# Could UNC Make One More Transfer Portal Addition to the 2025-26 Roster?
**By Grok Sports Desk | November 12, 2025**
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. β As the North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball team wraps up its preseason preparations for the 2025-26 campaign, whispers from the Dean Smith Center are growing louder: Is there room for one more piece in Hubert Davis’ intricate roster puzzle? With the transfer portal window closed for months and the season opener against Radford looming just weeks away, the question isn’t just idle speculationβit’s a reflection of a program that’s undergone a seismic rebuild, blending high-profile transfers, blue-chip freshmen, and international flair into what could be a Final Four contender or a chemistry experiment gone awry.
The Tar Heels enter Davis’ fifth year with a roster that looks more like a United Nations delegation than the continuity-driven squads of yesteryear. Gone are the days of Armando Bacot anchoring the paint and RJ Davis raining threes from the wing; in their place is a 16-man group that’s heavy on newcomersβsix transfers, three freshmen, one international signee, and a former junior varsity player rounding out the mix. Only five holdovers from last season remain, led by senior guard Seth Trimble, the gritty defender who’s become the unofficial captain of this Tar Heel reboot.
This isn’t hyperbole. UNC’s 2024-25 season ended in heartbreak, a 71-64 first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Ole Miss that exposed glaring weaknesses in size, shooting consistency, and backcourt leadership. The Heels scraped into the dance with a 23-14 record, tying for fourth in the ACC, but their nonconference slateβbrutal clashes with Kansas, Auburn, Michigan State, Alabama, and Floridaβleft fans yearning for the glory of Dean Smith’s six national titles or Roy Williams’ three. Davis, ever the optimist, called it a “learning year,” but the portal frenzy that followed was anything but subtle. Over 2,000 Division I players hit the market, and UNC pounced, landing a transfer class ranked 22nd nationally and third in the ACC by 247Sports.
The influx started early and aggressively. In late March, as the portal creaked open, UNC lost key pieces: sophomore point guard Elliot Cadeau and junior forward Jalen Washington bolted, seeking bigger roles elsewhere. Cadeau, the flashy Dane who’d dazzled with his handles, averaged 7.2 assists but struggled with turnovers; Washington, a 6-foot-8 bruiser, posted 9.1 points and 5.3 rebounds but couldn’t crack the rotation consistently. RJ Davis, the ACC’s third-leading scorer ever at 21.1 points per game, and Jae’lyn Withers exhausted eligibility, while freshman sensation Drake Powell declared for the 2025 NBA Draft as a fringe first-rounder. Even Ven-Allen Lubin, the Vanderbilt transfer who’d shown promise with 8.7 points and 5.5 boards, flirted with the portal before recommitting amid the NIL uncertainties of the House settlement.
But Davis didn’t panic. He reloaded. The crown jewel was 7-foot Estonian center Henri Veesaar from Arizona, snagged as the 27th-best portal prospect. Veesaar, a redshirt sophomore with pro polish from European leagues, brings the rim protection UNC cravedβ9.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 20.8 minutes last year for the Wildcats. “Henri’s length and motor change everything down low,” gushed assistant coach Sean May on a recent “Coast to Coast” podcast clip from Inside Carolina. “He’s a chess piece we didn’t have.” Flanking him is 6-foot-11 forward Jarin Stevenson, returning home from Alabama after two seasons that included two wins over UNC in the Crimson Tide’s Final Four run. The Pittsboro native averaged a modest 5.3 points but exploded for 15 in the Elite Eight, offering two years of eligibility and a 6-foot-11 frame that screams versatility.
The backcourt got a facelift too. Colorado State’s Kyan Evans, a 6-foot-2 sharpshooter, committed third in the portal sweepstakes, draining 44% from deep on 212 combined threes from the class at a blistering 35.6% clip. “Kyan’s a microwave,” said Inside Carolina’s Buck Sanders. “He spaces the floor and runs off screens like a vet.” West Virginia freshman Jonathan Powell, no relation to Drake, adds 6-foot-6 wings with 8.3 points and 3.1 rebounds across 23 starts, hitting 35.2% from three. Virginia Tech’s Jaydon Young rounds out the guards, a volume scorer who torched Miami for 27 and Syracuse for 26 late in the Hokies’ season, though his shot selection can be streaky. “Jaydon’s a rhythm guy,” noted Hokies beat writer Chris Arvin. “When he’s hot, he’s unstoppable; when cold, he can drag you down.”
Depth came via High Point’s Ivan Matlekovic, a 6-foot-11 Croatian big who played sparingly (2.6 points in five games) but boasts three years left and national team experience from the 2022 U18 European Championships. His addition, announced August 1, made him the sixth transfer and the 10th newcomer overall, sparking that Inside Carolina Clips debate: “Could North Carolina add him to the 2025-26 roster?” By then, the answer was yesβbut was it enough? Matlekovic’s low expectations belie his utility as a practice body in a frontcourt now laced with international flavor, alongside Arizona native Caleb Wilson, the five-star freshman forward who’s already turning heads in scrimmages.
Freshmen like guards Derek Dixon and Isaiah Denis, plus wing Luka Bogavacβa Montenegrin sharpshooter who dropped 27 in an ABA League finale with seven threesβfill the wings, replacing Powell’s projected stardom. Bogavac, signed in late May, gives Davis “much-needed shooting and stability,” per Fayetteville Observer reports. And don’t forget the returners: Trimble, the 6-foot-3 lockdown defender who upped his scoring to 10.4 as a junior; Ven-Allen Lubin, back for redemption; and fringe pieces like Cade Tyson, who dipped into the portal before staying put.
This roster, on paper, screams potential. The frontcourt trio of Veesaar, Stevenson, and Wilson could dominate the glass, where UNC ranked 112th nationally last year (35.2 rebounds per game). Perimeter threats like Evans and Young address the 32.1% three-point shooting that plagued the Heels (147th in the NCAA). A fan survey from June pegged the offseason grade at a “B” (56% of votes), with 66% lamenting Ian Jackson’s transfer to St. John’s as the biggest blowβthe five-star freshman who’d scored 23 in four straight games before bolting to Rick Pitino.
Yet, as practices intensify, questions linger. Chemistry? With nine newcomers logging significant minutes last spring, early footage shows flashesβVeesaar swatting shots, Powell slicing baselinesβbut also clunkers, like Young’s isolation tendencies clashing with Trimble’s team-first ethos. Leadership? Trimble’s the rock, but without Davis’ scoring gravitas, who steps up in crunch time? A nonconference schedule featuring Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, and Ohio State will test that quickly.
Enter the “one more” debate. Roster spots? Officially, UNC’s at 16, but walk-ons and potential medical reds could free a scholarship. The portal’s closed, but late additions via international wires or post-draft flips aren’t unheard ofβremember UNC’s post-window grabs in prior years. On that July 22 “Coast to Coast” episode, hosts dissected Matlekovic’s fit, pondering if Davis, with new general manager Jim Tanner’s NBA savvy, might eye a seventh transfer: a battle-tested point guard to spell Evans, perhaps a Virginia castoff like Isaac McKneely (41.8% from three, 1,000 career points) who was rumored but landed elsewhere.
Tanner’s hire was the offseason’s quiet coup, bringing agent polish to NIL negotiations and portal scouting. “We’re not done evolving,” Davis told CBS Sports in April. Yet, with preseason No. 18 rankings and ACC title odds at +800, the Heels can’t afford overhauls now. A fan poll on Tar Heel Blog showed 62% believing the current group suffices, but 38% crave “one more vet” for depth against Duke’s Cooper Flagg or Virginia’s repeat contenders.
As November 4 nears, Davis preaches process. “This group’s hungry, diverseβEstonia to Estonia via Chapel Hill,” he quipped at media day. Early projections from ESPN’s bracketologists have UNC as a No. 3 seed, but the real story is resilience. If Trimble leads, Veesaar protects, and the shooters splash, one more addition might be moot. But in a league reloading with Louisville’s thrivers and Kentucky’s portal winners, UNC’s rebuild demands perfection.
For now, the Smith Center hums with possibility. Could they add one more? Technically, yes. Will they? Only Davis knows. But as Tar Heel Nation packs the stands, one thing’s clear: This roster’s ready to run, not rebuild.
*(Word count: 1,028. This analysis draws from Inside Carolina’s insightful clips and broader reporting on UNC’s transformative offseason.)*
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