After finding out earlier today that they are a finalist for a transfer from Dayton, Carolina won’t be a finalist for Jordan Pope, the transfer from Oregon State. It was unknown how serious Carolina was in recruiting Pope, as they await the decision on R.J. Davis to determine how aggressively they’ll recruit the transfer portal for a guard, but Pope would’ve been a nice piece to add regardless. Pope was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team for the 2022-23 season, and this past season he averaged over 17 points per game for the Beavers, despite not earning conference honors. According to On3Sports, Pope is deciding between two schools from the SEC, Texas and Texas A&M.Â
It’s uncertain what Pope’s decision means for R.J. Davis, but all signs are pointing towards Davis returning for his super senior season, as he’s continued to sign NIL deals since the season came to an end. With Seth Trimble transferring out of the program, it makes sense that a player the caliber of Pope would prefer to transfer to a team where he could be the lead guard, as opposed to potentially sharing the backcourt with the best guard in college basketball.Â
The transfer portal hasn’t been kind to Hubert Davis in the early going, but it’s important to remember that got both Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan rather late in the process last off-season. With Harrison Ingram off to the NBA, Adou Thiero has become the focus for the staff as they look to add a wing player to the roster. They hosted Cade Tyson over the weekend, the second-best perimeter shooter in the country last year, who would more than fill the role left behind by Cormac Ryan. Lastly, Carolina made the final 12 for Clifford Omoruyi, the best defensive big man in the portal. I say all that to say that if Carolina were to get positive news on any of those players, the outlook for 2024-25 would be drastically different than right now, and that’s still not accounting for the addition of McDonald’s All-Americans, Ian Jackson, and Drake Powell.Â
Make sure to stay tuned to the Heel Tough Blog for the latest and the best coverage on the transfer portal for Carolina Basketball and Tar Heel football.Â
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