UNC Basketball Roundup: 5-Star Visit Weekend, ACC Schedule Released, Basketball Family Reunion

CJ Rosser and Jordan Page headline a loaded visit weekend

CJ Rosser made Chapel Hill the first stop on his visit tour, and Carolina got him at exactly the right moment. The 6-foot-9 forward from Rocky Mount — now at Orlando's Southeastern Prep — announced a seven-school visit slate that starts with UNC and runs through NC State, Miami, Arkansas, Kentucky, USC and Louisville. Rivals has him as the No. 1 overall prospect in the class; 247Sports slots him second, behind his own Southeastern Prep teammate Beckham Black.

Rosser didn't come alone. Five-star wing Jordan Page, a 6-foot-5 top-15 guard and fellow North Carolina native now at IMG Academy, scheduled his official visit for the same weekend — a pairing that could plausibly end up as a package deal. Inside Carolina has photos of both on campus.

Malone made sure the visit was impressive. Malone and his full 2026-27 roster accompanied the recruits at Saturday's football game, plus former UNC forward Caleb Wilson — the No. 4 pick in June's NBA Draft — plus former Tar Heel All-American Antawn Jamison and former Carolina big man Brice Johnson. When your alumni weekend and your biggest recruiting weekend of the fall land on the same Saturday, that's not an accident.

And the No. 1 point guard is up next

Five-star Beckham Black — the No. 1 overall recruit in the Rivals Industry Ranking and Rosser's Southeastern Prep teammate — is set to take his official visit to Chapel Hill this weekend.

The 6-foot-3 senior is a Dallas native and younger brother of Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black. He averaged 21.7 points, 5.4 assists, and 4 rebounds on the EYBL circuit this summer, owns two USA Basketball gold medals, and has already been to Texas, Florida, and Georgetown — with Arkansas and Duke still pushing hard.

Jalen Davis, Adan Diggs and a 2027 board that keeps growing

• Jalen Davis — UNC jumped into his recruitment late and immediately landed an October 3 official visit. The 6-foot-3 combo guard is a top-20 national prospect from Bremerton (Wash.) High — the alma mater of former North Carolina one-and-done and 2005 national champion Marvin Williams. UNC watched Davis go head-to-head with Adan Diggs at Section 7 and has been in contact since.
• Adan Diggs — the 5-star shooting guard cut his list to seven, with UNC alongside Arizona, Arkansas, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, and USC.
• Demarcus Henry — the 6-foot-7 NC native at Arizona Compass Prep had UNC coaches on hand at his school's Pro Day before he wrapped a UConn visit.

Rob Harrington and Tommy Ashley of Inside Carolina dug into the in-state angle on the IC Podcast: Rosser and Henry are both North Carolina kids playing elite prep ball out of state.

Nearly 200 Tar Heels come home

Malone's first alumni reunion weekend drew close to 200 former players back to Chapel Hill, and by every account it delivered. Adam Lucas wrote that the weekend was, above all, "authentic" — a Friday social, a Saturday tailgate before the football team's 35-3 win over ETSU, then a dinner at the Smith Center with more than 500 attendees spanning Dick Kepley of the 1957-58 team to this year's freshmen.

The capstone came Sunday, when the men's and women's programs hosted the fifth annual Dribble for Victory Over Cancer and raised more than $143,000 for the V Foundation, the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, and UNC Children's Research Institute.

The ACC schedule is finally here

Malone's first conference game that counts comes Dec. 30 at home against Cal, the first of 18 regular-season ACC games. The Tar Heels host NC State in the Smith Center on Jan. 9 — and also play the Wolfpack on Dec. 15 in Greensboro as a designated non-conference game, which Tar Heel Tribune covered in its breakdown of the slate.

Circle Feb. 8. That's when former Tar Heel guard Seth Trimble returns to the Smith Center with Louisville, using his fifth season. Expect a very loud, very warm welcome.

Roster notes and expectations

Malone had high praise for freshman center Sayon Keita: "Sayon is going to be a heck of a player." Senior Jarin Stevenson is the Swiss Army knife of this roster: "That's his superpower; the versatility," Malone said of a Stevenson who has logged minutes at the three, four, and five.

ESPN's ACC ceiling-and-floor predictions slotted UNC fifth in the league, with a ceiling of 28 wins and a Sweet 16 and a floor of 22 wins and a first-round exit. Given a Malone offense that averaged 113.5 points in the playoffs the year he won a title in Denver, take the over.

That's the week. Two five-stars down, the No. 1 point guard on deck, 200 Tar Heels back home — the season can't get here fast enough.