UNC Basketball face off against Big 12 school in exhibition game
UNC Basketball face off against Big 12 school in exhibition game UNC will face one of its former top recruiting targets in an October exhibition.
Thanks to another strong incoming high school recruiting class, combined with a significantly-improved transfer portal class, the UNC basketball team has a strong outlook heading into its 2025-2026 season.
The crown jewel of North Carolina's 2025 recruiting class is 5-star power forward Caleb Wilson, who committed to Hubert Davis' program in January. Lacking height on their roster last year, the Tar Heels snagged a pair of tall, talented post players in Henri Veesaar and Chapel Hill native Jarin Stevenson.
We also know a little bit about UNC's schedule, with a few non-conference matchups released for this fall. North Carolina will play both St. Bonaventure and Michigan State in the Fort Myers (Fla.) Tip-Off during Thanksgiving Week, travel to Kentucky for the ACC-SEC Challenge on December 2, then travel to Atlanta (Ga.) for a CBS Sports Classic matchup with Ohio State.
On Friday afternoon, the Tar Heels released another teaser for their 2025-2026 schedule: an October 24 exhibition game in Salt Lake City, Utah against the BYU Cougars.
BYU, which is coming off a Sweet 16 appearance in March, should be one of the top teams across college basketball this coming season. The Cougars fared well in the transfer portal themselves, but their top roster highlight will be AJ Dybantsa. Ranked the Class of 2025's top recruit, Dybantsa chose BYU over UNC during his recruiting cycle.
This is the second-consecutive season North Carolina will open its season with a high-profile exhibition matchup. The Tar Heels traveled to face the Memphis Tigers on October 15, 2024, a 84-76 victory highlighted by Seth Trimble's 33-point outburst.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
4 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Panthers exit interviews: Tkachuk talks possible surgery, Ekblad talks contract
The Florida Panthers held their exit interviews with the media on Saturday, one day before the team's parade to celebrate their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship. Here are some of the notables from the interview sessions. Surgery a possibility for Matthew Tkachuk Panthers star winger Matthew Tkachuk played through the entire postseason with torn adductor muscle, which had torn all the way off the bone, in addition to a sports hernia that he had sustained during the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in mid-February. 'He was a mess,' Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. Yet despite missing the final 25 games of the season and being uncertain for the start of the playoffs, Tkachuk played in every game of the postseason and finished averaging a point per game — 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 23 games — while fighting through the injury. Tkachuk said he might have to get surgery this summer but nothing is definitive just yet. 'I don't know yet,' Tkachuk said. 'I've gotta go through some steps here and then see if I need surgery or not. It's it's gonna take a few weeks to determine if I need it. Probably 50-50 right now. I don't know if it'll be a normal summer or not. I hope so. I'm just gonna jump right into surgery without talking to everybody and going through everything. I mean, I have a few weeks here where I can figure it out.' Regardless, it will not be a 'normal summer' for Tkachuk for personal reasons — he's getting married. Where things stand with Aaron Ekblad's contract Top-pair defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who has been with the Panthers his entire career since being selected No. 1 overall in 2014, is due to become a free agent on July 1 unless he signs an extension before that. Ekblad said 'conversations have been had,' but a deal hasn't materialized just yet. 'They'll be working on it,' Ekblad said. 'Things like to seem to come down to the last minute here.' Ekblad has mentioned time and again how much he wants to stay with the Panthers. He's a lifer, with 732 career regular-season games played and 83 playoff games. 'It's part of who I am at this point,' Ekblad said. 'I've spent 11 years here. That's more than I've spent in any home or city in my life. It's home, and I expect it to be home.'
USA Today
4 hours ago
- USA Today
Two UNC quarterbacks earn prestigious offseason camp invites
UNC's two starting quarterback candidates will spend their summers at a exclusive academy. The North Carolina Tar Heels enter their 2025 football season with plenty of hype, but also without a clear-cut answer at starting quarterback. UNC began 2024 with Max Johnson, but he broke his leg in the opener at Minnesota. North Carolina then started Conner Harrell for a few games, but Jacolby Criswell quickly took over after proving to be more effective. The Tar Heels were extremely active in the transfer portal, adding talented South Alabama quarterback Gio Lopez. There's no telling yet whether Johnson or Lopez earns the starting nod, but a quarterback competition is certainly brewing in Chapel Hill. As Johnson and Lopez continue competing for North Carolina's QB1 spot, they recently received some exciting news, with both earning invites to the prestigious Manning Passing Academy from June 26-29. If the name doesn't give it away, the Manning Passing Academy is run by – you guessed it – Peyton, Eli and Archie Manning. Peyton is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, Eli won two Super Bowls against Tom Brady and Archie is their dad. Johnson brought four seasons of experience as an SEC starting quarterback into Chapel Hill, so he gives UNC the more experienced option. Lopez thrived during 2024, his first year as South Alabama's starter: 2,559 passing yards, 18 passing touchdowns, 465 rushing yards and seven additional scores on the ground. It's a pretty big deal for quarterbacks to receive Manning Passing Academy invites. North Carolina is in big need of consistent quarterback production this coming fall – are Johnson and Lopez ready to step up? Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Charlotte soccer stars boast top jersey sales
Charlotte FC has had an up-and-down season so far on the field, but their popularity with fans is at an all-time high. New merchandise data from Major League Soccer shows that three of the club's players rank among the 25 best-selling jerseys in the 30-team league. The three players are Wilfried Zaha, who signed with Charlotte FC in January after establishing a loyal following as a top player in the Premier League earlier in his career; Patrick Agyemang, a 24-year-old rising star who also plays on the U.S. Men's National Team; and team captain Ashley Westwood. Zaha's jersey ranks seventh in sales; Agyemang's is ninth and Westwood's is 11th. Advertisement READ: Juneteenth celebration honors historically Black corridor in Charlotte Only two teams, Inter Miami CF and Seattle Sounders FC, had more player jerseys in the top 25, with four apiece. There is no mystery about the top-selling player jersey: Inter Miami's Lionel Messi — for the third year in a row, tracking with his arrival in MLS after a decorated career with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. Keep reading here. WATCH: Juneteenth celebration honors historically Black corridor in Charlotte
