North Carolina’s new era got a public rollout in Charlotte on Wednesday, with head coach Michael Malone, senior Jarin Stevenson and sophomore Neo Avdalas taking center stage at ACC Tipoff at the Hilton Uptown.
The Tar Heels are just two days from their preseason opener, a Friday night meeting with Southern California at 7 p.m. in Greensboro at First Horizon Coliseum. The game will be carried on the ACC Network. UNC then heads to Indianapolis to face Indiana on Sunday, October 18, before wrapping up its preseason schedule at home against Charlotte on October 27.
The regular season arrives quickly after that. Carolina opens against Western Carolina on Monday, November 2, in the Smith Center, marking the official start of the Malone era in Chapel Hill.
Wednesday was packed with the usual ACC Tipoff circuit for Malone, Stevenson and Avdalas. The trio went through radio and television interviews, took part in a press conference, moved through breakout interview sessions, posed for photo shoots and appeared live on the ACC Network set.
The league will reveal its preseason All-ACC teams and preseason poll on Tuesday, October 13, after media voting at the event this week.
UNC enters the season with one starter back in Stevenson and five lettermen returning from last year’s 24-9 team. That group delivered Carolina’s 66th 20-win season, the second-highest total in college basketball history. The Tar Heels also tied for fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference at 12-6, earned their 55th NCAA Tournament bid, and went a perfect 18-0 at home.
Eleven newcomers have been added to the roster for 2026-27.
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Dean Smiths Pitch To Antawn Jamison Still Defines Carolina
Antawn Jamisons latest reflection on his recruitment offers a familiar reminder of why Dean Smiths pitch at North Carolina still resonates. Smith did not sell him on minutes or on a straight line to the NBA, but on what a UNC education and the broader college experience could do for him as a person, a message that stood apart even then and feels almost radical now.
Jamisons recollection is less about one recruitment than it is about a standard Smith set for generations of Tar Heels. The emphasis was on caring for the individual beyond basketball, and that philosophy helped shape the programs identity long after Smiths coaching days ended. In an era when recruiting often starts and ends with roster fit and pro potential, the old Carolina approach still has a way of sounding like the bigger promise. [Read more 🡒]
North Carolina Faces A New Problem In Undefeated Pitt Road Test
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For North Carolina, the challenge is layered. The Tar Heels are trying to prepare for a top-25 caliber opponent away from home while also managing an injury concern of their own at nose tackle, with Isaiah Johnson part of the conversation this week. It leaves Mack Browns team staring at a game that now asks for even more adjustment on both sides of the ball. [Read more 🡒]
North Carolina Just Showed Why ACC Defenses Should Be Paying Attention
North Carolina came out of its matchup with Notre Dame looking like a team the rest of the ACC will have to game-plan for a little differently. The Tar Heels handled one of the nations better defenses well enough to win 37-26, and the bigger takeaway may be how they kept finding ways to move the ball when the margin for error was thin.
Billy Edwards Jr. was right in the middle of it, finishing 17 of 28 for 208 yards with three touchdown passes and two interceptions. The challenge now is turning that kind of showing into something sustainable as Pitt, Duke and Miami come next on the schedule, with each game offering another chance to prove this was more than one strong afternoon. [Read more 🡒]