The NBA season is underway, and 11 former North Carolina players are scattered across opening day rosters as the league gets rolling.
UNC’s group is spread out from coast to coast, with some veterans still hanging around familiar NBA homes and a few newer names taking their next step. Here’s how the Tar Heels landed.
Harrison Barnes is in his 17th NBA season and has settled into San Antonio for a third year with the Spurs. He has spent four seasons with Golden State, three with Dallas, seven with Sacramento and now continues his run in Texas.
Over his career, Barnes has averaged 13.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 30.8 minutes per game. He made the All-Rookie First Team in 2013 and won an NBA championship in 2015.
At UNC, Barnes was ACC Rookie of the Year in 2011, then earned First-Team All-ACC honors in 2012. His No. 40 is honored in the Smith Center.
Leaky Black is also beginning his third NBA season, this time with Sacramento after stops in Charlotte and Washington. He has played in 41 games over two seasons, including 12 starts, and has averaged 4.3 points per game. While at Carolina, Black picked up ACC All-Defensive team honors in both 2022 and 2023.
Tony Bradley is entering his ninth NBA season and is back with Utah after previous stops that included Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, Chicago, Indiana and Atlanta. Across 234 career games, he has averaged 4.3 points and 3.8 rebounds. He also won the 2017 NCAA Championship with the Tar Heels.
Harrison Ingram is starting his third season in the league and his first with the Jazz after spending his first two years in San Antonio. He has appeared in 12 career games and is averaging 1.3 points in 5.1 minutes. Ingram earned Third-team All-ACC honors in 2024 at UNC.
Cameron Johnson is moving into his seventh NBA season and his second with Denver. He was originally drafted by Phoenix, played four years there, then was traded to Brooklyn before landing with the Nuggets.
Johnson is averaging 12.8 points per game over 394 games. At North Carolina, he was a First-team All-ACC selection in 2019.
Pete Nance is set for his third NBA season, all with Milwaukee after earlier time with Cleveland and Philadelphia. He has appeared in 68 games, started seven, and averaged 4.3 points in 13.3 minutes per game. In his lone season at UNC in 2022-23, he averaged 10 points per game.
Cormac Ryan is back with the Bucks for a second NBA season. Last year, he played in 11 games, started two, and averaged 14.3 points while shooting 45.8 percent from three-point range. In his one season in Chapel Hill in 2023-24, he averaged 11.5 points per game.
Drake Powell is beginning his second NBA season with Brooklyn, the team that took him 22nd overall. As a rookie, he played in 63 games, started 24, and averaged 6.5 points in 21 minutes per game. In his lone year at UNC in 2024-25, Powell averaged 7.4 points and 3.4 rebounds.
Day'Ron Sharpe is entering his fifth NBA season, all with the Nets. He has appeared in 253 games and started 21, averaging seven points and 5.9 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per game. At UNC, he made the ACC All-Freshman Team in 2021 after averaging 9.5 points per game.
Coby White is starting his seventh NBA season with Charlotte after spending his first seven years with Chicago. He averages 15.4 points in 29.3 minutes per game across his career and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 2020. In 2019 at UNC, White made the Second-team All-ACC list and the ACC All-Freshman team.
Caleb Wilson is the newest Tar Heel on an NBA roster, drafted No. 4 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft and set to debut for Chicago this week. He was limited to 24 games at UNC before an injury ended his season, but still posted 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game to earn Second-team All-American and First-team All-ACC honors.
Henri Veesaar, drafted No. 52 overall by Atlanta, suffered a season-ending injury before what would have been his rookie season.
Across the ACC, 79 players made opening day NBA rosters this year. Sixteen of the conference’s 18 programs are represented, and eight schools have at least three players on NBA rosters, including UNC. The ACC is on 28 of 30 NBA teams, with the Washington Wizards carrying six former conference players.
In Other News...
No. 2 UNC Faces A Huge ACC Test At Dorrance Field
No. 2 Carolinas womens soccer team gets another high-end test Friday night when No. 7 Stanford comes to Dorrance Field, with the match set to stream on ACC Network. It is the kind of late-season showcase that fits the Tar Heels position atop the ACC standings, and it also gives them a chance to keep building on a strong home run in front of a crowd that has watched this group stack up conference honors and national recognition.
Bella Devey has been at the center of that surge, leading the conference in goals, while several other Tar Heels have also earned league and national attention. Carolina has handled Stanford well in the series, but this one still feels like a measuring stick, with the Cardinal bringing one of the leagues best profiles into Chapel Hill and the Tar Heels trying to keep their edge as the schedule tightens. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Now Knows Which Syracuse QB Is Coming To Chapel Hill
Syracuse is heading into its Week 8 trip to Kenan Stadium with a clearer quarterback picture, and North Carolina now knows it will be facing Steve Angeli. The Orange have rotated through options at the position this season, but Angeli is the one expected to get the call when the teams meet in Chapel Hill, giving UNC a chance to prepare for a passer who has already logged three appearances this year.
Angelis numbers suggest there is still plenty for North Carolina to try to test, especially with some of the turnover and sack issues Syracuse has dealt with at quarterback. Malachi Nelson and Amari Odom are both ruled out, so the Oranges depth chart is thinner than it might have been earlier in the season, and that makes Angelis role even more central to how Syracuse tries to stay afloat against a Tar Heels defense looking to make the first punch count. [Read more 🡒]
Belichicks NFL Future Suddenly Matters A Lot To North Carolina
Bill Belichicks move to North Carolina has already been one of the biggest storylines in college football, but his NFL future is suddenly part of the conversation again for a different reason. According to Adam Schefter, teams around the league have not shown interest in bringing him back, despite the rsum that made him one of the most accomplished coaches in NFL history.
For the Tar Heels, that uncertainty matters because it keeps Belichicks long-term future in Chapel Hill tied to speculation beyond the college game. There have been no official offers and no confirmed negotiations, but the lack of NFL traction and his advancing age have added another layer to a situation that remains open-ended for now. [Read more 🡒]