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The Tar Heels still need to get bigger and bigger.
Congrats to Hubert Davis and his staff for reeling in 7-footer Henri Veesaar from Arizona. He looks like a good get, but Carolina cannot stop there and needs at least one more big man besides Veesaar and Ven-Allen Lubin.
If this season held your interest through the NCAA Tournament, it was clear up to and through Duke’s loss to Houston that bulk size matters in the college game. Big and tough, dudes and dogs, they are required to win.
Hubert must be conducting a detailed search to fill the roster with championship skills and mettle. A potential big hole right now is the future of rising sophomore wings Ian Jackson and Drake Powell. If one or either transfer or turn pro, West Virginia transfer Jonathan Powell would have as great an opportunity to start and score from the perimeter.
Besides Seth Trimble, a brand new backcourt committee includes two freshmen to help replace R.J. Davis and Elliot Cadeau. In fact, the current returnees will bring a collective 10-point scoring average from this past season. Who replaces Cadeau with the ball remains to be seen. The latest candidates on social media are Chattanooga’s Honor Huff and Princeton’s Xaivian Lee, among others.
The cash competition will be lively as Power 4 football schools will all have salary caps to cover paying players, stars to reserves. The “House” settlement, if approved this week, will allow colleges to negotiate contracts with athletes for the first time.
Depending on their established value, football players could command a significant majority of the $20 million Carolina hopes to raise for the college version of collective bargaining. Men’s basketball could spend a small share of that depending on the total on that line in the athletic budget.
Veesaar, the Arizona transfer, is a 7-foot Estonian and one the best available big men in the portal. He is an important frontcourt addition for Hubert and the Tar Heels, who were left undersized underneath after losing Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram inside from the 2024 ACC regular season champion and Sweet 16 NCAA participant.
The Heels are coming off a disappointing ’25 season; the team barely made the NCAA Tournament before a first-round defeat to Ole Miss, one of 14 SEC teams in the field. It was a far cry from 2024, when they were a No. 1 seed and made it to the Sweet 16.
Arizona, on the other hand, won multiple tournament games for the third time in the last four years. And with Caleb Love turning into another star in Tucson, you know he was involved in the sales pitch to Veesaar.
Cross country, from the new Pac 12 to the old ACC, the Tar Heels need him and maybe another one or two of him.
Featured image via Todd Melet
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.
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I’m starting to think that some basketball players are not taking their education very seriously, since they are transferring so much!
But my other personality believes they are all transferring for a better education to schools that have the programs they want to major in!
I sure hope personality B is correct!
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.
I’m starting to think that some basketball players are not taking their education very seriously, since they are transferring so much!
But my other personality believes they are all transferring for a better education to schools that have the programs they want to major in!
I sure hope personality B is correct!