Last week, Carolina picked up their activity in the transfer portal, getting involved with one of the best shooters in the portal, along with multiple high-profile big men as well. Of course, that doesn’t mean that Carolina will get every player that they are going after, but it’s good to see Davis and his staff being aggressively looking to add talent for the next season.
With Carolina getting involved later than other schools, Carolina was behind the 8-ball when they started recruiting Aaron Bradshaw from Kentucky, and Oumar Ballo from Arizona, and that showed up today, as both made their decisions, with neither coming to Chapel Hill. Bradshaw committed to Ohio State earlier today, and Ballo committed to Indiana, so they’ll see each other next year in the Big 10. Bradshaw was always going to be a flight risk, after falling out of favor at Kentucky under John Calipari, which isn’t an easy thing to do, given his pedigree of playing talented freshmen right away. As for Ballo, he would’ve solidified Carolina’s frontcourt, but at Indiana, he’ll be the Hoosiers' first scoring option, something he wouldn’t have been if R.J. Davis or Harrison Ingram opted to return for 2024-25.
It wasn’t all bad news for Carolina today though, who continue to prioritize Tennesee transfer, Jonas Aidoo, after missing out on Bradshaw or Ballo. The Carolina staff made contact with Aidoo over the weekend, and those talks are expected to continue this week.
The news doesn’t stop there for UNC, as Clifford Omoruyi, another top transfer big man from Rutgers, has begun the process of narrowing down his recruitment, with UNC making the final 12 schools. The other schools in the running for Omoruyi include UCLA, Kansas State, Georgia Tech, Georgetown, Baylor, Alabama, Oregon, Washington, Georgia, St. John's, and Mississippi State. Depending on reporting, Carolina is in the top 3 for Omoruyi, so depending on what happens with Aidoo, Omoruyi just might be Carolina’s starting big man next season.
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