UNC Basketball Reaches out to transfer Nick Timberlake

UNC Basketball has reached out to former Towson guard, Nicolas Timberlake who entered the transfer portal this week. 

As UNC basketball’s season came to an end last Sunday night, the focus amongst coaches, players, and fans alike turned to the 2023-2024 season. The transfer portal opened at midnight, and players across the country began entering.

As first reported by Jake Weingarten, the founder of Stockrisers, North Carolina was one of several schools to reach out to Nick Timberlake.

With the recent announcements of Tyler Nickel, Justin McKoy, and Dontrez Styles all entering the transfer portal, the UNC basketball program has four open scholarships for the 2023-2024 season. If Armando Bacot opts to use his 5th year of eligibility (aka COVID year), then there will be three remaining scholarships for next year’s team.

Nick Timberlake has played five seasons at Towson and has received attention from several power 5 programs across the country since entering the transfer portal. Not only would Timberlake bring several years of experience to a program, but a guard who has developed and gotten better every single season in his collegiate career.

Timberlake’s freshman season was cut short after just nine games due to a fracture in his foot and he received a medical redshirt. In his sophomore and junior seasons, he combined to shoot 58-180 (32.2%) from 3-point range. In his senior year, he attempted more 3’s than those two years combined and improved significantly, going 78-192 (40.6%) from beyond the arc. In his fifth season, he improved once again while attempting more shots, hitting 92-221 at a 41.6% rate good for 19th in the country. He averaged 17.7 points per game in his final season at Towson.

For a program like North Carolina, Timberlake can be a huge addition with his production. It was apparent that when the shots were falling for the Tar Heels, they could win games and beat anyone in the country. The problem was, being consistent; more often than not, they weren’t. UNC shot 31.2% as a team from beyond the arc in 2022-2023.

Hubert Davis’ offense needs a reliable 3-point shooter, or multiple, (like we saw in 2021-2022 with Brady Manek) and Timberlake could have that impact. We’ll continue to track his recruitment as more information becomes available.

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