By R.L. Bynum
Seth Trimble said he was sad when he sent an Instagram post saying that he was entering the transfer portal.
Trimble, who exited the portal after 14 days when he announced Tuesday that he will return to Carolina for his junior season, said during an interview on the Carolina Insider podcast (interview starts at 31:45) released Friday morning that, “ultimately, I’m a Tar Heel at heart.”
He tried to get his academic advisor to post the news that he was leaving UNC, but they said they couldn’t.
“So, I just closed my eyes and pressed the button,” Trimble said during the podcast interview. “After that, it just felt like I had no thoughts in my head. I felt sadness. I felt really heavy.”
His decision was then public and he still was processing the decision as he started driving.
“I never really felt that way,” Trimble said. “But it just felt like I lost almost the biggest thing in my life.”
The 6–3 guard, one of the best defenders in college basketball and known for the energy he brought to the game for the Tar Heels, wanted to see what opportunities were out there.
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“I felt like, no matter how much I love this situation, I have to put myself out there to see what there is for me,” Trimble said. “I’m glad I did because I’m back here with a fresh mind. Kind of like a reset for me. It really made me realize how much this place means to me, how much I love the coaches here.”
It was during a visit to Orlando that Trimble began to talk to other schools and reflect on his decision. The conversation that influenced him the most was with Danny Green, who didn’t say Trimble had to return to Carolina but rather showed his support.
“We were talking about how we were in similar situations,” Trimble said. “How when he was in college, he came off the bench. It wasn’t always the happiest with every situation he was in, but he just got to a point where enough is enough — I’m gonna work and take what’s mine. He’s a big part of the mindset I have coming into this.”
Trimble said that playing only a few second-half minutes in the season-ending loss to Alabama wasn’t the reason for his decision to leave; in fact, he supported the coaching decisions in that game. He pointed out that UNC needed the spacing on offense and that the Tide was playing off him and Elliot Cadeau.
“I didn’t take any offense to that,” Trimble said. “Me not playing at the end of the game — that’s not why I’m transferring. I took no offense to that. It’s basketball at the end of the day. It’s about adjustments.”
In the interview, which you can hear in full here, Trimble discusses many other subjects, including what he’s working on in the offseason and his goals for next season.
Roster assuming all players with eligibility other than Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar and the seven players who entered the transfer portal return, which would put UNC one under the 15-player limit. The class for next season is listed.
| No./ Stars | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 star | Freshman | Maximo Adams | SF | 6–7 | 205 |
| 3 star | Freshman | Malloy Smith | CG | 6–5 | 190 |
| 5 star | Freshman | Sayon Keita | C | 7–0 | 215 |
| 4 star | Freshman | Kevin Thomas | W | 6–7 | 190 |
| Freshman | Alexandros Samodurov | C | 6–11 | 212 | |
| RS freshman | Cade Bennerman — W | C | 7–0 | 205 | |
| Sophomore | Neoklis Avdalas — X | G | 6–9 | 215 | |
| Sophomore | Isaiah Denis | G | 6–4 | 180 | |
| Sophomore | Matt Able — Y | G | 6–5 | 196 | |
| 1 | Senior | Terrence Brown — Z | G | 6–3 | 174 |
| 4 | Senior | Jaydon Young | G | 6–4 | 200 |
| 15 | Senior | Jarin Stevenson | 4 | 6–10 | 215 |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 25 | Junior | John Holbrook | 4 | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Senior | Evan Smith | 2 | 6–1 | 195 |
W — Northwestern transfer. X — Virginia Tech transfer; Y — N.C. State transfer; Z — Utah transfer
Michael Malone’s coaching staff: Chuck Martin, Bryan Tibaldi, Sean May and Pat Sullivan; Deon Thompson will be a graduate assistant, and Brandon Robinson will reportedly have a support staff position.
Players who left for the transfer portal
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luka Bogavac | Senior | W | 6–6 | 215 | Oklahoma State |
| James Brown | Senior | C | 6–10 | 240 | Howard |
| Derek Dixon | Sophomore | G | 6–5 | 200 | Arizona |
| Kyan Evans | Senior | G | 6–2 | 175 | Minnesota |
| Zayden High | Junior | C | 6–10 | 230 | South Florida |
| Jonathan Powell | Junior | G | 6–6 | 190 | Pittsburgh |
| Ivan Matlekovic | Junior | C | 7–0 | 255 |
Schedule so far
(Other than the ACC/SEC Challenge, games without links revealed from reporting by Alex Rosinski or Rocco Miller)
(11 of 14 games)
Oct. 18 — exhibition game vs. Indiana at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis
Nov. 2 — vs. Western Carolina
Nov. 6 — vs. Wofford
Nov. 10 — vs. Wyoming
Nov. 13 — vs. Georgia
Nov. 20 — vs. Marshall
Nov. 27 — vs. West Virginia at the Dick Vitale Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center
Dec. 1 — vs. Arkansas in ACC/SEC Challenge
Dec. 6 — vs. Butler
Dec. 12 — at Georgetown
Dec. 19 — vs. Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
ACC games
Home and away: Duke, Louisville
Home only: California, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU, Stanford, Virginia
Away only: Boston College, Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
