Thus far, the biggest portal target to make his way to Chapel Hill to meet with UNC and Michael Malone has no question been Utah transfer Terrence Brown. After scoring nearly 20 points per game for Utah last season, the veteran guard is a wanted man, but he's also showing strong interest in the Heels.
Michael Malone is looking to land a talented transfer and stick it to NC State at the same time
However, UNC is not the only school who's giving Brown something serious to think about. While there was hope Brown would commit while at Carolina, he didn't and now he's all set to visit Kentucky later this week, with a trip to Kansas also on the books. From our chair, that's not a good thing at all for Malone and his new staff.
Expected visitors this week (confirmed by either me or @PolacheckKSR)
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) April 14, 2026
Alex Wilkins
Terrence Brown
Donnie Freeman
Jalen Cox
Magoon Gwath
Terrence Brown will visit Kansas and Kentucky fresh off his trip to North Carolina
Why is this concerning? Starting with Kentucky, we know that Mark Pope and the Wildcats are throwing around some serious NIL dough to prospects. With Pope essentially coaching for his job next year, he could get desperate enough to put an offer on the table that UNC won't be willing to match.
The positive here, though, is that rumors have been swirling that Kentucky's top targets in the portal haven't quite been buying into Pope's plans for the future. Will that be the case when Brown makes his way to campus too? The UNC faithful sure hopes so.
As for Kansas? Bill Self quickly cleared up retirement rumors, as he's all set to be back on the bench next season. The Jayhawks have also been aggressive in the portal, while also trying to lock up 5-star small forward Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 recruit for the 2026 class.
Interestingly enough, Self is trying to hold off Pope for Stokes, with things looking like a toss-up there. Both coaches are ready to make a recruiting splash over the next week or so and that includes bringing in Brown, ranked a 4-star transfer and the No. 8 combo guard in the country per 247Sports.
With Brown sharing some pretty special photos from his UNC trip on social media, it felt like it was only going to be a matter of time before he gave Malone the news he was hoping for. However, Kansas and Kentucky aren't ready to go down without a fight, which is not ideal.
The Tar Heels got on the portal board with Neoklis Avdalas, and several other guys are on 'commit watch' at this time. Brown is on that list, but UNC will have to do its best to make him realize the Heels will be a much better fit for him over the Jayhawks and Wildcats.
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