By R.L. Bynum

After one season with limited playing time at North Carolina, James Okonkwo will transfer to Akron, according to multiple reports.

He’ll join the Zips along with former West Virginia teammate Seth Wilson, who played with the Mountaineers the past three seasons.

Akron went 24–11 last season, finished 13–5 in the Mid-American Conference and won the league tournament. The Zips, who lost to Creighton 70–60 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, have won the conference tournament and earned an NCAA berth in two of the last three seasons.

Okonkwo, a 6–8, 240-pound center from Maidenhead, England, 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 for 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 had four points and three rebounds.

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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

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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.

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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

Photo via courtesy of FIBA