By R.L. Bynum
With Sayon Keita clearing a key hurdle standing between him and a Carolina jersey, his arrival completes a frontcourt reconstruction that has been at the forefront of Coach Michael Malone’s first UNC offseason.
Keita finished the final visa process, according to multiple reports, first by Inside Carolina, and arrived in Chapel Hill on Saturday. The timing is important since classes start on Monday.
He arrival gives the Tar Heels five players 6–10 or taller: 7–0 Keita, 7–0 Northwestern transfer Cade Bennerman, 7–0 South Dakota transfer Cameron Fens, 6–11 Alexandros Samodurov, and 6–10 Jarin Stevenson. That’s the same number as last season if you don’t include Ivan Matlekovic.
The concerning numbers, which are likely why Malone added the 255-pound Fens on Aug. 7, are their weights: Keita is 215, Bennerman is 205, Samodurov is 212, and Stevenson is 215. Those numbers suggest that physical opposing big men could create problems.
UNC”s frontcourt is also almost entirely unproven at the college level, except for Stevenson and Fens.
Fens has played 103 career games with 63 starts between Illinois-Chicago and South Dakota. He averaged 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game last season, with his rebounding and shot-blocking numbers both leading the Summit League while he shot roughly 58%.
Now that Keita’s path is cleared, the only question is Fens, who was granted a fifth season of eligibility. U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney in Colorado ruled that all high school class of 2022 athletes who exhausted their fourth season of college eligibility this spring are eligible for a fifth season in 2026–27. Appeals could take that eligibility away, though.
Fens figures to be in the starting lineup when the season opens, and his rebounding and physicality address something Carolina otherwise lacked: a proven, physical presence capable of battling opposing centers and controlling the defensive glass.
The rest of the group arrives with Carolina betting on upside.
Keita is an 18-year-old from Bamako, Mali, who has played with FC Barcelona in Spain and is considered a projected 2027 lottery pick. DraftExpress describes him as “oozing talent as a finisher, passer, offensive rebounder and shot-blocker.”
He first caught American scouts’ attention during the summer of 2025, when he earned Defensive MVP honors at an elite camp featuring top U.S. high schoolers, a showing that led him to visit Kansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Duke, UNC and UConn in the span of a week before committing to the Tar Heels on April 28.
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Bennerman has the least experience of anyone in the group. He redshirted his true freshman season at Northwestern and did not play in a regular-season game, though he was a Tennessee All-State selection and a nominee for the state’s Mr. Basketball Award coming out of high school.
Stevenson is the closest Carolina has to a known commodity beyond Fens, even if his production hasn’t always matched his physical tools. He is more natural at the four spot.
The Chapel Hill native averaged just 5.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game last season after transferring in from Alabama, attempting only 53 two-point field goals all of last season. What he offers instead is length and switchability.
This will be one of the deepest, longest frontcourts Carolina has fielded in years, and it gives Malone options that didn’t exist a year ago. Last season, UNC’s frontcourt duo of Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson was one of the most productive big-man tandems in the country.
This season’s group is bigger from top to bottom, and the Fens addition in particular solves a specific problem. Carolina already had finesse, length and versatility in the frontcourt; what it lacked was a bruiser, someone capable of battling physical opponents and controlling the defensive glass, and now it has one who’s done that against college competition.
Malone is building his rotation around size that hasn’t been tested outside exhibition play or European leagues. Aside from Fens, no other true center has played a minute of college basketball.
That inexperience could show up in ACC play against teams with established frontcourts, and it makes Fens’ availability important as UNC awaits the court appeals to play out.
Keita’s timeline adds another variable: he’s only just arrived on campus days before the semester starts, and he’s going through an acclimation process similar to the one Luka Bogavac experienced a year ago, which could delay his readiness for real minutes even after he’s academically eligible to play.
There’s also a swing factor beyond Malone’s control. New NCAA guidance targeting former professional players’ pre-enrollment eligibility could still affect both Keita and Samodurov, though enforcement timing remains unclear.
For now, Carolina has frontcourt depth with size. Whether each player is ready to make a significant contribution will be a question Malone will answer when practice starts.
| No. | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Freshman | Maximo Adams (MAX-ih-mo) | F | 6–7 | 220 |
| 30 | Freshman | Malloy Smith | G | 6–5 | 180 |
| 21 | Freshman | Sayon Keita (SIGH-on KAY-tuh) | C | 7–0 | 205 |
| 5 | Freshman | Kevin Thomas | W | 6–6 | 205 |
| 35 | Sophomore | Cade Bennerman — U | C | 7–0 | 205 |
| 17 | Sophomore | Neo Avdalas — W (NEE-oh ahv-DOLL-lus) | G | 6–9 | 220 |
| 2 | Sophomore | Isaiah Denis | G | 6–4 | 185 |
| 3 | Sophomore | Matt Able — X | G | 6–5 | 200 |
| 22 | Junior | Alex Samodurov (SAH-muh-DUHR-off) | C | 6–11 | 225 |
| 1 | Senior | Terrence Brown — Y | G | 6–3 | 180 |
| 4 | Senior | Jaydon Young (JAY-din) | G | 6–4 | 200 |
| 15 | Senior | Jarin Stevenson (JARE-in) | F | 6–10 | 220 |
| 14 | Graduate | Angelo Brizzi — Z (BRIZZ-ee) | G | 6–3 | 200 |
| 54 | Graduate | Cameron Fens — V (Fenz) | C | 7–0 | 255 |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 99 | Junior | John Holbrook — SA | F | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Senior | Evan Smith | G | 6–1 | 200 |
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.
Coach Michael Malone’s coaching staff — Associate head coach Chuck Martin; assistant coaches Bryan Tibaldi (tih-BALL-dee), Sean May, Jorge Sanz (HOR-hey sahnth), Pat Sullivan and Brandon Robinson; Director of player development Deon Thompson.
Former players at other schools
| Player | Class | 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 | Pacific |
UNC schedule
| Date | Month/day | Opponent/event (final ranks) |
|---|---|---|
| October | Exhibitions | |
| 9 | 7 p.m. Friday, ACCN | vs. USC in Greensboro |
| 18 | 5 p.m. Sunday | vs. Indiana in Indianapolis |
| 27 | 7:30 Tuesday, ACCN Extra | vs. Charlotte |
| November | Regular season | |
| 2 | Monday | vs. Western Carolina |
| 6 | Friday | vs. Wofford |
| 10 | Tuesday | vs. Wyoming |
| 13 | Friday | vs. Georgia |
| 20 | Friday | vs. Marshall |
| 23 | Monday | vs. Monmouth |
| 27 | Friday, 7 p.m. | Dick Vitale Invitational vs. West Virginia in Charlotte |
| December | ||
| 1 | Tuesday, 7:30, ESPN2 | ACC/SEC Challenge vs. No. 13 Arkansas |
| 6 | Sunday | vs. Butler |
| 12 | Saturday afternoon | at Georgetown |
| 15 | 7 p.m. Tuesday | Tobacco Road Classic vs. N.C. State in Greensboro |
| 19 | 2:30 Saturday, CBS | CBS Sports Classic vs. Kentucky in New York |
| 21 | Monday | vs. The Citadel |
| 30 | Wednesday | vs. California |
| January | ||
| 2 | Saturday | at Boston College |
| 5 | 7 p.m. Tuesday | at Louisville |
| 9 | Saturday | vs. N.C. State |
| 13 | Wednesday | at Florida State |
| 16 | Saturday | vs. Stanford |
| 19 | Tuesday | vs. No. 17 Virginia |
| 23 | Saturday | at Syracuse |
| 26 | Tuesday | vs. SMU |
| 30 | Saturday | Nashville Hoops Showdown vs. No. 5 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn. |
| February | ||
| 2 | Tuesday | at Notre Dame |
| 6 | Saturday | vs. Georgia Tech |
| 8 | Monday, 7 p.m, ESPN | vs. Louisville |
| 13 | Saturday, 5:30, ABC | at No. 4 Duke |
| 20 | Saturday | at Wake Forest |
| 22 | Monday, 7 p.m, ESPN | vs. No. 24 Miami |
| 27 | Saturday | at Virginia Tech |
| March | ||
| 2 | Tuesday | at Pittsburgh |
| 6 | Saturday | vs. No. 4 Duke |
| 9–13 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament in Greensboro |
Photo via euroleaguebasketball.net
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