By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina went from making missteps and misses during the previous offseason to big and quick steps by Coach Hubert Davis and General Manager Jim Tanner.

After roster construction created so many challenges for Davis last season, he’s done much better in the transfer portal this time around and has secured commitments much faster. Taking decisive action was important after losing four players to the portal, including guards Elliot Cadeau (who transferred to Michigan) and Ian Jackson.

Davis said that his roster has to get bigger, and it has.

On Sunday, Alabama 6–11 transfer Jarin Stevenson became UNC’s third portal commitment, 123 days earlier than the Tar Heels got their third commitment the previous offseason. UNC added two critically needed players: a big man who is a shot-blocker with a defensive presence in 7–0 Arizona transfer Henri Veesaar — rated the second-best center in this transfer-portal class — and a dynamic point guard who shoots well from the perimeter in 6–2 Colorado State transfer Kyan Evans.

Carolina may not have snagged the best available portal player at either position — the top point guard in the portal, Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee, committed Wednesday to reigning national champion Florida. But one ranking has UNC’s transfer-portal class No. 13 and it lured four players who should be good fits.

A year ago, UNC couldn’t attract any of the top big men in the portal after the departure of Armando Bacot and didn’t get its first transfer portal addition until Belmont guard Cade Tyson committed on April 28, and that obviously didn’t turn out well.

After missing out on centers such as Clifford Omoruyi (who committed to Alabama) and Danny Wolf (who ended up at Michigan), the Tar Heels got commitments from Vanderbilt transfer Ven-Allen Lubin on May 23 and Georgia Tech transfer Ty Claude on Aug. 14.

Last season, the issues were roster construction, how the roles were defined, size and depth. All of those have already been addressed. Davis has transformed his roster from one that was flawed last season to arguably the best since becoming head coach, assuming Drake Powell returns for his sophomore season.

Unlike last season, when Drake Powell was forced to play out of position in many games at the four spot, he’ll play mostly at the three next season, just as he did for the last month of last season.

Carolina will go from 6–9 Jae’Lyn Withers being the tallest starter during the last month of the season to a rotation with 6–9 freshman Caleb Wilson playing with two taller players: Stevenson and Veesaar. Particularly if Drake Powell, at 6–6, is back for his sophomore season, there should be no more size issues.

The deadline to declare for the NBA draft is April 26. One mock draft has Drake Powell being picked in the second round as the 46th overall pick.

The Tar Heels will go from 6–0 RJ Davis or 6–1 Cadeau at point guard to 6–2 Kyan Evans, who should more than compensate for the perimeter shooting lost with RJ Davis’ departure.

In addition, three freshmen join the program: five-star 6–9 forward Caleb Wilson and two four-star combo guards, 6–5 Isaiah Denis and 6–3 Derek Dixon, also providing UNC with a taller roster.

Carolina will also have a 6–6 guard, West Virginia transfer Jonathan Powell, who is a lethal perimeter shooter, as well as 6–8 James Brown returning. Also possibly returning is 6–9 Zayden High, who was reportedly suspended by the school and the program, but is enrolled at Carolina for the spring semester.

Continuity is challenging in the transfer portal era, but UNC will have a chance at it, considering Jonathan Powell has three years of remaining eligibility, and Veesaar, Evans, and Stevenson can each play for two more seasons.

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