By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina is No. 9 in the preseason AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll, which was released on Monday, and will play three (possibly four) teams in the top 10.
The Tar Heels will visit No. 1 Kansas on Friday, Nov. 8, host No. 2 Alabama on Wednesday, Dec. 4, could face two-time reigning national champion No. 3 UConn in the Maui Invitational on Nov. 27 and will face No. 9 Duke twice.
Kansas is ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll for the fifth time, trailing only North Carolina (10), Duke (9) and UCLA (8) for the most since the first preseason rankings in 1962.
Carolina, which went 29–8 last season and extended its NCAA-record streak of 25-win seasons to 41, meets No. 21 Florida in Charlotte on Dec. 17 in the Jumpman Invitational and could meet No. 11 Auburn at the Maui Invitational on Nov. 26.
Bob Ballou of CBS Austin in Texas and Jeff Rabjohns of 247 Sports voted UNC the highest at No. 3, while Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News ranked the Heels the lowest at No. 15.
Kate Rogerson of WTVD and Louis Fernandez of WRAL both voted UNC No. 10.
UNC and Duke are the only ACC teams in the poll. Wake Forest, Miami, Clemson and Louisville received votes.
The Tar Heels, who play at Memphis at 7 p.m. Tuesday in an exhibition (ESPNU), open the season against Elon on Nov. 4 at 9 p.m. in the Smith Center.
Caleb Love’s Arizona team rounds out the top 10 at No. 10. Coach Wes Miller’s Cincinnati team is No. 20.
Subscribe to read Tar Heel Tribune ad-free
Subscribe for a cleaner, smoother reading experience without the flashing banners, slow-loading elements, or those especially annoying pop‑up ads that interrupt the flow of the story. You’ll also get the first version of each story emailed to you. The only ads you’ll see are static, non-intrusive ads for UNC‑related books, and there are none currently on the site.
AP Top 25
| Ranking | Team (1st-place votes) | Poll points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas (30) | 1,449 | 19 |
| 2 | Alabama (14) | 1,428 | 3 |
| 3 | UConn (11) | 1,345 | 1 |
| 4 | Houston (4) | 1,343 | 3 |
| 5 | Iowa State | 1,177 | 8 |
| 6 | Gonzaga (1) | 1,157 | 15 |
| 7 | Duke | 1,154 | 9 |
| 8 | Baylor | 1,109 | 16 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 1,037 | 7 |
| 10 | Arizona | 905 | 11 |
| 11 | Auburn | 901 | 18 |
| 12 | Tennessee | 775 | 5 |
| 13 | Texas A&M | 737 | NR |
| 14 | Purdue | 678 | 2 |
| 15 | Creighton | 631 | 13 |
| 16 | Arkansas | 625 | NR |
| 17 | Indiana | 492 | NR |
| 18 | Marquette | 484 | 12 |
| 19 | Texas | 332 | NR |
| 20 | Cincinnati | 271 | NR |
| 21 | Florida | 249 | NR |
| 22 | UCLA | 210 | NR |
| 23 | Kentucky | 191 | 20 |
| 24 | Ole Miss | 132 | NR |
| 25 | Rutgers | 102 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Illinois 92, St. John’s 91, Xavier 73, Texas Tech 58, Wake Forest 37, Kansas St 30, Michigan St. 29, Ohio St. 29, Michigan 19, BYU 14, Oregon 12, McNeese St. 11, Miami 11, Boise St. 9, Saint Louis 9, Clemson 9, Providence 9, Mississippi St. 6, VCU 6, Wisconsin 5, Saint Mary’s 5, Louisville 4, UAB 4, Ark Little Rock 3, Grand Canyon 3, Arizona St 2, San Diego St. 2, Princeton 2, High Point 1, Maryland 1
UNC is 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)
(13 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. 15 (tentative date) — vs. N.C. State in a non-conference game in Greensboro
Dec. 19 — vs. Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
Jan. 30 — vs. Illinois in Nashville, Tenn.
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
