UNC Basketball: Coveted transfer leaning toward Tar Heels?

Is the UNC basketball program nearing a commitment from one of the top transfer players in the country?

The UNC basketball program is looking to capitalize yet again this offseason on the NCAA transfer market with one of the best available players in the nation.

The ink had barely dried on first-year UNC head coach Hubert Davis’ contract when he reeled in former Virginia Cavaliers forward and redshirt sophomore Justin McKoy. Not only does McKoy bring with him three years of college eligibility, but he also adds versatility to a UNC squad that lacked it last season, as well as size to a front court that quickly went from the nation’s biggest and deepest to basically just Armando Bacot.

Then came the commitment from former Oklahoma Sooners forward Brady Manek, a four-year starter in the ultra-competitive Big 12 Conference that offers great size and perimeter shooting ability to the Tar Heels in 2021. While McKoy is unlikely to be in the Tar Heels’ starting lineup this season, Manek should be there from day one. At 6-feet-9-inches tall and 230 pounds, Manek is a big-bodied hybrid that has connected on better than 37 percent of his three-point attempts over the past four seasons, while never averaging fewer than five rebounds per game in that time.

But maybe the biggest addition of all for the new-look Tar Heels is the one that hasn’t happened yet. Just a day after withdrawing from the NBA Draft and following a visit to Chapel Hill last week, it’s looking more and more like former fringe 5-star recruit and UNC target Dawson Garcia is leaning toward a commitment to the Tar Heels. Speculation abounds regarding Garcia’s next move — including a very straight-forward tweet from Stadium’s Jeff Goodman on Thursday morning — and an announcement could be coming as soon as today.

Garcia, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound power forward that’s ranked 13th in the nation among players in the NCAA transfer portal by ESPN, had North Carolina among his top seven schools in late 2019 before he ultimately committed to Marquette. It’s worth noting that Garcia’s decision not to attend UNC was likely impacted by Walker Kessler’s commitment to the Tar Heels. With Kessler now gone — he transferred to Auburn following the 2020-21 season — and only one sure-fire starter (Bacot) in the UNC front court, Garcia is giving the Tar Heels a long, hard look the second time around.

Davis and the Tar Heels would certainly prefer to have Garcia on their side this season, particularly after he dropped 24 points and 11 rebounds on them in the Golden Eagles’ upset victory at the Smith Center in February. The addition of Garcia would likely shake up North Carolina’s starting lineup, as a player with that much talent and that much size simply can’t be left on the UNC bench as a reserve, especially after the Tar Heels’ front court mass exodus that saw Garrison Brooks, Walker Kessler, Day’Ron Sharpe, Sterling Manley and Walker Miller leave Chapel Hill this past spring.

We’ll continue to monitor any changes in the situation throughout the day, as well as all the latest on the UNC basketball program right here at Keeping It Heel.