By R.L. Bynum

Coach Hubert Davis wanted a taller team and took a good step toward doing that with the first guard he snagged from the transfer portal.

Jonathan Powell, a former West Virginia 6–6, 191-pound guard, picked UNC over Ole Miss and Ohio State, according to multiple reports, including two that Powell retweeted.

As a freshman for the Mountaineers, he started 23 games, averaging 8.3 points and 3.1 rebounds. Powell shot 35.2% from 3-point range with the second-most 3-pointers among freshmen in the Big 12 (64) and made at least half of his 3-point attempts in 11 games. He also had 22 assists and 22 steals last season.

He scored at least three 3-pointers 10 times, at least four 3-pointers five times, and had five 3-pointers twice: in a 69–50 home win Jan. 4 over Oklahoma State and in a 72–65 home win March 8 over Central Florida.

The concerning numbers for Powell were that he only attempted 25 free throws all season, and made only 48%.

Powell is from Centerville, Ohio, where he was named the Division I Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Year in his senior year and was a three-star recruit. He signed with West Virginia after first committing to Xavier.

His season-high was 17 points when he scored four 3-pointers on Dec. 10 in a 79–45 home win over N.C. Central. He had nine rebounds in the Mountaineers’ 62–59 home win on Feb. 19 over Cincinnati and in a 74–71 overtime road loss on Feb. 15 against Baylor.

He is the second player to transfer from West Virginia to UNC in three offseasons. Forward James Okonkwo joined the program for the 2023-24 season, then transferred to Akron last summer.

Roster assuming all players with eligibility other than Caleb Wilson and Isaiah Denis return, and the players in the incoming freshman class hold in their commitment, which would put UNC at the 15-player limit. The class for next season is listed.

No./ Stars	Class	Player	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
5	Freshman	Dylan Mingo	CG	6–5	190
5	Freshman	Maximo Adams	SF	6–7	205
4	Freshman	Malloy Smith	CG	6–5	190
3	Sophomore	Derek Dixon	CG	6–5	200
40	Junior	Ivan Matlekovic	5	7–0	255
11	Junior	Jonathan Powell	G	6–6	190
2	Junior	James Brown	5	6–10	240
1	Junior	Zayden High	4	6–10	230
44	Senior	Luca Bogavac	W	6–6	215
4	Senior	Jaydon Young	2	6–4	200
13	RS senior	Henri Veesaar	5	7–0	225
0	Senior	Kyan Evans	PG	6–2	175
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

Entering transfer portal

Player	Class next season	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
Isaiah Dennis	Sophomore	G	6–4	180

Photo via @WVUhoops