UNC Basketball
Complete coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball.
Projecting every ACC Basketball team's ceiling and floor for 2026-27
5. North Carolina:
Michael Malone has a roster built to score, a boon for a coach who guided the Nuggets to 113.5 points per clip in the playoffs during the season he won the NBA title. Ceiling - Total wins: 28, ACC finish: Third, Postseason finish: Sweet 16. Floor - Total wins: 22, ACC finish: Seventh, Postseason finish: First round of the NCAA tournament. (
ESPN)
Video: Locked On Tar Heels - How Jarin Stevenson & Terrence Brown Transform UNC Basketball
Does a $20 million roster guarantee elite talent or just add pressure to deliver? Jonathan Adams and Isaac Schade discuss
Jarin Stevenson as UNC Basketball's potential "grinder." And will
Terrence Brown’s relentless "prove-it" mentality ignite the Tar Heels?
(
View Video)
Wed Sep 9, 2026
Video: Roy Williams Reveals the 5 Greatest Players He Admired Most
Roy Williams reflects on the five NCAA basketball players he admired most throughout his legendary coaching career. From Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Manning to
Michael Jordan,
Antawn Jamison, and Tim Duncan, this nostalgic first-person story celebrates leadership, character, and the spirit of college basketball.
(
View Video)
Tue Sep 8, 2026
Michael Malone on Sayon Keita's 'Unlimited Potential' for UNC Basketball
"When you look at our frontcourt, and you look at
Sayon Keita, I think he just has unlimited potential,"
Michael Malone said last week at the Smith Center. "When you think about his journey coming here to Chapel Hill and how well he has fit in and how comfortable he is, that's something I really enjoyed watching. Sayon is going to be a heck of a player." (
TarHeel247)
Video: Locked On Tar Heels - Michael Malone Implementing Gritty UNC Defense
UNC Basketball enters a new era as Coach
Michael Malone unveils a gritty, defense-first identity. Will this tougher philosophy end the Tar Heels' infamous "wine and cheese" stigma for good? Isaac Schade breaks down Malone’s four foundational pillars: defense, rebounding, up-tempo play, and ball movement.
(
View Video)
Tue Sep 8, 2026
Jarin Stevenson's Versatility Critical For New-Look Tar Heels
Chapel Hill native
Jarin Stevenson enter his senior season with no
Caleb Wilson or
Henri Veesaar, a new coach, and a fresh group of teammates. But Stevenson’s utility isn’t going anywhere, and Michael Malone is looking forward to taking advantage of it. "Jarin was a three, a four, and a five,” Malone acknowledged. "That’s his superpower — the versatility." (
Inside Carolina)
Big expectations: Inside Michael Malone’s retooling of UNC’s frontcourt
The centerpiece of UNC Basketball's rebuild is
Sayon Keita, a 7-foot-1, 205-pound prospect
Michael Malone scouted personally in Huelva, Spain, shortly after taking the job. Malone further described him as a player whose game may already exceed expectations. He called Keita “a terrific runner of the floor” and "an exceptional pick-and-roll player." (
Tar Heel Tribune)
Michael Malone on first transfer portal experience: ‘I felt like I was Keanu Reeves in The Matrix’
The Tar Heels, who had a laundry list of candidates, eventually reached a deal with NBA Champion head coach
Michael Malone, which was a landmark hiring for a program of UNC’s magnitude. Malone has navigated countless NBA free agencies, but he was tasked with a new role this spring: navigating the always-chaotic college basketball transfer portal. (
Zag's Blog)
Scorers, shooters, and facilitators: Michael Malone’s backcourt takes shape
"When that portal opened the day I got the job, it seems like five months ago, we addressed the backcourt,”
Michael Malone said at a
Thursday press conference. “We added
Terrence Brown, we added
Matt Able, we added Neo Avdalas, and I think those three guys combine for one of the more dynamic and exciting backcourts in all of college basketball." (
Tar Heel Tribune)
Michael Malone: 'I like our front court'
Michael Malone on
Alexandros Samodurov: "We call him Samo because Samodurov is a mouthful. Samo, another guy we got from Europe playing for Panathinaikos. Samo is a skilled big. He can be a four, he can be a five, he can stretch the floor, he can be a facilitator. And they both (including
Sayon Keita) have tremendous size and length and versatility." (
TarHeel247)