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.
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
Key events, dates
Saturday, April 27, was the deadline for players to submit their names to the NBA draft
Wednesday — 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 |
Potential UNC 2024–25 roster
| Year | No. | Players | Pos. | Height | |
| Freshman | — | Lanie Grant (5 star) | PG | 5–10 | |
| Freshman | — | Blanca Thomas (5 star) | C | 6–5 | |
| Freshman | — | Jordan Zubich (4 star) | G | 5–11 | |
| RS Freshman | 21 | Ciera Toomey | F | 6–4 | |
| RS Freshman | 4 | Laila Hull | W | 6–1 | |
| Sophomore | 10 | Reniya Kelly | PG | 5–7 | |
| Sophomore | 15 | Sydney Barker | PG | 5–6 | |
| RS Junior | 11 | Kayla McPherson | PG | 5–8 | |
| Junior | 24 | Indya Nivar | G | 5–10 | |
| Senior | 5 | Maria Gakdeng | C | 6–3 | |
| Graduate | — | Grace Townsend | G | 5–5 | |
| Graduate | 20 | Lexi Donarski | G | 6–0 | |
| Graduate | 1 | Alyssa Ustby | F | 6–1 |
2023–24 UNC players to enter transfer portal
| Class | Player | Date entered | Pos. | Hgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | Paulina Paris | March 26 | G | 5–9 | Arizona |
| Graduate | Ali Zelaya | April 1 | F | 6–4 | UNCW |
| Graduate | Anya Poole | April 1 | F | 6–2 | Clemson |
| RS junior | Teonni Key | April 2 | F | 6–4 | Kentucky |
| Sophomore | RyLee Grays | April 5 | F | 6–3 | Virginia |
| Graduate | Deja Kelly | April 8 | G | 5–8 | TBA |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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