Former UNC forward Walker Kessler announced via Instagram on Monday his plans to transfer to Auburn, squashing any chances the Tar Heels had of luring him back to Chapel Hill under new head coach Hubert Davis.
Kessler previously announced he was entering the NCAA transfer portal in late March after the conclusion of UNC’s season.
His departure was the first of many dominoes to fall among the Tar Heel frontcourt, which has seen Garrison Brooks, Armando Bacot, Day’Ron Sharpe, Sterling Manley and Walker Miller also announce their intentions to either transfer or test the NBA Draft process.
When Davis was introduced as UNC’s new head coach earlier this month, he said at his press conference one of his first goals was to try and get the 7-foot-1-inch Kessler to return to campus.
“I want Walker here,” Davis said. “He’s a Carolina guy. I’ve enjoyed being one of his coaches last year. He’s a wonderful kid. Can’t think of anybody better to be around. A unbelievable, charismatic personality. Somebody that just wants to get better and work every day.
“Kessler is a Carolina guy,” he added. “I sent him a text last night and I have a phone call with him later today. And what I’m going to tell him is I want him back here at Carolina. He’s a Tar Heel, he’s always a Tar Heel, he needs to come back here, and this is the right place for him. We would love to have Walker Kessler and his family back in Chapel Hill and back at UNC.”
With nearly the entire frontcourt on the way out, the assumption was the playing time Kessler desired would now be available at UNC.
The Georgia native will instead be heading closer to home to play for head coach Bruce Pearl, who has taken the football-crazed school to new heights in basketball since taking the job in 2014. This includes a Final Four berth in 2018 where Pearl’s Tigers defeated No. 1 seed UNC in the Sweet Sixteen.
“I am excited to play for a great coach at an awesome school and be close to home and my family,” Kessler wrote in his Instagram post.
During his time at UNC, Kessler averaged 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per game. As the season progressed, he began flashing the potential that made him a McDonald’s All-American.
In a win over Florida State at home on Feb. 27, Kessler scored a career-high 20 points to go with eight rebounds and four blocks. He then tallied a near triple-double in his ACC Tournament debut against Notre Dame, tallying 16 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks in a Tar Heel victory.
Those performances brought hope that he was due to step into a starring role in the near future at UNC, before Monday’s news made his departure official.
Photo via Dennis Nett (Syracuse.com)
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