CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) – Entering the offseason, the University of North Carolina men’s basketball program experienced quite the transition period, as Hubert Davis and his coaching staff looked to revamp their team heading into next year.
UNC officially announced its roster for the 2025-26 season on Thursday, highlighted by six incoming transfers, three freshmen and one international player.
Returning players
Senior guard Seth Trimble returns as one of only five players to come back to suit up for the Tar Heels. He started over half of the UNC’s games last season, averaging 11.6 points and 5.0 rebounds while recording double figures in scoring on 24 occasions.
“I am very excited about this upcoming season and this year’s team, led by Seth Trimble,” said Davis, who’s entering his fifth season as head coach of his alma mater. “In college basketball’s current state, Carolina has been fortunate to have multiple accomplished veteran players choose to stay at UNC. Players like Leaky Black, Armando Bacot, RJ Davis, and now Seth Trimble are difference makers for us.”
“Going into the summer, we wanted to get bigger and more versatile to give us the ability to be better on both ends of the floor, and I believe we’ve done that,” he added.
Other notable returnees include sophomore forwards James Brown, Zayden High, and John Holbrook, as well as senior guard and Chapel Hill native Elijah Davis, who redshirted during the 2024-25 season after playing three years at Lynchburg.
Transfer portal additions
As for additions to the roster, six players are taking their talents to Chapel Hill through the transfer portal: Kyan Evans, Ivan Matlekovic, Jonathan Powell, Jarin Stevenson, Henri Veesaar and Jaydon Young.
Evans, a 6-2 junior guard who transferred from Colorado State, led the Mountain West Conference last season in true shooting percentage and earned All-MWC Tournament honors. He racked up 10.6 points and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 44.6% from three-point range and 85.2% from the charity stripe.
Matlekovic appeared in five games last year as a freshman at High Point University. Prior to his time in college, the 7-foot big man suited up for two seasons with HAKK Mladost Zagreb in the Prva Liga (Croatian Basketball League) and two seasons for the Cedevita Olimpia Ljubljana U18 team in Slovenia.
Powell averaged 8.3 points and 3.1 rebounds last season at West Virginia, scoring double-digit figures 15 times. He made 64 three-pointers over the course of the year, which includes hitting at least two shots from behind the three-point line in 19 games.
Stevenson played 74 games for Alabama over the past two seasons, helping his team advance to the 2024 Final Four. The Chapel Hill native compiled 5.4 points and 3.0 rebounds per game during his time with the Crimson Tide. The 6-foot-11 forward was also previously named the North Carolina High School Gatorade Player of the Year in 2023.
Veesaar spent three seasons at Arizona before transferring to UNC. The 7-foot-tall center from Estonia was a force in the paint last year for the Wildcats, averaging 9.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and shooting 59.2% from the floor en route to a Sweet 16 appearance. He finished with 13 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes of action against Duke.
Young, who’s a Goldsboro native, made 58 game appearances during his two-season tenure at Virginia Tech. The 6-foot-4 guard scored 8.1 points per game and shot 34.7% from three-point range as a sophomore.
International roster adds
On the international side, Luka Bogavac comes to Chapel Hill following a two-season stint in his native country of Montenegro, suiting up for SC Derby Podgorica in the AdmiralBet ABA League (Adriatic Basketball Association). He scored 14.9 points per contest in 29 games during the 2024-25 season, reaching double figures on 23 occasions with a career-high 27 points against Serbia’s Mega Basket.
Freshmen making the cut
The three incoming freshmen include guards Derek Dixon and Isaiah Denis, as well as McDonald’s All-American forward Caleb Wilson.
Dixon earned 2025 Gatorade Player of the Year honors in the District of Columbia, scoring 14.1 points and dishing out 2.6 assists per game as he led his high school to a state title.
Denis missed half of his senior season at Davidson Day School due to injury, but still managed to average 16.7 points in 19 games. He led his squad to the NCISAA 2A state championship in 2024.
Wilson, the 2025 Gatorade Player of the Year in Georgia, spearheaded his team to the 2025 private school state title. He racked up impressive numbers during his senior campaign with 21.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.
You can check out the entire roster and each player’s corresponding number below:
North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball 2025-26 roster
- Kyan Evans (No. 0)
- Zayden High (No. 1)
- James Brown (No. 2)
- Derek Dixon (No. 3)
- Jaydon Young (No. 4)
- Isaiah Denis (No. 5)
- Elijah Davis (No. 6)
- Seth Trimble (No. 7)
- Caleb Wilson (No. 8)
- Jonathan Powell (No. 11)
- Henri Veesaar (No. 13)
- Jarin Stevenson (No. 15)
- John Holbrook (No. 25)
- Evan Smith (No. 32)
- Ivan Matlekovic (No. 40)
- Luka Bogavac (No. 44)