Transfers and first-years set to affect 2024-25 men's basketball roster

With the college basketball season a little over four months away, here’s a look at how the men’s basketball roster is fairing. 

Transfers

While the UNC men’s basketball team is not experiencing as much turnover as the 2022-23 season, the Tar Heels will still have to find a way to replace integral members of last year’s squad. 

Both graduate center Armando Bacot — the second leading scorer on the 2023-24 team — and graduate wing Cormac Ryan will not wear Carolina Blue next season. 

With those two starters having graduated, head coach Hubert Davis has been tasked with finding both a sharpshooter and someone to hold down the frontcourt. During the offseason, he found both of those answers in the transfer portal. 

To replace Ryan, North Carolina landed Belmont transfer Cade Tyson. The 6-foot-7 wing averaged 16.2 points and 5.9 rebounds last season. 

Both Ryan and forward Harrison Ingram — who declared for the NBA draft — combined for over half of UNC’s 3-point production from last season. With both players gone, Tyson will look to have an immediate impact on the Tar Heels’ ability to shoot from behind the arc. 

Coming into UNC, the sharpshooter has two years of eligibility remaining. 

Without star big man Bacot and Ingram, the Tar Heels also secured Vanderbilt transfer Ven-Allen Lubin in hopes of repairing North Carolina’s frontcourt, who also has two years remaining. 

Last season, the sophomore averaged 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field. In the last two games of the 2023-24 season, Lubin recorded consecutive double-doubles, amassing 25 points and 11 rebounds against Florida. 

Lubin will join senior forward Jae’Lyn Withers and sophomore forward Jalen Washington. 

By only securing two players out of the transfer portal, Davis and his staff still have two remaining scholarships available. 

First-years

The Tar Heels have three players coming in from the 2024 class — five-star guard Ian Jackson, wing Drake Powell and forward James Brown. Headlined by Jackson and Powell, North Carolina’s trio of recruits comes in ninth nationally in the 247Sports composite rankings. 

Individually, Jackson comes in as the No. 8 player in the 2024 class, per the 247Sports composite, making him the highest-ranked player Davis has ever coached at UNC. In 2022, Jackson secured MaxPreps National Sophomore of the Year honors after averaging 19.8 points, five rebounds and four assists. 

At 6-foot-4, the guard will hope to bring his speed and talent to emerge as one of UNC’s top scorers. The first-year will join first-team All-America RJ Davis and guard Elliot Cadeau, looking to establish one of the best perimeter threats in the country. 

All three guards will likely start, which marks the first time that Davis will regularly display a three-guard lineup. 

Along with offense, five-star Powell will bring a defensive edge to the Tar Heels. Standing at 6-foot-6, the forward uses his size to make opponents work for every shot. With his athleticism and length, Powell will play an integral role in helping UNC’s frontcourt find its new identity. 

Although Jackson and Powell garnered the most attention from North Carolina’s recruiting class, Brown will also bring his own identity to North Carolina’s rotation. 

Standing at 6-foot-9, the forward will likely need time to develop but will offer his talent around the rim and ability to make reads to contribute minutes off the bench. 

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