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Heel Tough Blog: Rece Verhoff Now Ineligible Due to Tenth Circuit Ruling
@uncfootball- Twitter After being declared eligible to play in 2026 earlier this month, Tar Heel fifth-year kicker Rece Verhoff is currently ineligible. His eligibility status flipped on Friday after the Tenth Circuit of the US Court of Appeals granted the NCAA’s stay request in the Wisne vs. NCAA case in the state of Colorado. Now, in order to be deemed eligible, Verhoff and others that were apart of that case will have to head to other states in search of temporary injuncti

Anthony Pagnotta
1 day ago2 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Carolina Basketball Releases 2026-27 Non-Conference Schedule
@UNC_Basketball Yesterday, the Carolina Basketball program was on hand in Greensboro for the official announcement of the Tobacco Road Classic, a two-year agreement that will feature a neutral-site contest between UNC & NC State in Greensboro this year and next. Following yesterday’s formalities, the program released its full preseason and non-conference schedule for the 2026-27 season, the first under new head coach Michael Malone. It had already been reported that UNC woul

Joshua Marlow
2 days ago2 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Five Freshmen That Could Become Factors for the Team in 2026
The Tar Heel brought in the second-most freshmen of anyone in the country back in February and the team will be banking on some of these guys to make an impact in their first seasons at the college level. Here are the five freshmen that we think could have a big impact on the team at some point this season. Carson Sneed @_carsonsneed_- Instagram Sneed is the one guy that could make an impact right out of the gate in Ireland. He has been running with the ones in place of the i

Anthony Pagnotta
3 days ago3 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Demon June Lands on Doak Walker Watch List
Mark Konezny- Imagn Images As the season closes in, certain college football awards continue to roll out their preseason watch lists and on Tuesday, it was the Doak Walker Award committee who released theirs. Sophomore running back Demon June was the lone Tar Heel to land on the list, following a productive first season at UNC. Last year, as a true freshman, June led the Tar Heel in rushing, carrying the ball 84 times for 464 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught 17 passes

Anthony Pagnotta
3 days ago1 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Billy Edwards Jr Named UNC's Starting QB for TCU
@uncfootball- Instagram After a long and well-fought battle to be the starting QB for the Tar Heels against TCU next Saturday, Bill Belichick has named Wisconsin transfer Billy Edwards Jr as the starting QB for Carolina according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Edwards won the job over Texas A&M transfer Miles O’Neill, who had a previous relationship with new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, who in part recruited O’Neill to College Station. Bill Belichick opted to revamp the QB r

Anthony Pagnotta
4 days ago2 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Sayon Keita's Visa Officially Accepted, Chapel Hill Bound
Serge Ibaka Foundation After committing to the UNC Basketball program earlier this spring, FC Barcelona’s Sayon Keita has officially been cleared to make the move to Chapel Hill after a lengthy process of getting his visa approved, paving the way for the Mali native to join the program the week that classes start on the UNC campus. Keita, who is a projected NBA lottery pick for next year’s NBA Draft, averaged 8.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 19 minutes, while playing in ACB and

Joshua Marlow
Aug 152 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Peyton Seelmann Named to Butkus Award Watch List
@hinshaw.media- Instagram Richmond transfer Peyton Seelmann may be a question mark in the eyes of some this season making the jump from the FCS level to the Power 4 level, but he landed on a significant watch list on Thursday afternoon. Seelmann was one of the 51 linebackers that was named to the Dick Butkus Award watch list on Thursday, sitting amongst some pretty prestigious company. The 51 players selected honors Butkus’ No. 51 and the award recognizes the toughness, insti

Anthony Pagnotta
Aug 142 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Starting Battles Evolving in Fall Camp
@UNCFootball- Instagram The Tar Heels are now just 17 days away from the start of the 2026 season when they square off against TCU in Ireland. While the focus will eventually shift to preparations for the game against the Horned Frogs, the team is currently letting some important battles play out in fall camp. While there were a bunch of battles on the team’s hands coming into the month, there are some that have been solved, while others remain up in the air. Here’s a look at

Anthony Pagnotta
Aug 124 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Seth Trimble Transfers to Louisville
@UNC_Basketball Late last night, a former UNC guard, Seth Trimble, made it known that he was looking into a return to college basketball and would seek a transfer outside of the UNC Basketball program after his eligibility status for the 2026-27 season was given new life after a ruling two weeks ago. Trimble, who did enter the transfer portal back in the spring, did participate in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and was supposed to sign an Exhibit-10 contract with the Wiza

Joshua Marlow
Aug 123 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Jordan Shipp Lands on Allstate Wuerffel Trophy Watch List
Bob Donnan- Imagn Images One of the easiest players to root for on this 2026 Tar Heel football team is junior wide receiver Jordan Shipp and, on Tuesday, he landed on a preseason watch list. The Allstate Wuerffel Trophy announced their list of 113 student athletes that they were recognizing heading into the season and Shipp was the Tar Heels representative. The Wuerffel Trophy is awarded each year to a player that shows a commitment to community service, excellence in the cla

Anthony Pagnotta
Aug 112 min read


Heel Tough Blog: UNC Set to Face Big 10 School In Preseason Exhibition
Tar Heel Story While Carolina is still working to finalize their non-conference schedule for the 2026-27 season, the preseason schedule took another step toward being set for the first year of the Michael Malone era. Earlier this summer, UNC announced it will travel to Indianapolis to take on the Indiana Hoosiers in late October. According to Inside Carolina and other sources close to the UNC Basketball program, UNC will play USC in Greensboro prior to making the trip to the

Joshua Marlow
Aug 101 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Ten Names to Monitor Through the Rest of Fall Camp
@UNCFootball- Twitter The Tar Heels are about halfway through fall camp as they steam towards the opener against TCU in Dublin. With us in the competition portion of camp as Bill Belichick said on Thursday, there will be some important names that we will be monitoring in the notes we receive about practice. Here is a look at the ten names that we will be following closely heading up until the opener. Benjamin Hall One of the more interesting notes that came from the two days

Anthony Pagnotta
Aug 85 min read


Heel Tough Blog: UNC Adds All-Summit League Big Man to Complete 2026-27 Roster
Tar Heel Stroy After reaching out to South Dakota transfer Cameron Fens last week, Michael Malone and the Tar Heels landed his commitment earlier on Friday to round out the roster for the 2026-27 season. Fens was one of the many college basketball players last week who was granted an extra year of eligibility after a Colorado judge granted an injunction in response to a lawsuit that was filed after the NCAA adopted the new 5 for 5 model, which begins this academic calendar. I

Joshua Marlow
Aug 72 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Steve Belichick on Medial Leave
Jim Dedmon- Imagn Images After being absent for the first day of fall practice last week, it was revealed on Thursday that Tar Heel defensive coordinator Steve Belichick will be on an indefinite leave of absence from the team. As his father, Bill, announced at the beginning of his presser earlier today, Belichick is currently away from the program due to medical reasons and there is no timetable for his return. When asked further about the situation, Bill said that he hopes t

Anthony Pagnotta
Aug 62 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Jelani Thurman Lands on Preseason Mackey Award List
@UNCFootball- Twitter For a second straight day, a Tar Heel has landed on a preseason award watch list for this season. On Wednesday, the John Mackey Award committee announced their watch list for the 2026 season and the Tar Heels junior tight end Jelani Thurman was amongst those mentioned. Thurman, who transferred from Ohio State earlier this offseason, comes to Chapel Hill following a solid career as a backup for the Buckeyes in the first three years at the college level. I

Anthony Pagnotta
Aug 51 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Tar Heels Welcome Back Kicker With Extra Year of Eligibility
@UNCFootball- Twitter With the injunction in Colorado from U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney last Friday, members of the 2022 class are receiving an extra year of eligibility in all sports. On Wednesday, the program announced that they will be taking advantage of this ruling to add a key weapon to this team this season. Placekicker Rece Verhoff will be returning to the Tar Heels for a second season after a productive 2025 season where he was an All-ACC honorable mention.

Anthony Pagnotta
Aug 51 min read


Heel Tough Blog: Melkart Abou Jaoude Lands on Bronco Nagurski Trophy Watch List
Bob Donnan- Imagn Images With the start of the college football season less than a month away, certain award committees are starting to release their watch lists for this upcoming season. Among those doing so this week is the Bronco Nagurski Trophy committee, who named a Tar Heel edge rusher on their list on Tuesday. Following a breakout junior season with the program, Melkart Abou Jaoude has been named as a player to watch for one of the nation’s most prestigious defensive a

Anthony Pagnotta
Aug 41 min read


Heel Tough Blog: UNC Expressing Interest in Villanova Transfer
Kyle Ross- Imagn Images The quest to add a big man to the roster for the 2026-27 season hit an extra gear late last week, when a Colorado judge granted eligibility to student-athletes who had graduated after the 2026 academic year came to a close. That ruling came in response to the NCAA adopting the 5 for 5 model, allowing student-athletes the ability to play 5 seasons of collegiate sports in a 5-year timeline. That ruling has since been clarified, granting eligibility to pl

Joshua Marlow
Aug 42 min read


Heel Tough Blog: 2026 Position Previews- ST
@uncfootball- Instagram With official visits done for the summer, it is time to turn our attention back to the 2026 team. We’ll do so by giving you our in-depth position previews for this season where we do a deep dive on each position room as we wait for fall camp to start. We close out our look at the 2026 roster by dissecting a room that is a complete unknown heading into the season, the special teams unit. Kicker is a two-man battle at the start of fall camp. Right now, i

Anthony Pagnotta
Aug 23 min read


Heel Tough Blog: UNC Makes Contact With All-Summit League Big Man
South Dakota Athletics On Friday night, Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney, from Colorado, issued a preliminary injunction, paving the way for student-athletes who were seniors in the 2026 academic year to be eligible for another season, after the NCAA adopted the new five-for-five model earlier this summer. While this ruling is going to send both college football and college basketball into a frenzy, trying to add talent to their respective rosters, some schools, like UNC, stand to

Joshua Marlow
Aug 12 min read
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