By R.L. Bynum

Transfer portal season isn’t set up for the fans who want to know now how North Carolina’s rosters will look next season.

Many fans want to sprint, but the process is more like a marathon that requires patience. It may be weeks (or months) before we know what the final rosters might look like for next season. This makes the way-too-early top 25 lists that came out this week even more ridiculous than they would have been a few years ago.

Remember that James Okonkwo didn’t commit to Carolina until July.

You may wonder why Coach Hubert Davis or Coach Courtney Banghart haven’t yet secured commitments from certain players in the portal, but constructing the best possible roster takes time.

According to Jeff Goodman, the portal had 1,425 Division I men’s players as of Wednesday morning, 23 days after it opened. According to Talia Goodman, there were 1,136 women’s players in the portal Wednesday evening.

Banghart, who has lost six players — Deja Kelly, Paulina Paris (who is headed to Arizona), Ali Zelaya, Anya Poole, Teonni Key and RyLee Grays — to the portal, brought in graduate transfer guard Grace Townsend from Richmond this week, but plenty of other good players are still out there. Davis has lost two players — Seth Trimble and Okonkwo — to the portal but hasn’t yet secured a commitment from a transfer.

Alyssa Ustby, RJ Davis and Jae’Lyn Withers, all of whom could play a fifth college season, still haven’t announced their plans. Harrison Ingram, who is projected as a second-round pick in the NBA draft if he decides to turn pro, also hasn’t announced his plans.

Given the backcourt injuries that piled up last season, UNC’s women could use as many guards as possible.

The marquee name out there is former Louisville and LSU guard Hailey Van Lith, who would be a graduate transfer. But one of the best in the portal is Princeton’s Kaitlyn Chen, a two-time All-Ivy League selection and the 2023 Ivy League Player of the Year, who would be a graduate transfer. Three offseasons ago, Banghart, who came to UNC from Princeton in 2019, brought in former Princeton guard Carlie Littlefield.

There is good reason for Davis and Banghart to be patient since players have until May 31 to enter the transfer portal. Numerous players are entering the portal every day, and they want to have available scholarships.

This is particularly true for Davis, considering some of the best portal talent is also assessing their NBA stock. Many will attend either the G League Elite Camp on May 11–12 or the NBA Combine on May 12–19, both in Chicago.

Players have until April 27 (at 11:59 p.m. ET) to submit their name for the NBA draft and those who do have until May 29 (at 11:59 p.m. ET) to pull their name and retain NCAA eligibility.

One example of a player in the portal and the draft is Aaron Bradshaw, a 7–1 former Kentucky forward.

But understand that players have until May 31 to enter the transfer portal, so coaches don’t yet know the full pool of portal players. It’s a balancing act, though, because if coaches see a player who is a good fit for their system, should they try to get a commitment from them now or wait for another player later who could be an even better fit?

With Armando Bacot’s eligibility over, Davis needs a dominant center to join Jalen Washington (assuming he returns).

A player who would be a good fit is 6–10 graduate transfer Oumar Ballo out of Arizona (12.9 points and 10.1 rebounds).

Three other possibilities are 6–11 graduate transfer Clifford Omoruyi out of Rutgers (10.4 points and 8.3 rebounds), 7–0 rising junior Danny Wolf out of Yale (14.1 points, 9.7 rebounds) and 7–1 rising senior Vladislav Goldin out of Florida Atlantic (15.7 points, 6.9 rebounds). On Thursday, Adam Zagoria reported that UNC had been in contact with Omoruyi.

In the middle of all this, women’s coaches have an evaluation period where they can scout high school players from April 19–21. For men’s coaches, that period is from May 17–19 at events such as EYBL (Nike Elite Youth Basketball) in Indianapolis.

Sit back and relax. This offseason ride will be a long one.

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Key events, dates

April 19–21 — Women’s basketball evaluation period for high school players at NCAA-certified events
April 27 (at 11:59 p.m. ET) — Deadline for players to submit their names to the NBA draft
May 1 — Transfer portal closes
May 11–12 — NBA G League Elite Camp in Chicago
May 12–19 — NBA Combine in Chicago
May 17–19 — Men’s basketball evaluation for high school players at NCAA-certified events (EYBL in Indianapolis is on those days)
May 29 (at 11:59 p.m. ET) — Deadline for players to pull their names from the NBA draft list and retain NCAA eligibility

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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

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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

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Date	Month/day	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
24	Friday	L, 78–76	vs. No. 10 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. 17 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. 9 Michigan State	6–1
	December		ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge
2	Tuesday	W, 67–64	at Kentucky	7–1
			—————————
7	Sunday	W, 81–61	vs. Georgetown	8–1
13	Saturday	W, 80–62	vs. USC Upstate	9–1
16	Tuesday	W, 77–58	vs. East Tennessee State	10–1
			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 No. 23 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. 3 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. 11 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. 3 Duke	ESPN
10–14	Tues.-Sat.	ACC tournament	Spectrum Center, Charlotte

Year	No.		Players	Pos.	Height
Freshman	5		Liza Astakhova (LEE-zah uh-STAH-koh-vuh)	W	6–2
Freshman	7		Nyla Brooks	W	6–1
			Brooks brings dazzling skills, confidence to UNC
Freshman	3		Taliyah Henderson	W	6–1
			Long wait, journey for 5-star freshman Henderson after second knee surgery nearly over
Freshman	26		Taissa Queiroz	G	6–1
			Queiroz came to USA from Brazil to chase her dreams
Sophomore	17		Elina Aarnisalo (EH-lee-nah AHR-nee-sah-loh)	G	5–10
			Aarnisalo brings flash, IQ and pro experience to backcourt
Sophomore	0		Lanie Grant	G	5–9
Sophomore	34		Blanca Thomas	C	6–5
Sophomore	1		Jordan Zubich	G	5–11
RS sophomore	21		Ciera Toomey	F	6–4
RS sophomore	4		Laila Hull	W	6–1
Junior	10		Reniya Kelly	PG	5–7
Junior	15		Sydney Barker	PG	5–6
Senior	2		Nyla Harris	F	6–2
			It was hard for Harris to say ‘no’ to UNC again
Senior	24		Indya Nivar	G	5–10

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Class of 2025

Player	Rating	ESPN rank	Position	Height	Hometown
Nyla Brooks	Five star	No. 13	Wing	6–2	Alexandria, Va.
Taliyah Henderson	Five star	No. 27	Wing	6–1	Vail, Ariz.
Taissa Queiroz	Four star	No. 77	Guard	6–1	Santa Rosa, Calif.
Liza Astakhova	—	—	Wing	6–1	Moscow, Russia

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Date	Day/month	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
30	Thursday	L, 91–82	No. 3 South Carolina in Atlanta	Exhib.
	November
3	Monday	W, 90–42	vs. N.C. Central	1–0
6	Thursday	W, 71–37	vs. Elon	2–0
			WBCA Challenge Las Vegas
13	Thursday	L, 78–60	vs. No. 4 UCLA	2–1
15	Saturday	W, 82–68	vs. Fairfield	3–1
			———————————
20	Thursday	W, 85–50	at N.C. A&T	4–1
23	Sunday	W, 94–48	vs. UNCG	5–1
			Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico
27	Thursday	W, 83–48	vs. South Dakota St.	6–1
28	Friday	W, 85–73	vs. Kansas State	7–1
29	Saturday	W, 80–63	vs. Columbia	8–1
	December		ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge
4	Thursday	W, 79–64	at No. 2 Texas	8–2
			———————————
7	Sunday	W, 82–40	vs. Boston Univ.	9–2
14	Sunday	L, 76–66, OT	vs. No. 16 Louisville	9–3, 0–1 ACC
17	Wednesday	W, 84–34	vs. UNCW	10–3
21	Sunday	Noon	vs. Charleston Southern	ACCN Extra
29	Monday	8 p.m.	at Boston College	ACCN
	January
1	Thursday	Noon	vs. California	ACCN
4	Sunday	1 p.m.	vs. Stanford	ESPN
11	Sunday	1 p.m.	at No. 20 Notre Dame	ESPN
15	Thursday	7 p.m.	vs. Miami	ACCN Extra
18	Sunday	2 p.m.	at Florida State	The CW
22	Thursday	8 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	ACCN
25	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	The CW
	February
2	Monday	6 p.m.	at N.C. State	ESPN2
5	Thursday	7 p.m.	vs. Clemson	ACCN
8	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ACCN
12	Thursday	6 p.m.	vs. SMU	ACCN
15	Sunday	1 p.m.	at Duke	ABC
19	Thursday	6 p.m.	at Virginia Tech	ACCN
22	Sunday	Noon	vs. Pittsburgh	ACCN
26	Thursday	7 p.m.	at Virginia	ACCN Extra
	March
1	Sunday	Noon	vs. Duke	ESPN
			ACC tournament
4–8	Wed.-Sun		Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga.
			NCAA tournament
20–24	Fri.-Mon.		First, second rounds
27–30	Fri.-Mon.		Regionals Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, Calif.
	April
3, 5	Fri., Sun		Final Four Phoenix

Photo via @UNC_Basketball