2:15	Saturday	vs. Georgia Tech	The CW
8	6 p.m.	Monday	vs. No. 10 Louisville	ESPN
13	5:30	Saturday	at No. 2 Duke	ABC
20	7 p.m.	Saturday	at Wake Forest	ACCN
22	7 p.m.	Monday	vs. No. 17 Miami	ESPN
27	7 p.m.	Saturday	at Virginia Tech	ESPN
		March
2	9 p.m.	Tuesday	at Pittsburgh	ESPN or ESPN2
6	6 or 6:30	Saturday	vs. No. 2 Duke	ESPN
9–13		Tues.-Sat.	ACC tournament in Greensboro

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No.	Class	Player	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
25	Freshman	Maxi Adams	F	6–7	220
30	Freshman	Malloy Smith	G	6–5	180
21	Freshman	Sayon Keita (SIGH-on KAY-tuh)	C	7–0	205
5	Freshman	Kevin Thomas	W	6–6	205
35	Sophomore	Cade Bennerman — U	C	7–0	205
17	Sophomore	Neo Avdalas — W (NEE-oh ahv-DOLL-lus)	G	6–9	220
2	Sophomore	Isaiah Denis	G	6–4	185
3	Sophomore	Matt Able — X	G	6–5	200
22	Junior	Alex Samodurov (SAH-muh-DUHR-off)	C	6–11	225
1	Senior	Terrence Brown — Y	G	6–3	180
4	Senior	Jaydon Young (JAY-din)	G	6–4	200
15	Senior	Jarin Stevenson (JARE-in)	F	6–10	220
14	Graduate	Angelo Brizzi — Z (BRIZZ-ee)	G	6–3	200
54	Graduate	Cameron Fens — V (Fenz)	C	7–0	255
		Walk-ons
99	Junior	John Holbrook — SA	F	6–8	230
32	Senior	Evan Smith	G	6–1	200

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.

Coach Michael Malone’s coaching staff — Associate head coach Chuck Martin; assistant coaches Bryan Tibaldi (tih-BALL-dee), Sean May, Jorge Sanz (HOR-hey sahnth), Pat Sullivan and Brandon Robinson; Director of player development Deon Thompson.

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Former players at other schools

Player	Class	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	Pacific

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Photo via goheels.com