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.

No.	Class	Player	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
8	Freshman	Caleb Wilson (5 star)	4	6–10	215
5	Freshman	Isaiah Denis (4 star)	CG	6–4	180
3	Freshman	Derek Dixon (4 star)	CG	6–5	200
40	Sophomore	Ivan Matlekovic	5	7–0	255
11	Sophomore	Jonathan Powell	G	6–6	190
2	Sophomore	James Brown	5	6–10	240
1	Sophomore	Zayden High	4	6–10	230
44	Junior	Luca Bogavac (BO-guh-VAHTS)	W	6–6	215
4	Junior	Jaydon Young	2	6–4	200
13	RS junior	Henri Veesaar (VEH-sar)	5	7–0	225
0	Junior	Kyan Evans	1	6–2	175
15	Junior	Jarin Stevenson	4	6–10	215
7	Senior	Seth Trimble	2	6–3	200
		Walk-ons
25	Sophomore	John Holbrook	4	6–8	230
32	Junior	Evan Smith	2	6–1	195
6	RS senior	Elijah Davis	2	6–3	205

Former UNC players who transferred

Player	Class next season	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt	Next school
Elliot Cadeau	Junior	PG	6–1	180	Michigan
Jalen Washington	Senior	C	6–10	235	Vanderbilt
Ian Jackson	Sophomore	G	6–4	190	St. John’s
Cade Tyson	Senior	F	6–7	200	Minnesota
Ven-Allen Lubin	Senior	C	6–8	230	N.C. State

Date	Month/day	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
24	Friday	L, 78–76	vs. No. 9 BYU in SLC	Exhib.
29	Wednesday	W, 95–53	vs. Winston-Salem St.	Exhib.
	November
3	Monday	W, 94–54	vs. Central Arkansas	1–0
7	Friday	W, 87–74	vs. No. 21 Kansas	2–0
11	Tuesday	W, 89–74	vs. Radford	3–0
14	Friday	W, 97–53	vs. N.C. Central	4–0
18	Tuesday	W, 73–61	vs. Navy	5–0
			Fort Myers Tip-Off
25	Tuesday	W, 85–70	vs. St. Bonaventure	6–0
27	Thursday	L, 74–58	vs. No. 7 Michigan State	6–1
	December		ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge
2	Tuesday	9:35	at No. 18 Kentucky	ESPN
			—————————
7	Sunday	5 p.m.	vs. Georgetown	ESPN
13	Saturday	2 p.m.	vs. USC Upstate	The CW
16	Tuesday	8 p.m.	vs. East Tennessee State	ACCN
			CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta
20	Saturday	3 p.m.	vs. Ohio State	CBS
			—————————
22	Monday	8 p.m.	vs. East Carolina	ACCN
30	Tuesday	7 p.m.	vs. Florida State	ESPN2
	January
3	Saturday	2:15	at SMU	The CW
10	Saturday	6 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ACCN
14	Wednesday	9 p.m.	at Stanford	ACCN
17	Saturday	4 p.m.	at California	ACCN
21	Wednesday	7 p.m.	vs. Notre Dame	ESPN2
24	Saturday	2 or 2:30	at Virginia	ESPN or ESPNU
31	Saturday	2 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	ACCN
	February
2	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	ESPN
7	Saturday	6:30	vs. No. 4 Duke	ESPN
10	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at Miami	ESPN or ESPN2
14	Saturday	2 p.m.	vs. Pittsburgh	ESPN
17	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at N.C. State	ESPN or ESPN2
21	Saturday	1 p.m.	at Syracuse	ABC
23	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. No. 6 Louisville	ESPN
28	Saturday	6:30 or 8:30	vs. Virginia Tech	ESPN or ESPN2
	March
3	Tuesday	7 p.m.	vs. Clemson	ESPN or ESPN2
7	Saturday	6:30	at No. 4 Duke	ESPN
10–14	Tues.-Sat.	ACC tournament	Spectrum Center, Charlotte