By R.L. Bynum

MILWAUKEE — North Carolina’s biggest issue all season was roster construction, and the Tar Heels will immediately begin working to prevent the same problem from happening again.

With the transfer portal opening Monday, General Manager Jim Tanner, Coach Hubert Davis and his staff will be able to concentrate fully on next season’s roster after the Tar Heels’ season-ending 71–64 loss Friday to Ole Miss in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Getting a top-level center will no doubt be the major priority after UNC failed to lure any of the top pivot men during the last offseason.

The program knows that fifth-year players RJ Davis, Jae’Lyn Withers and Ty Claude will be gone, but who will be back among the players with eligibility remaining?

The two with the most significant NBA potential are freshmen Ian Jackson and Drake Powell, and both said they haven’t decided.

Said Jackson: “I’m not sure. I haven’t thought about it yet. When the time comes for my next step, I’ll talk to my circle and figure it out.”

Said Powell: “I’m not sure. Declaring for the draft or coming back — that’s a big decision to make. I’ve been talking with my circle and coaches, and I haven’t really put any thoughts into it.”

The latest mock draft on nba.com lists Jackson as a second-round pick and 37th overall while Powell didn’t make the list.

Players must declare themselves eligible for the NBA draft by 11:59 p.m. April 27 and withdraw by 5 p.m. June 16 to be eligible to play in college next season. The draft is June 26 and 27 in Brooklyn.

Ven-Allen Lubin, with one season of remaining eligibility, has been in the transfer portal twice before but said concentrating on his development is his main goal and that he has no plans to enter the portal.

“I love to here,” Lubin said. “I want to come back. I believe it’s in God’s hands, whether he wants me to come back or be somewhere else.”

Lubin played at Notre Dame as a freshman and Vanderbilt as a sophomore.

Another rising senior who wants to return is Seth Trimble, who briefly was in the transfer portal during the last offseason before pulling his name out.

“Absolutely,” Trimble said. “I want to come back to school. I’m a Tar Heel.”

There have been rumors about Elliot Cadeau leaving the program, and he demurred and looked uncomfortable when asked about his future

“The season just ended like 10 minutes ago,” Cadeau said.

Others who could return are rising seniors Jalen Washington and Cade Tyson and rising sophomore James Brown.

Five-star forward Caleb Wilson leads the three-player incoming freshman class, which includes two four-star combo guards, Isaiah Denis and Derek Dixon.

The transfer portal closes on April 22.

No.	Class	Player	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
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	255
11	Sophomore	Jonathan Powell	G	6–6	190
2	Sophomore	James Brown	5	6–10	240
1	Sophomore	Zayden High	4	6–10	230
44	Junior	Luca Bogavac (BO-guh-VAHTS)	W	6–6	215
4	Junior	Jaydon Young	2	6–4	200
13	RS junior	Henri Veesaar (VEH-sar)	5	7–0	225
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

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

Date	Month/day	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
24	Friday	L, 78–76	vs. No. 10 BYU in SLC	Exhib.
29	Wednesday	W, 95–53	vs. Winston-Salem St.	Exhib.
	November
3	Monday	W, 94–54	vs. Central Arkansas	1–0
7	Friday	W, 87–74	vs. No. 17 Kansas	2–0
11	Tuesday	W, 89–74	vs. Radford	3–0
14	Friday	W, 97–53	vs. N.C. Central	4–0
18	Tuesday	W, 73–61	vs. Navy	5–0
			Fort Myers Tip-Off
25	Tuesday	W, 85–70	vs. St. Bonaventure	6–0
27	Thursday	L, 74–58	vs. No. 9 Michigan State	6–1
	December		ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge
2	Tuesday	W, 67–64	at Kentucky	7–1
			—————————
7	Sunday	W, 81–61	vs. Georgetown	8–1
13	Saturday	W, 80–62	vs. USC Upstate	9–1
16	Tuesday	W, 77–58	vs. East Tennessee State	10–1
			CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta
20	Saturday	3 p.m.	vs. Ohio State	CBS
			—————————
22	Monday	8 p.m.	vs. East Carolina	ACCN
30	Tuesday	7 p.m.	vs. Florida State	ESPN2
	January
3	Saturday	2:15	at SMU	The CW
10	Saturday	6 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ACCN
14	Wednesday	9 p.m.	at Stanford	ACCN
17	Saturday	4 p.m.	at California	ACCN
21	Wednesday	7 p.m.	vs. Notre Dame	ESPN2
24	Saturday	2 or 2:30	at No. 23 Virginia	ESPN or ESPNU
31	Saturday	2 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	ACCN
	February
2	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	ESPN
7	Saturday	6:30	vs. No. 3 Duke	ESPN
10	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at Miami	ESPN or ESPN2
14	Saturday	2 p.m.	vs. Pittsburgh	ESPN
17	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at N.C. State	ESPN or ESPN2
21	Saturday	1 p.m.	at Syracuse	ABC
23	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. No. 11 Louisville	ESPN
28	Saturday	6:30 or 8:30	vs. Virginia Tech	ESPN or ESPN2
	March
3	Tuesday	7 p.m.	vs. Clemson	ESPN or ESPN2
7	Saturday	6:30	at No. 3 Duke	ESPN
10–14	Tues.-Sat.	ACC tournament	Spectrum Center, Charlotte