2024-25 ACC Basketball Summer Snapshot:
North Carolina Tar Heels
By Ben McCormick
North Carolina Sports Network
Head Coach: Hubert Davis (54 years old, entering fourth season)
2023-24 Record: 29-8, 17-3 (ACC regular-season champions)
NCAA Tournament: #1 seed; eliminated in Sweet 16 by Alabama
Key 2024-25 Players (*=returning starter): fifth-year G RJ Davis*, sophomore PG Elliot Cadeau*, freshman G Ian Jackson, junior F Jalen Washington, junior F Cade Tyson, junior F Ven-Allen Lubin, freshman G/F Drake Powell, junior G Seth Trimble, sixth-year F Jae’Lyn Withers
North Carolina’s marvelous and improbable run to the national championship game in 2022 was followed up by utter disappointment during the 2022-23 campaign.
Time and time again, UNC has been reminded that it was the first preseason #1 team to miss the NCAA Tournament. Coach Hubert Davis’ response to that disappointment was quite admirable, though.
In his third year as head coach, Davis was tasked with replacing the largest exodus of transfers in Carolina basketball history. Seven Tar Heels went portaling, including enigmatic guard Caleb Love, who went on to win the 2024 Pac-12 Player of the Year honor at Arizona.
Love’s decision was the perfect example of how many of UNC’s transfers made mutually beneficial decisions for themselves and for the Tar Heels. The players needed a change in scenery, and Carolina needed a change in personnel.
Ultimately, a near-complete roster revamp was just what the doctor ordered.
With just four returnees (RJ Davis, Armando Bacot, Seth Trimble and Jalen Washington), Hubert Davis fleshed out the rotation with some impressive transfers, namely all-purpose forward Harrison Ingram and fiery guard Cormac Ryan, as well as a high-impact freshman in point guard Elliot Cadeau.
The new personalities blended in a melting pot of basketball excellence last season, in what became a strong bounce-back year for the Tar Heels. UNC captured sole possession of the ACC regular-season title, played in the ACC title game, and earned a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
A disappointing loss to Alabama in the Sweet 16 cut both the Tar Heels’ season and Bacot’s highly decorated UNC career short. Ingram (an early NBA entry) and Ryan (out of eligibility) have worn the Carolina uniform for the last time, too. Both players had massive impacts on both ends of the floor; they brought not only scoring and defense, but also a winning mindset for the Heels.
“They restored my faith that you could get a group of guys together that genuinely enjoy wanting to be a team and be together,” Hubert Davis said, “and it was a blessing and a joy to be around them.”
Replacing three of the team’s four best players won’t be easy, but Davis isn’t starting from scratch.
First and foremost, he has the reigning ACC Player of the Year back.
RJ Davis, a skilled guard entering his fifth season in Chapel Hill, will be among the favorites to win the National Player of the Year honor this season. Davis may even have a shot at breaking Tyler Hansbrough’s all-time ACC scoring record (Hansbrough 2,872; Davis 2,088); Davis would need 785 points to reach that peak, just one more point than he scored last season.
Cadeau, an impressive freshman floor general in 2023-24, is returning to run the offense alongside Davis once again. Although the backcourt duo is short in stature, the players’ impact will be a tone-setter for the Tar Heels, especially offensively. UNC will need Cadeau to make a jump this season, particularly by improving his outside shot (he made just 19 percent of his threes as a rookie).
After an initial transfer scare from Trimble, the defensive-minded guard decided to withdraw his name from the portal and return for his junior year in Chapel Hill. Trimble saw a vast improvement in his perimeter shot last year, jumping from 17 percent as a freshman to 42 percent as a sophomore. The Tar Heels once again will lean on Trimble as a valuable bench asset.
Joining the returning trio of guards in the backcourt will be top-10 freshman Ian Jackson. The young wing is garnering NBA attention and has a knack for filling up buckets. Jackson is one of two McDonald’s All-Americans headed to UNC out of the Class of 2024. The other is 6-foot-6 Drake Powell, who at a minimum is expected to provide solid depth on the wing this season. The final freshman piece for the Heels is big man James Brown, a top-100 prospect.
While there is no one-for-one replacement for Ingram or Ryan, Belmont transfer Cade Tyson (brother of former Clemson All-ACC standout Hunter Tyson) checks a lot of the boxes. He averaged more than 16 points per game last season at Belmont, one of the top programs in the Missouri Valley Conference (a top-10 league in 2023-24), while shooting nearly 47 percent from beyond the arc.
Given their extremely promising outlooks in the backcourt and on the wing, the 2024-25 Tar Heels’ biggest summer and preseason questions surround the team’s post play.
Bacot will be tough to replace, and the Carolina coaching staff hit the recruiting trail hard this spring, looking for a viable starting center in the portal. Time after time, though, the Tar Heels whiffed.
Eventually, the Heels landed on Vanderbilt forward Ven-Allen Lubin, a dependable, although somewhat undersized, option at the five. Lubin, who began his college career in the ACC (Notre Dame), averaged 12 points per game for Vandy last season while showing good rebounding and shot-blocking abilities.
The Tar Heels also have two returning forwards in veterans Jalen Washington (a smooth-shooting big man) and Jae’Lyn Withers (a versatile defender), but there are reasons to doubt whether either can be a dependable two-way option as a prominent big man on a contending team.
Only time will tell if Hubert Davis hit the transfer portal jackpot once again, but it’s hard to bet against a team returning a first-team All-American and a wide variety of other very talented pieces.
2024-25 Returning Scholarship Players
(Statistics From 2023-24 Unless Otherwise Specified)
G RJ Davis*, Gr. (6-0/180) — 2024 ACC POY; first-team All-American
35 mpg, 21 ppg, 4 rpg, 43% FG, 87% FT, 40% threes, 129/55 ATO, 8 blocks, 45 steals
G Elliot Cadeau*, So. (6-1/180) — 2024 ACC All-Freshman
24 mpg, 7 ppg, 2 rpg, 42% FG, 65% FT, 19% threes, 150/67 ATO, 4 blocks, 29 steals
G Seth Trimble, Jr. (6-3/195) — valuable sixth man in 2023-24
17 mpg, 5 ppg, 2 rpg, 47% FG, 67% FT, 42% threes, 32/22 ATO, 7 blocks, 13 steals
F Jalen Washington, Jr. (6-10/230) — played in all 37 games in 2023-24
8 mpg, 4 ppg, 3 rpg, 70% FG, 64% FT, 53% threes, 7/14 ATO, 21 blocks, 3 steals
F Jae’Lyn Withers, Gr. (6-9/215) — sixth-year senior in second UNC season
12 mpg, 4 ppg, 4 rpg, 54% FG, 78% FT, 20% threes, 21/25 ATO, 18 blocks, 16 steals
*—returning starter (started at least 50% of current team’s games last season)
2024 Offseason Additions
G Ian Jackson, Fr. (6-5/185) — Top 10 in Class of 2024
Bronx, N.Y.; Our Savior Lutheran; McDonald’s All-American
F Cade Tyson, Jr. (6-7/205) — Belmont transfer, 2023-24 All-MVC
32 mpg, 16 ppg, 6 rpg, 49% FG, 86% FT, 47% threes, 49/44 ATO, 18 blocks, 27 steals
F Ven-Allen Lubin, Jr. (6-8/230) — Vanderbilt transfer (starter)
28 mpg, 12 ppg, 6 rpg, 50% FG, 73% FT, 33% threes, 12/31 ATO, 26 blocks, 15 steals
G/F Drake Powell, Fr. (6-6/195) — Top 25 in Class of 2024
Pittsboro, N.C.; Northwood HS; McDonald’s All-American
C James Brown, Fr. (6-9/210) — Top 100 in Class of 2024
Branson, Mo., Link Academy
G Elijah Davis, Sr. (6-4/197) — Lynchburg (D3) transfer, son of Hubert
Preferred walk-on at UNC; averaged 2.6 ppg at Lynchburg last year
2024 Offseason Departures
C Armando Bacot*, Gr. (6-11/240) — graduated (NBA Summer League/Jazz)
30 mpg, 15 ppg, 10 rpg, 54% FG, 78% FT, 40% threes, 56/60 ATO, 56 blocks, 22 steals
F Harrison Ingram*, Jr. (6-7/225) — early NBA draft (second round/Spurs)
33 mpg, 12 ppg, 9 rpg, 43% FG, 61% FT, 39% threes, 80/51 ATO, 15 blocks, 51 steals
G Cormac Ryan*, Gr. (6-5/195) — graduated (NBA Summer League/Thunder)
30 mpg, 12 ppg, 3 rpg, 38% FG, 87% FT, 35% threes, 44/42 ATO, 15 blocks, 25 steals
G Paxson Wojcik, Gr. (6-5/195) — graduated
8 mpg, 2 ppg, 1 rpg, 34% FG, 71% FT, 23% threes, 13/10 ATO, 0 blocks, 3 steals
F James Okonkwo, Jr. (6-8/240) — transferred to Akron
15 games played, 15 total points
F Zayden High, Fr. (6-9/225) — left school (may return in 2025-26)
23 games played, 18 total points