While there was preseason hype for the North Carolina Tar Heels, especially with the return of program legend RJ Davis, the simple truth for Hubert Davis is that the season was ultimately bookended with immense disappointment. On the back end, we don't need to again rehash how UNC barely got into the NCAA Tournament, won a First Four game in a blowout but then fell into too big of a hole to climb out of in the First Round matchup with Ole Miss.
However, what some college basketball fans may have forgotten, though UNC fans certainly haven't, is that Davis and Co. missed out time and again on their top transfer portal targets last offseason. Sure, Ven-Allen Lubin looks like a nice piece for the future in the frontcourt, but Cade Tyson largely became unplayable while we saw next to nothing from Tyzhaun Claude.
Now, North Carolina comes into the offseason with some major questions. Davis has exhausted his eligibilty and the draft decision looms large for the likes of Ian Jackson and Drake Powell. And while 5-star recruit Caleb Wilson is incoming, for the Tar Heels to rebound from a letdown campaign and, perhaps more pressingly, for Davis to retain a semblance of job security, the transfer portal will again be key.
The days of the transfer portal are still young and we'll surely see a ton of bigger names enter the portal in the coming weeks. However, with the players who are currently available, Davis and UNC basketball should have their targets on these three players to fill holes and get ready to rebound in the 2025-26 season.
3. SG Jacari White (North Dakota State)
While it would only be a one-year rental to get Jacari White to Chapel Hill, he's someone who could fit nicely into a backcourt that has some questions with Davis's departure an the fanbase-wide malaise around Elliot Cadeau. While Seth Trimble is a useful player on the wing, one of the big keys, especially with the Jae'Lyn Withers departure as well, is to find some outside shooting and scoring from that area.
White seems to be a piece that could provide that. The 6-foot-3 guard improved in each of his tree seasons seeing meaningful minutes at North Dakota State, finishing his time with the Bison this past season by averaging 17.1 points, 4.3 reboundsand 0.7 steals per game. More importantly, he's a terrific outside shooter, converting on 40.6% of his triples for his career on 5.1 attempts per game.
Especially if Cadeau stays with the Tar Heels and still remains a spotty threat as a shooter, getting someone on the wing who can take advantage of kickouts and opportunites on the perimeter is key unless Davis wants to rely on incoming Top 50 recruits Isaiah Denis and Derek Dixon sooner than you'd imagine he would, White could be an experienced cog to put in the mix.
2. F/C Nick Davidson (Nevada)
Before UNC's brief run in March Madness even came to a close, the Tar Heels reportedly reached out Nevada big man Nick Davidson. The frontcourt was a big point of concern in last year's transfer portal, even with the addition of Lubin. Jalen Washington struggled mightily to assert himself as a reliable big man, which heightened the need there, but Davis was ultimately unable to fully fill out the depth there.
Wilson arriving as a much-hyped 5-star recruit in the frontcourt will help with that, to be sure. However, the depth is still a concern and something that Davidson could answer in a big way. Despite being on a middling Wolf Pack team in the 2024-25 season, the big had a strong year, averaging 15.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game. Furthermore, he offers some real versatility as an inside-out big, converting on 37.1% of this 3-point attempts this past year.
Figuring out the rotations with Wilson, Lubin and any other bigs will be key but Davidson would give Davis far more versatility with his lineups and rotations than he had this past season and potentially get the Tar Heels frontcourt in a much more comforting place.
1. G Jalil Bethea (Miami)
Back to the backcourt, though, Saturday offered one of the biggest entries into the transfer portal yet as former 5-star Miami signee Jalil Bethea entered. After his freshman season with the Hurricanes and the departure of Jim Laranaga to ultimately make way for Jai Lucas, the former high-profile recruit is going to be looking for his next stop in college basketball.
Despite playing in 31 games, Bethea fell victim to the dysfunction in Coral Gables this past season, shooting under 37% from the field and averaging just 7.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in just under 20 minutes per game. However, the 6-foot-5 guard was the No. 7 overall recruit in the country for a reason coming out of Archbishop Wood in Pennsylvania. He was known for his scoring and shot-making prowess, including having a lethal outside jumper.
It would be a risk given how paltry the production was as a freshman but there's real reason to believe in the potential of Bethea still. If Davis and North Carolina are serious about making waves in the transfer portal this offseason like they were unable to a year ago, then going hard after Bethea and rolling those dice would be something every fan should easily be able to get behind.