Heel Tough Blog: Tar Heels Contact Four Backcourt Transfers

The transfer portal opened on Tuesday at midnight, and since then, we’ve seen over 1,900 players enter, all seeking either a new basketball home for 2026-27 or using the portal as an avenue to make more money at their current school. Starting on Sunday, North Carolina has lost seven players to the portal, which was expected after Hubert Davis was fired roughly three weeks ago. Since Michael Malone was hired on Monday, and introduced on Tuesday, his staff, which is still being put together has been gathering as much intel as possible, before attacking the roster rebuild, and after contacting just two players between Wednesday and Thursday, the intensity turned up a notch on Friday, with the staff making contact with four more transfers, all of which are backcourt players. According to Inside Carolina, here are the latest transfers to have heard from UNC: 

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Neokilis Avdalas:

• The 6-9 point guard from Greece is in the transfer portal after one season in the ACC, having played for Mike Young and the Virginia Tech Hokies. In his lone season in Blacksburg, Avdalas averaged 12.1 points per game, 3.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists, while shooting just 39% from the field and an even worse 31% from behind the arc. According to 247Sports, Avdalas is ranked as the No. 20 current available transfer and the No. 3 shooting guard. Given Malone’s track record of developing overseas talent, while in the NBA, it makes sense for Avdalas to be interested in Malone and the Tar Heels, whereas his size and ability to distribute would be a natural fit for Malone’s offense, which preaches ball movement as much as player movement. 

Terrence Brown Jr:

• Once Terrence Brown Jr entered the transfer portal, it was only a matter of time before the big programs in college basketball came calling, and you can add UNC to the mix. Brown is an experienced guard who played last season at Utah, where he averaged 19.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, while shooting 45% from the field 34% from behind the arc, despite not leading to much success for the Utes. Before transferring to Utah, he spent two seasons at FDU, and across his time in the NEC, he earned various honors, including 2023-24 All-Freshman team, and was the 2024-25 MIP player of the NEC, and was named to the All-NEC, and All-NEC Tournament teams as well. In his 96-game career, Brown has averaged 16.1 points per game, 3.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and has shot 44% from the field and 29% from behind the arc. In his last season at FDU, Brown averaged 20.6 points, the highest of any of his three collegiate seasons so far. Brown is ranked as the No. 41 transfer according to 247Sports and is considered to be the No. 8 combo guard.

Bryce Lindsay: 

• The barrage of backcourt players continues with Bryce Lindsay, who is a Villanova transfer and is coming off a strong junior season. Villanova was Lindsay’s third school in three years, after starting his career at Texas A&M, before transferring down a level to James Madison, and back into the power conference ranks with Nova. He started all 31 games last year, where he averaged 12.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists, while shooting 38% from the field and 36% from behind the arc. The previous year at JMU, he averaged 13.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists while shooting 46% from behind the field, and 41% from behind the arc. He has started 44 of the 72 games he’s played in, and is a career 11.6 point per game scorer. Lindsay is ranked as the No. 165 player in the transfer portal currently, and is the No. 34 point guard, per the 247Sports database. 

Christian Hammond: 

• Lastly, we have Christian Hammond, a 6-4 point guard from Santa Clara, who is coming off a big season for the Broncos, which saw him earn All-WCC honors, after averaging 15.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, while shooting 48% from the field, and 40% from behind the arc. He started every game this year for Santa Clara, after starting two games in his freshman season, before redshirting and not playing at all last year. According to the 247Sports database, Hammond is ranked as the No. 52 overall transfer and the No. 13 point guard in this portal cycle. 

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