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.

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 — U	C	7–0	205
	Sophomore	Neoklis Avdalas — W	G	6–9	215
	Sophomore	Isaiah Denis	G	6–4	180
	Sophomore	Matt Able — X	G	6–5	196
1	Senior	Terrence Brown — Y	G	6–3	174
4	Senior	Jaydon Young	G	6–4	200
15	Senior	Jarin Stevenson	F	6–10	215
	Graduate	Angelo Brizzi — Z	G	6–3	193
	Graduate	Cameron Fens — V	C	7–0	255
		Walk-ons
25	Junior	John Holbrook — SA	F	6–8	230
32	Senior	Evan Smith	G	6–1	195

V — South Dakota transfer; U — Northwestern transfer; W — Virginia Tech transfer; X — N.C. State transfer; Y — Utah transfer; Z — Buffalo transfer; SA — Holbrook is a designated student-athlete, so he doesn’t count against UNC’s 15-player limit.

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.

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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

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Schedule revealed so far

Date	Month/day	Opponent/event (final ranks)
	October
18	Sunday	vs. Indiana in Indianapolis (exhibition)
	November
2	Monday	vs. Western Carolina
6	Friday	vs. Wofford
10	Tuesday	vs. Wyoming
13	Friday	vs. Georgia
20	Friday	vs. Marshall
27	Friday	vs. West Virginia in Charlotte
	December
1	Tuesday	ACC/SEC Challenge vs. No. 13 Arkansas
6	Sunday	vs. Butler
12	Saturday	at Georgetown
15	Tuesday (date tentative)	vs. N.C. State in Greensboro
19	2:30 Saturday	CBS Sports Classic vs. Kentucky in New York
21	Monday	vs. The Citadel
	January
30	Saturday	vs. No. 5 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn.

ACC games
Home and away: Duke and Louisville
Home only: California, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU, Stanford and Virginia
Away only: Boston College, Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest

Photo via @WVUhoops