North Carolina’s last open roster spot is coming into focus, and the name sitting at the center of it now is Angelo Brizzi.
UNC head coach Michael Malone still has one place left to fill for the 2026-27 roster, and for a while the conversation appeared to be split between two guards: Wei Lin and Brizzi. But according to Sherrell McMillan of Inside Carolina, the staff has moved on from Lin, an Oregon transfer, after having initial interest.
That has pushed Brizzi to the front of the line. He visited Chapel Hill in mid-June to meet with Malone, and McMillan said the trip went well.
The only wrinkle is timing. Brizzi is not in a hurry to lock in his next stop, and he’s still sorting through what makes the most sense for his final season of college basketball.
“Brizzi got his waiver a couple of days after they decided to kind of move on from Lin,” McMillan said. “I think he's got some people who like Carolina in his corner. He's from the region relatively, and there was some interest in him in high school, and then from his side at least multiple times during his college career as he's transferred from Villanova to Davidson, to Longwood, to Buffalo.”
McMillan also said Brizzi is weighing the usual mix of factors, including playing time and NIL, while he figures out where he wants to land. Gonzaga has also been mentioned as a contender, with Mark Few in the mix as another coach trying to make a move.
Brizzi would bring experience and versatility to the table. The 6-3, 195-pound guard started his college run at Villanova in 2022-23, where he averaged two points per game. He then spent a season at Davidson before moving on to Longwood, and last year he played for Buffalo.
His production took a jump in 2025-26, when he posted a career-best 14.5 points per game, hit 48 percent of his shots and knocked down 37 percent from 3-point range. He was originally expected to be out of eligibility after that season, but a hardship waiver changed the picture after he played only nine games as a true freshman at Villanova.
That waiver has opened the door for one more college year, and UNC is clearly in the mix. If Malone can close, Brizzi would give the Tar Heels a veteran backup behind Terrence Brown - a late-offseason addition that would land as a real win.
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For Carolina fans, it is a small but familiar detail that makes the transition feel a little less distant. Wilsons lone season in Chapel Hill ended early because of injury, but the number on his back will still look the part when he steps on an NBA floor. Veesaar, meanwhile, is continuing the number he carried through both Arizona and North Carolina, another reminder that even as the roster turns over, some Tar Heel connections travel well beyond college. [Read more 🡒]