Heel Tough Blog: More Names Emerging As Possible Veesaar Replacement

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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 staff tasked with replacing Veesaar, who, combined with the departure of Caleb Wilson, Zayden High, James Brown, and Ivan Matlekovic, has left the UNC frontcourt depleted. 

On Friday, Inside Carolina revealed two players from FC Barcelona that appear to be on UNC’s radar, but those aren’t the only two players that UNC is showing interest in. According to Inside Carolina’s Sunday portal intel post, Carolina is also showing interest in Mouhamed Faye, a 6-10 center from overseas, as well as Cade Bennerman, a 7-0 center, from Northwestern. 

Faye is the most experienced of the overseas players that UNC is showing interest in, having played three seasons professionally in Europe. In 2024-25 Italian competition, Faye averaged 9 points and 6.8 rebounds while sharing the frontcourt with former NBA player Kenneth Faried. In French competition, those numbers drop down to 4.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest. The advanced numbers are what catch your eye as much as the talent and ability. He owns an offensive rebound rate of 15.6%, and a block rate of 6.6%, both numbers would be well received in Chapel Hill. 

As for Cade Bennerman, he’s the least experienced player Carolina has contacted in the transfer portal, as Bennerman redshirted this past season at Northwestern. He’s a former three-star recruit who committed to the Wildcats over fellow Big 10 schools, Michigan and Penn State. Back in 2024, he averaged a little over 6 points and 3 rebounds during the Adidas AAU Circuit, but he did score in double figures in 5 of his final 6 games. 

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