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

University of North Carolina Athletics After initially entering the transfer portal earlier this off-season, Isaiah Denis has removed his name from transfer consideration and will return to play for Michael Malone and the Tar Heels in 2026-7. Denis becomes the second UNC player to have entered his name into the portal, but withdrew afterwards, joining Jaydon Young, a fellow guard. Denis joins Young and Jarin Stevenson as holdovers from last year’s roster for the first-year he

Ryan M. Kelly- Getty Images After landing Virginia Tech transfer Neokilis Avdalas on Monday, there was a lot of positive momentum around the UNC Basketball program, and while it would be unfair to say that is has stalled, there hasn’t been much movement since. The Tar Heels are still awaiting a decision from Utah transfer Terrence Brown, who was on campus earlier in the week, but was visiting Kansas on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after a strong offer was made to Wake Forest transfe

Justin Ford- Getty Images The Tar Heels are in the process of piecing together their roster for the 2026-27 season right now and the team has a new backcourt player that they have officially contacted. As first reported by Tar Heel Illustrated on Tuesday night, the Tar Heels have officially been in contact with Memphis transfer guard Curtis Givens III. He will have two years of eligibility remaining wherever he eventually lands. Givens, who is ranked as the No. 227 overall pl

@ ivan.ma tlekovic- Instagram Things have slowed down in terms of exits from the Tar Heel basketball program with how many guys have already left the roster for the portal, but the team did have one more entry on Wednesday night, this time in the form of a depth big man. As first announced by Pete Nakos of On3, sophomore forward Ivan Matlekovic has entered his name into the transfer portal as of this evening. He becomes the ninth Tar Heel to announce his intentions to transfe

@malloytheboy- Instagram The 2026 recruiting class will officially sign on Wednesday and on Tuesday, the Tar Heels got confirmation that they will have a two-man recruiting class this season. As first reported by Inside Carolina on Tuesday morning, 2026 3✮ PG Malloy Smith is going to stick with his commitment and sign with the Tar Heels on Wednesday. Smith, the son of UNC great Kenny Smith, committed to previous head coach Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels in March following a v

Stew Milne- Getty Images The Tar Heels are searching to add to Michael Malone first roster in Chapel Hill and the team has had an interesting new target pop up as of this morning. As first announced by Joe Tipton of On3 earlier today, NC State transfer guard Matt Able is down to seven schools that he is considering as transfer destinations and the Tar Heels are one of those seven. Able announced last Monday that he was going to enter the transfer portal and that he would also

247Sports In a move that was becoming all the more likely with the way UNC has conducted itself in the transfer portal, Dylan Mingo, a five-star point guard commit to UNC, will not play for the Tar Heels in 2026-27, as reported by both Inside Carolina and Tar Heel 247. Mingo committed to Carolina back when Hubert Davis was still the head coach, but after a visit to Chapel Hill over the weekend, to meet with new coach, Michael Malone, the Carolina brass has opted to move off t

CBS Sports The roster moves aren’t the only news around the Carolina Basketball program, as it was reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel, and confirmed by sources closer to the program, that Michael Malone has hired Kim English as an assistant coach, as part of his revamped coaching staff. It was reported last week that Malone would be retaining Sean May, Pat Sullivan, and Eric Hoots as holdovers from Hubert Davis’s coaching staff. He also poached away long-time assistant and recrui

University of North Carolina Athletics The Neo Avdalas transfer wasn’t the only positive roster news for the 2026-27 season, as shortly after that news broke, Jarin Stevenson announced he is returning to North Carolina for his senior season. Stevenson transferred in from Alabama last off-season and was an integral part of Carolina’s success last season, averaging 8.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 0.9 assists, while shooting 47% from the field, and 29% from behind the arc. He started

Tipton Edits After a busy weekend contacting potential transfer portal targets, Michael Malone and the Tar Heels have landed their first transfer, in the form of Neokilis Avdalas, a 6-9 guard, who played professionally in Greece, before arriving in college basketball, playing for Mike Young and the Virginia Tech Hokies, In his lone season in Blacksburg, Avdalas averaged 12.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists, while shooting 39% from the field, and 31% from behind the arc.