By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina will play a preseason exhibition men’s basketball game at Memphis on Oct. 15 as part of the inaugural Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic at the FedEx Forum to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The Tar Heels’ charity game with the Tigers will start at 7 p.m. ET and air on ESPNU. It’s the first game of a doubleheader, with the Memphis women taking on reigning national champion South Carolina at 9:30 p.m.
UNC and Memphis have never played in men’s basketball.
Tickets go on sale at 11 a.m. ET Saturday and can be purchased here. You can donate to St. Jude on behalf of UNC here.
Both teams were in the Bahamas at the Battle 4 Atlantis last season and will play in the Maui Classic in November, but couldn’t be matched up until the event’s third day.
Coach Penny Hardaway’s program, which finished 22–10 last season, faces charges of potential recruiting and academic violations. The school sent a letter to the NCAA last week alleging major violations.
The Tigers lost their top six scorers from last season’s team that didn’t make the NCAA tournament, finished fifth in the American Athletic Conference and lost in the first round of the league tournament.
Among the players who Memphis snagged in the transfer portal are 7–0 graduate center Mousa Cisse of Ole Miss, 6–4 redshirt senior guard Colby Rogers of Wichita State, 6–3 redshirt sophomore point guard P.J. Haggerty of Tulsa and 6–9 redshirt senior center Dain Dainja of Illinois.
Carolina is 4–0 in the FedEx Forum, all NCAA tournament games. The last two wins came in the NCAA South Regional in 2017 on the way to the national championship. Luke Maye’s shot on March 26, 2017, earned a 75–73 victory over Kentucky to earn a Final Four berth. In the regional semifinal, Maye had 16 points and 12 rebounds off the bench in a 92–80 win over Butler.
On UNC’s way to winning the 2009 national title, the Tar Heels won two games at the FedEx Forum in the South Regional, beating Gonzaga 98–77 and Oklahoma 72–60.
The Tar Heels will play Johnson C. Smith in an exhibition at the Smith Center on Oct. 27 before opening the season against Elon on Nov. 4.
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Roster assuming all players with eligibility other than Caleb Wilson, Luka Bogavac, Derek Dixon, Kyan Evans, Jonathan Powell, James Brown, Ivan Matlekovic and Zayden High return and the players in the incoming freshman class hold in their commitment (Dylan Mingo has reopened his recruitment), which would put UNC three 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 |
| 4 star | Freshman | Malloy Smith | CG | 6–5 | 190 |
| Sophomore | Neoklis Avdalas — W | G | 6–5 | 215 | |
| Sophomore | Isaiah Denis | G | 6–4 | 180 | |
| Sophomore | Matt Able — X | G | 6–6 | 205 | |
| Junior | Maxim Logue — Y | C | 6–9 | 232 | |
| Senior | Terrence Brown — Z | G | 6–3 | 174 | |
| 4 | Senior | Jaydon Young | G | 6–4 | 200 |
| 13 | RS senior | Henri Veesaar | 5 | 7–0 | 225 |
| 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 — Virginia Tech transfer; X — N.C. State transfer; Y — FAU transfer; X — Utah transfer
In 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 | |
| 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
April 7 — Transfer portal opened
April 16 — Was the deadline to request an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee
11:59 p.m. Tuesday — Transfer portal closes
11:59 p.m. Friday — NBA early-entry deadline
Sunday — Deadline for UNC players on last season’s roster to enter the transfer portal
May 8–10 — G-League Combine in Chicago
May 10 — NBA Draft Lottery
May 10–17 — NBA Draft Combine in Chicago
May 27 (11:59 p.m.) — NCAA early-entry withdrawal deadline
Week of June 22 (date to be determined) — NBA Draft
Nonconference schedule so far
(Other than the ACC/SEC Challenge, games without links revealed from reporting by Alex Rosinski)
(10 of 14 games)
Nov. 2 — vs. Western Carolina
Nov. 6 — vs. Wofford
Nov. 10 — vs. Wyoming
Nov. 13 — vs. Georgia
Nov. 20 — vs. Marshall
Dec. 1 or 2 — vs. SEC team in ACC/SEC Challenge
Dec. 12 — at Georgetown
Dec. 19 — vs. Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
November or December — vs. Butler
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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