Heel Tough Blog: Second UNC Guard Set to Enter Transfer Portal

GoHeels.com

After losing Isaiah Denis to the transfer portal yesterday, the Tar Heels lost reserve guard Jaydon Young to the transfer portal today, ahead of the portal's official opening at midnight tonight. Young arrived in Chapel Hill after starting his career with the Virginia Tech Hokies, and in the 31 games played this season, Young averaged 1.8 points per game, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.4 assists, while shooting 30% from the field and 28% from behind the arc. Young was brought in to be a veteran presence in the backcourt, and while that never materialized to the fullest extent, he was a valuable piece at times, bringing energy and effort to a team that needed both at times during the 2025-26 season. 

Young and Denis were likely portal entries after the season came to an end, following the loss to VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. All eyes will be on big man Henri Veesaar, who has to decide whether or not to enter the NBA Draft like Caleb Wilson, or return for his senior season, after a productive first season at North Carolina. 

While there will be more portal decisions to come across the next 24 hours or so, the focus for the Carolina Basketball program continues to be to find the replacement for Hubert Davis, who was fired after five seasons on the job. The search has now turned to the current head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Billy Donovan, with other names like Mark Byington (Vanderbilt), Grant McCasland (Texas Tech), and Ben McCollum (Iowa), catching steam. 

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