North Carolina’s new look will draw plenty of attention when the season tips off, but one number already points to a possible issue: the Tar Heels may not have a proven three-point answer.
Last season, UNC shot 34.2 percent from deep, a mark that landed it around the middle of the pack - or a little below it - among Division I teams. That’s not a disaster, but it also isn’t the kind of efficiency that makes a team dangerous from the outside.
The bigger question now is whether the new roster can push that number up. Right now, the early signs are mixed at best.
Isaiah Denis finished as the team’s top three-point shooter in 2025-2026 at 50 percent, but that came on just 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. On a more meaningful sample, Henri Veesaar led the way at 42.6 percent, hitting 40 of 94 attempts. For a center to top the team in that category, though, it’s not exactly the cleanest sign of perimeter firepower.
The incoming group doesn’t offer much immediate relief. Terrence Brown, who transferred in from Utah, shot 32.7 percent from three.
Matt Able, arriving from NC State, shot 35.5 percent. Neoklis Avdalas checked in at 31.4 percent.
Those numbers sit at or below what UNC already produced last season, which makes a major jump look unlikely on paper.
The best three-point mark among the newcomers belongs to former Buffalo guard Angelo Brizzi at 37.3 percent. Even then, it’s not the kind of number that screams transformation.
That said, three-point volume and three-point success don’t always tell the whole story. SMU and NC State were among the country’s best from deep last season and still didn’t get past the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Arizona, meanwhile, reached major success while taking the third-lowest share of its shots from beyond the arc.
So if Michael Malone leans into what this roster does best, North Carolina may not need to become a three-point machine. But if his offense can manufacture more catch-and-shoot looks, there’s at least a path for those percentages to climb.
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