UNC Loses Two Crucial Players for Mike Malone's First Season
What started out as a pretty exciting day for Mike Malone and UNC quickly turned sour with two crushing departures. Malone's tenure had been good so far, with a couple of transfer wins coming in on Monday. Then, things turned sour with two crushing blows to the potential roster for 2026-27.
Caleb Wilson leaves UNC
Caleb Wilson is officially heading to the NBA draft. This is not at all surprising, but it does still represent a major loss. Wilson was one of the best players in the sport, a true game-changing talent that was often able to carry what was otherwise a lackluster UNC squad in 2025-26.
He was always considered a one-and-done, and so this doesn't come as a shock. He's going to be drafted no worse than fourth in the NBA draft, and he has an outside shot of moving into the top three after the combine and the lottery.
"I am grateful for the opportunity I had to represent North Carolina," Wilson said. "Wearing No. 8, running out of that historic tunnel every day for practice and games, and I'm happy to say every day I gave it my all."
This does come after a recent social media miscue that gave fans hope. Wilson posted and then immediately deleted a post with Leonardo DiCaprio's infamous "not f*****g leaving" quote from The Wolf of Wall Street. It's unclear if that was an accident or if he was hacked, but he is indeed "f*****g leaving."
Dylan Mingo decommits
Before Wilson's unsurprising departure, Dylan Mingo also threw a wrench into the plans. He was the headliner of a pretty good recruiting class by the now-fired Hubert Davis. The number eight overall recruit, the five-star guard chose the Tar Heels over Baylor, Penn State, and Washington. Now, he's going to reconsider his decision.
It is uncommon but not unheard of for players to decommit and then commit again, although it's unlikely that is going to happen here. If Davis recruited Mingo and the two formed a bond, then Davis' firing certainly didn't sit well with Mingo, and his decommitment seems to indicate as much.
Mingo's brother, Kayden, is in the transfer portal after averaging over 14 points for Penn State. This likely means neither Mingo will suit up for the Tar Heels, and they could end up going to the same school to reunite and play together.
"I feel like from Day 1, my role will be a player who impacts winning in every aspect," Mingo said when he committed. "Honestly, I am just a person who will give it his all to win a national championship." Now, he'll be bringing that energy to another school, though it's totally unclear which one.
Some wins
It hasn't been all bad for UNC and Mike Malone, though. They did get Mingo's fellow five-star recruit Maximo Adams to stick around. He was ranked number 21 in the class, so that's a pretty big win, even if Mingo is the slightly bigger fish.
On Monday, though, the Heels had some wins in the transfer portal, too. They did lose point guard Derek Dixon to Arizona (taking the Caleb Love path from Chapel Hill to Tucson) and shooting guard Jonathan Powell to Pitt. However, they retained Jaydon Young and landed four-star Neoklis Avdalas, who averaged double figures for Virginia Tech.
They could also keep Luka Bogovac. Initially, the guard who played one season for the Tar Heels had planned to skip the transfer portal. He later opted to enter, but there is still a good chance his initial hesitancy brings him back to Chapel Hill despite the coaching change.
Otherwise, James Brown, Zayden High, Isaiah Denis, and Kyan Evans are still in the portal.
