Not only is Carolina awaiting the decision of R.J. Davis, they are also waiting to find out if Harrison Ingram will be back in Chapel Hill for 2024-25. If both of those guys are back, UNC will be a favorite to not only win the ACC next season, but get to the Final Four, and win a national championship. While they wait to find out what Ingram is going to do, Hubert Davis and his staff are busy dissecting the transfer portal, to find the best talent to fill out the roster for next season.
Carolina has been busy trying to find a big man for next season, but with the unknown around Harrison Ingram, they also are in need of a possible wing as well. Carolina hit the ground running on Belmont transfer Cade Tyson, the second-best shooter in the country last season. But Carolina didn’t stop there, as according to Inside Carolina, they are in contact with Stanford transfer, Andrej Stojakovic, after one season in Palo Alto. Stojakovic, the son of Peja Stojakic, is a 6-7 wing, who averaged 7.8 points per game last season, on 41% shooting from the field, and 33% shooting from behind the arc. Stanford is where Harrison Ingram arrived from last season, and it’s no surprise that Carolina is using Harrison Ingram as a contact during their initial interest in Stojakovic, as Ingram is the best person qualified to tell Stanford what to expect and give a personal account for how different the college experience is on the West Coast, as compared to Chapel Hill.
Here’s how Adam Finklestein, accesses Stojakovic as a transfer, according to 247Sports: The former McDonald’s All-American didn’t make quite the immediate impact that many expected as a freshman at Stanford, and put his name in the portal following the dismissal of head coach Jerod Haase. Known as a skilled shot-maker and versatile scoring threat in high school, Stojakovic knocked down less than 33% of his attempted threes this year while averaging 7.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 22.3 minutes per game. More concerning though was his inefficiency inside the arc, as he finished just 39% of his attempts at the rim per Pivot Analysis, and on the defensive end of the floor, where he rated in the bottom 10% according to Synergy Sports. Both of those struggles are, at least partially, attributed to the physical transition to the college level. While Stojakovic was older than most college freshmen, having turned 19 in August, his frame was still not fully mature and he didn’t have quite as much game experience against top competition. Given time to catch up in both areas, there are still lots of reasons for long-term optimism as his positional size, skill, and offensive versatility remain as intriguing as they were in high school.
The ironic thing is that Carolina could very well go back to the same school they got Harrison Ingram from, to find his replacement for 2024-25. His shooting numbers leave a lot to be desired, but he was a freshman, that wasn’t surrounded with the requisite talent that he’d be surrounded by in Chapel Hill. Stojakovic’s size would be a nice addition to Carolina on the perimeter, where they were a little undersized last season, starting with the backcourt.
It’s unknown if the interest in Stojakovic is just a backup plan incase they lose Harrison Ingram, nonetheless if Carolina were to bring in Stojakovic along with a Cade Tyson, and either Jonas Aidoo or Clifford Omoruyi, it would be hard to be upset about the off-season that Hubert Davis would’ve conducted.
Make sure to stay tuned in to the Hell Tough Blog, for the best coverage on the transfer portal.
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