By R.L. Bynum
UNC assistant coach Chuck Martin will face his old boss when Arkansas visits the Tar Heels in next season’s ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge.
The Tar Heels will host the Razorbacks on Tuesday, Dec. 1, according to a report by Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
Coach Michael Malone’s first hire after taking the UNC job was to bring on Martin, who had been on John Calipari’s staff at Arkansas.
Carolina is 8–3 all-time against Arkansas, including winning the last five meetings. The Tar Heels beat the Razorbacks 87–72 on Nov. 24, 2023, at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas in the last meeting. UNC’s 2017 national championship team beat Arkansas 72–64 in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Greenville, S.C. Carolina’s 1993 NCAA champions beat the Razorbacks 80–74 in the Sweet 16.
UNC is 2–1 in the ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge, beating Tennessee 100–92 in Chapel Hill in 2023, losing to Alabama 92–79 in 2024 and winning at Kentucky last season 67–64.
The other matchups on the day of UNC’s game: Auburn at Clemson, Duke at Florida, Boston College at Georgia, Wake Forest at LSU, Pitt at Missouri, Syracuse at Oklahoma, Ole Miss at Virginia Tech, South Carolina at N.C. State, Florida State at Tennessee and Texas at Louisville.
On Wednesday, Dec. 2, it’s Alabama at Miami, Kentucky at Virginia, Georgia Tech at Mississippi State, Stanford at Texas A&M and Vanderbilt at Notre Dame.
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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.
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 |
Key offseason dates
June 13 — Deadline for international players to withdraw from NBA draft and maintain college eligibility
June 23–24 — NBA draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn
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 by Smith Hardy
