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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UNC roster

No.	Class	Player	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
44	Freshman	Luca Bogavac	W	6–5	201
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	245
11	Sophomore	Jonathan Powell	G	6–6	190
2	Sophomore	James Brown	5	6–10	240
1	Sophomore	Zayden High	4	6–10	230
4	Junior	Jaydon Young	2	6–4	200
13	RS junior	Henri Veesaar	5	7–0	235
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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UNC nonconference schedule

Date	Month/day	Time	Opponent
	October
24	Friday	TBA	vs. BYU in Salt Lake City (exhibition)
29	Wednesday	TBA	vs. Winston-Salem State (exhibition)
	November
3	Monday	TBA	vs. Central Arkansas
7	Friday	TBA	vs. Kansas
11	Tuesday	TBA	vs. Radford
14	Friday	TBA	vs. N.C. Central
18	Tuesday	TBA	vs. Navy
			Fort Myers Tip-Off
25	Tuesday	6 p.m.	vs. St. Bonaventure
27	Thursday	4:30 p.m.	vs. Michigan State
	December		ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge
2	Friday	TBA	at Kentucky
			—————————
7	Sunday	TBA	vs. Georgetown
13	Saturday	TBA	vs. USC Upstate
16	Tuesday	TBA	vs. East Tennessee State
			CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta
20	Saturday	TBA	vs. Ohio State
			—————————
22	Monday	TBA	vs. East Carolina

Photo via courtesy of FIBA