By R.L. Bynum
Elliot Cadeau is going back to the number he wore in high school.
Cadeau wore No. 3 in high school, but that was Cormac Ryan’s number for Carolina last season. With Ryan’s college eligibility exhausted after his fifth college season, Cadeau will switch from the No. 2 he wore as a freshman to No. 3.
On Saturday, his mother, Michelle Cadeau, promoted a shirt featuring her son wearing No. 3 and confirmed the number change in a reply on X (formerly Twitter).
Last season, Cadeau became the first UNC player since Caleb Love and Day’Ron Sharpe in 2021 to make the ACC All-Freshman team, joining Ed Cota, Raymond Felton, Bobby Frasor, Ty Lawson, Kendall Marshall, Marcus Paige, Coby White, Cole Anthony and Love as UNC point guards to earn that honor.
A member of CollegeInsider.com’s Kyle Macy Freshman All-America team, Cadeau averaged 7.3 points and 4.1 assists. He led the Tar Heels with 150 assists, the most by any UNC player since Theo Pinson in 2018 and the most by a freshman since Paige in 2013. He dished out a season-high 10 assists against Tennessee and had an ACC-high nine against Syracuse.
Cadeau was the 11th UNC freshman with 100 assists in a season, with the fourth-best assist-to-turnover ratio in that group, behind only assistant coach Jeff Lebo, Lawson and Marshall. He had six or more assists 10 times (with UNC 8–2 in those games) and had more assists than turnovers 27 times.
Cadeau was part of a Marriott Bonvoy commercial that was played in March and will also run next March.
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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 two 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 |
| 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 | |
| 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 |
Key offseason dates
Wednesday (11:59 p.m.) — NCAA early-entry withdrawal deadline
June 13 — Deadline for international players to withdraw from NBA draft and maintain college eligibility
June 23–24 — NBA draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn
Nonconference 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)
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 or 2 — vs. SEC team in ACC/SEC Challenge (announced last year on June 12)
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
November or December — vs. Butler
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
