University of North Carolina Athletics It took some time, but Michael Malone finalized his staff for the 2026-27 season, after hiring former UNC national, Brandon Robinson, to the staff. This week alone, Malone has added Deon Thompson as a grad assistant and Bryan Tibaldi as a player development coach, but the addition of Robinson completes a staff consisting of Chuck Martin and former Tar Heels Sean May and Pat Sullivan. The hire was reported and confirmed by Inside Carolina

On3 It was announced reported earlier this week that Michael Malone and the Tar Heels would host a four-star small forward in the 2026 class, by the name of Kevin Thomas, as they continued to fill out the roster for the upcoming season. Thomas was on campus today for his official visit to UNC, and has committed to play for North Carolina for the upcoming season, becoming the first high school prospect to commit to the UNC program under Michael Malone, who was hired back in Ap

Friar Basketball - Substack After interviewing for a spot on Michael Malone’s staff last week, veteran NBA assistant Bryan Tibaldi has been hired by Malone, becoming the fourth assistant to be named to the new staff. Tibaldi, who played college basketball for Tom Izzo at Michigan State in the mid-2000s, ironically worked for Kim English last year at Providence, before English was fired as the head coach of the Friars. Earlier this off-season, English accepted a role on Malone

247Sports Michael Malone is still busy building out the roster for the 2026-27 season, but he still has positions to fill on his coaching staff, after Kim English backed out of the assistant’s role back in April. Last season, veteran NBA assistant Bryan Tibaldi was in Chapel Hill for an interview, but so far, a hire hasn’t been made. With that in mind, the UNC staff got a boost earlier today, as former national champion Deon Thompson will join Malone’s staff as a grad assista

247Sports The Tar Heels are still working to finalize the roster for the 2026-27 season, and with all the focus primarily on the transfer portal and the international landscape, you may have forgotten that UNC could add from the high school ranks if prospects haven’t committed yet. Michael Malone and the UNC coaching staff are working to add at least one, if not two more big men to the roster for next season, with the hopes of adding at least one more shooter, to round out th

Facebook After initially committing to UNC back in April, NC State transfer Matt Able has officially signed with North Carolina, as the UNC roster is slowly coming together under first-year head coach Michael Malone. Able played one season at NC State, where he averaged 8.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 0.9 assists, while shooting 42% from the field and 36% from behind the arc. In the Wolfpack’s blowout win over UNC last February, Able scored 19 points, while going 6-10 from the

Ersin's NBA Draft Newsletter - Substack Michael Malone may be back stateside, but his search to find frontcourt help for 2026-27 continues to take him overseas, as another target has emerged, according to sources close to the UNC program. Those sources indicate that Alexandros Samodurov is the latest international prospect to draw interest from the Tar Heels, after playing for Panathinaikos professionally in Greece. His numbers aren;t going to catch anyone’s eyes, as he avera

Yahoo Sports With so much focus on the international prospects, it’s easy to forget that there are bigs still available in the transfer portal that played college basketball last season, who could help out the Tar Heels for next season. And after a week spent overseas, with contact being made to multiple international bigs, Michael Malone, and the UNC staff have reached out to two transfers stateside, as they continue to work to rebuild a frontcourt that has lost Caleb Wilson

247Sports The quest to rebuild UNC’s frontcourt is sill on going for first-year head coach Michael Malone, who has lost both Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar to the NBA Draft, along with multiple transfer portal entries from depth pieces. Last week was an uneven week in the rebuilding area of the roster, as UNC was able to land five-star big man, Sayon Keita from Barcelona over in Spain, and Northwestern transfer Cade Bennerman, while learning that FAU transfer, Maxim Logue, wo

Florida Atlantic University Athletics Last week, during Michael Malone’s biggest day in the transfer portal, UNC landed FAU transfer Maxim Logue, a big man who had more potential than his stats would suggest he had. Fast forward over a week later, and Logue is no longer expected to enroll at UNC, according to Inside Carolina. In their latest intel report earlier in the week, Inside Carolina reported there were some issues getting Logue enrolled into UNC from an academic persp

247Sports After landing Northwestern transfer Cade Bennerman yesterday, Michael Malone added another big man to the roster on Monday, in the form of international pro Sayon Keita, a member of FC Barcelona. Keita is a 7-0, 215-pound center who visited Chapel Hill back in 2025, averaged 8.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 19 minutes, while playing in ACB and EuroLeague competition for FC Barcelona’s Under-22 team. This is the latest step to reshaping Carolina’s frontcourt, after lo

247Sports Needing to find a suitable replacement after Henri Veesaar declared for the 2026 NBA Draft, Michael Malone first looked internationally before turning to the transfer portal and identifying Northwestern transfer Cade Bennerman as a target, after he redshirted with the Wildcats last season. Earlier this afternoon, Bennerman committed to Michael Malone and the UNC program, becoming the fifth transfer to commit to Malone this offseason. Bennerman, committed to Northwe

On3 On Friday, Henri Veesaar announced his decision to enter the 2026 NBA Draft, with the intention to stay in the draft and not return to Chapel Hill for what would’ve been his senior season. Veesaar reportedly left a big NIL bag on the table to chase an NBA career, where he’s at best projected as a late first-round pick, but that’s before going through the annual NBA Combine process, where he can improve his draft standing. This decision has left Michael Malone and the staf

After Henri Veesaar opted to enter the NBA Draft, with the intention to turn pro, Michael Malone and his staff had to pivot to find a suitable replacement for the big man from Estonia. With many of the best transfers already gone, Malone and his staff have opted to look internationally to find a replacement for Veesaar, according to Inside Carolina. Per IC, UNC has contacted two overseas players from the same club, Sayon Keita and Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje, both of whom current

Yahoo Sports On the day when college basketball players have to declare for the NBA Draft, Henri Veesaar has decided to enter the 2026 NBA Draft, with the intention to stay in the draft, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander. Veesaar joined UNC after starting his career at Arizona, and enjoyed a special season in Chapel Hill, where he averaged 17.0 points and 8.7 rebounds while shooting 61% from the field and 43% from behind the arc. This decision comes as a minor surprise

Florida Atlantic University Athletics After adding guards Terrence Brown and Matt Able in the transfer portal earlier, the Tar Heels struck in the transfer portal for a third time today, landing FAU forward Maxim Logue. Logue, who is 6-9, averaged 4.8 points and 3.1 rebounds, on 67% shooting, last year for the Owls, in 28 games. Before transferring to FAU, Logue started his college basketball career at Oregon State, where he averaged 2.9 points and 2.0 rebounds, on 65% shoot

Tipto Edits After landing Utah transfer Terrence Brown earlier today, Michael Malone has struck again in the transfer portal, landing NC State transfer Matt Able. Able played one season for the Wolfpack, appearing in all 34 games, without making a start, all averaging 8.8 points per game, 3.4 rebounds, and 0.9 assists, while shooting 42% from the field and 36% from behind the arc. In NC State’s 82-58 win over UNC back in February, Able scored 19 points, on 6-10 shooting, incl

Tar Heel Times It took some time, but after days and maybe even a week of speculation, Michael Malone and the Tar Heels landed another big fish in the transfer portal, in the form of Utah transfer Terrence Brown. Brown entered the transfer portal after averaging 19.9 points per game at Utah, along with 2.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, while shooting 45% from the field, and 33% from behind the arc. Before his standout season at Utah, Brown was a decorated player at FDU for two seas

KNBR When UNC lost to VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, it was believed to be the final game of Seth Trimble’s college career, after four seasons in Chapel Hill. While he has been preparing for the next step in his basketball journey, the NCAA has been mulling adding a fifth year to college eligibility, and if that decision were to be passed, seniors would be grandfathered into that decision, giving them an additional year of eligibility. While that decision has

Sarah Stier- Getty Images After accepting a position on Michael Malone first Tar Heel staff earlier in the week, former Providence head coach Kim English will no longer be accepting that position. As first reported by Pete Thamel of ESPN, he told UNC officials on Sunday that he was not going to pursue the assistant position on the staff that he was offered earlier in the week. According to Inside Carolina, English had arrived on campus and started working for the staff on Wed