Not only has Carolina expressed interest in Towson transfer, Nick Timberlake, Hubert Davis and his staff have also expressed interest in Brown transfer Paxson Wojcik, as the challenge to rebuild the roster is well underway after the Tar Heels missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010.
Wojcik is coming off a senior season, where he started at 27 games for Brown, averaging 14.9 points and 6.7 rebounds, all while shooting 46% from the field, and 38% from behind the three-point line. His performance this season earned him All-Ivy league honors, as the Bears went 14-13 overall, 7-7 in the conference, just missing out on the Ivy League tournament. Woycik also started all 27 games last season at Brown, where he averaged 9.6 points, and 2.5 rebounds, on 42% shooting from the field, and 33% from behind the arc. During the 2021-22 season, Brown visited Chapel Hill, a game that UNC eventually won 94-87, and Wojcik scored 14 points, on 7-19 shooting, and he also grabbed 6 rebounds, and handed out 3 assists.
Wojcik is going to be a three time transfer, as before he spent two seasons at Brown, he played at Loyola-Chicago. Despite playing four seasons at the mid-major level, Woycik is going to be a highly sought after transfer, as not only is Carolina interested in him, but so are Kansas and Notre Dame, which would lead you to believe more programs will be interested in him, as he’s set to conduct an in-home meeting tonight with Butler coach Thad Matta as well.
He has ties to UNC, as his dad Doug Wojcik was a former assistant in Chapel Hill, serving on Matt Doherty’s staff from 2000-2003. While those teams aren’t remembered in a positive light, he was an integral part of recruiting guys like Jawad Williams, Raymond Felton, and Sean May, guys that would eventually be the cornerstone of the 2005 national championship team.
When you look at Wojcik from the Carolina perspective, there’s a lot to like about him, as he’s proven the last two seasons that he’s capable of scoring the basketball, and doing so in an efficient manner. His ability to impact the game as a rebounder is impressive, and would be a boost to a program that finished in the top 10 nationally in rebounding. Factor in the fact that he’s going to be a fifth year player in a time in college basketball where being older has its benefits.
The lone concern with Wojcik is how his game would translate from the Ivy League, to the ACC. Back in 2019-20, Roy Williams went after Justin Peirce and Christian Keeling, two guys that were highly sought after in the transfer portal, but it took Keeling almost 25 games to adjust to a higher level of competition, meanwhile Pierce never made the adjustment.
The decision to not attend the 2023 NIT has drawn criticism from the media, the current players, parents of the players, and much more. With that criticism though, it was the right decision at the end of the day, as it’s allowing Hubert Davis and his staff to identify players in the portal that might be a good fit for the team next season, as the program will look to bounce back from a very underwhelming 2022-23 season.
The Four Corners Podcast: