By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina is No. 7 on a list ranking groups of men’s basketball newcomers, which includes freshmen, transfers and foreign signees.

That ranking of the Tar Heels by 247Sports includes nine commitments (five who are transfers) and is based on an average point total of 67.98.

UNC could go even higher because its the average player rating of 94.51 doesn’t include one for signee, Luka Bogavac (top photo), a 6–5, 200-pound Montenegrin wing who committed in late May.

Duke, ranked No. 1 on the list with 70.04 points for six commitments, also signed a foreign player, Italian shooting guard Dame Sarr. However, since that commitment came on May 22, he has a player rating listed of 98.0.

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Five-star freshman forward Caleb Wilson (99) has the highest player rating, followed by Arizona center transfer Henri Veesaar (96), freshman combo guard Derek Dixon (94), freshman combo guard Isaiah Denis and Colorado point guard transfer Kyan Evans (93 each), West Virginia guard transfer Jonathan Powell and Alabama transfer forward Jarin Stevenson (92 each) and Virginia Tech transfer guard Jaydon Young (88).

Other ACC teams in the top 25 are No. 13 Louisville (average point total of 66.87), No. 14 N.C. State (66.51), No. 18 Syracuse (65.76), No. 19 Miami (65.55), No. 22 Notre Dame (65.07) and No. 23 SMU (65.02).

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Roster assuming all players with eligibility other than Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar and the seven players who entered the transfer portal return, which would put UNC 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.

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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 so far

(Other than the ACC/SEC Challenge, games without links revealed from reporting by Alex Rosinski or Rocco Miller)
(11 of 14 games)
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. 12 — at Georgetown
Dec. 19 — vs. Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
November or December — vs. Butler

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 courtesy of FIBA