UNC’s new-look men’s basketball team will get a real early test before the games start counting.
Michael Malone’s first Carolina squad is set for an exhibition against USC at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, with a second exhibition coming nine days later against Indiana in Indianapolis at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday, Oct.
- The Indiana game had already been announced in June.
The USC matchup, billed as “The Preseason Premire,” comes the night before the Carolina football team plays at Pittsburgh.
Greensboro, still a familiar name to plenty of Tar Heel fans as the Greensboro Coliseum, is lined up for a busy basketball stretch this season. The venue is expected to host an December non-conference game against N.C. State, and it will also be the site of next season’s ACC tournament.
Tickets for the general public go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.
The exhibition gives Carolina a chance to see where its rotation stands against a USC team that enters its second season under Eric Musselman. The Trojans finished 18-14 overall and 7-13 in the Big Ten last season, then dropped their final eight games.
USC does bring back guards Rodney Rice and Alijah Arenas, who averaged 20.3 and 14.1 points per game, respectively. Rice’s season ended after just six games because of a shoulder injury, suffered while USC was on the way to winning the Maui Invitational title.
Musselman also worked the transfer portal hard, adding Georgetown guard KJ Lewis, Colgate guard Jalen Cox, who scored 17.9 points per game last season, and South Dakota guard Isaac Bruns, who averaged 20.8 points per game, among others as USC tries to rebound after missing the NCAA Tournament for a third straight year.
That Bruns connection adds a little extra layer to the matchup, since he’ll see former South Dakota teammate Cameron Fens, now a transfer to UNC.
Carolina’s roster for Malone’s first season is already taking shape around a large and varied group. The incoming class includes five-star freshman Maximo Adams, three-star freshman Malloy Smith and five-star freshman Sayon Keita, along with four-star freshman Kevin Thomas. Also on the roster are freshman Alexandros Samodurov, redshirt freshman Cade Bennerman, sophomore Neoklis Avdalas, sophomore Isaiah Denis, sophomore Matt Able, senior Terrence Brown, senior Jaydon Young, senior Jarin Stevenson, graduate Angelo Brizzi and graduate Cameron Fens.
The walk-ons listed are junior John Holbrook and senior Evan Smith.
Malone’s coaching staff includes Chuck Martin, Bryan Tibaldi, Sean May and Pat Sullivan. Deon Thompson will be a graduate assistant, and Brandon Robinson will reportedly have a support staff position.
Several players from last season have moved on through the transfer portal, including Luka Bogavac to Oklahoma State, James Brown to Howard, Derek Dixon to Arizona, Kyan Evans to Minnesota, Zayden High to South Florida, Jonathan Powell to Pittsburgh and Ivan Matlekovic, whose next school was not listed.
UNC’s schedule already has a full slate beyond the exhibitions. After Western Carolina on Nov. 2, the Tar Heels will face Wofford on Nov.
6, Wyoming on Nov. 10, Georgia on Nov.
13, Marshall on Nov. 20 and West Virginia in Charlotte on Nov. 27.
December brings No. 13 Arkansas in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec.
1, Butler on Dec. 6, Georgetown on Dec. 12, the tentative game against N.C.
State in Greensboro on Dec. 15, Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic in New York on Dec. 19 and The Citadel on Dec.
- The January schedule currently includes a game against No.
5 Illinois in Nashville, Tenn., on Jan. 30.
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