UNC Basketball: Tar Heels should take a flier on high-scoring transfer

There’s going to be some turnover within the UNC basketball program and taking a flier on a high-scoring transfer player might not be a bad idea.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are in the midst of an NCAA Tournament run that’s been as impressive as it is improbable, using a late-season surge to make it all the way to their first Final Four in five seasons.

And while the Tar Heels’ upcoming game against Duke is of the utmost importance and currently their primary concern, they’re still keeping tabs on recruiting and the rapidly growing NCAA transfer portal.

They’ve already reached out to one player that recently entered his name into the transfer portal and they’ll be doing the same with a number of others in the coming weeks. One player that they should reach out to is Tanner Holden, a 6-foot-6, 185-pound shooting guard that announced his intent to leave Wright State on Tuesday afternoon.

Holden averaged 20.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game as a junior and was a key contributor to his team’s 21-win season and first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018. He put together a sensational 37-point, 11-rebound performance against Bryant in the NCAA Tournament’s play-in round, showcasing to the college basketball world exactly what he’s capable of.

Holden hasn’t been as accurate of a shooter in the two years since his freshman season but he still shot nearly 50 percent this year despite attempting almost 14 shots per game. He’s converted better than 79 percent of his free throw attempts over the last two seasons and shown an ability to extend his game out past the three-point line.

He might not get as many minutes in a UNC uniform as he did at Wright State this season (35.3) but with the size and length he has at his position, as well as a proven ability to score the basketball, he could prove to be a key contributor for a North Carolina unit that will be without current offensive savant Brady Manek, at a minimum.

We’ll continue to keep an eye on the Tar Heels’ activity in the transfer market, as it’s bound to start heating up over the next week.

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