Sorry, but we're not sorry about continuing to cover Matt Able giving North Carolina the news that everyone was waiting for. With Able recently pulling his name out of the NBA Draft, his potential for next season is through the roof in the ACC. And he'll be making a splash in the right jersey this time around.
UNC's lineup with Alexandros Samodurov will get Michael Malone Top 25 respect
How so? As you all know, Able spent his freshman season with Will Wade at NC State. Now, though, he's making the move to Chapel Hill to don Carolina blue. It's something he's quite excited about, which he made more than clear in his recent social media post confirming he's gonna be a Heel. Yup, Wolfpack supporters won't like this:
Simple but effective caption. A+ pic.twitter.com/ZJHev36T4N
— UNC Zone (@unc_zone) May 28, 2026
Matt Able is ready to make noise with the 'other side' at North Carolina
If you love NC State, look away. Actually, scratch that, go ahead and put on your reading glasses and give things a close look. Yup, Able has made the right choice to play for the best college hoops team in the state, as Michael Malone is going to do everything he can to make him a first-round pick.
In recent weeks, Able was flirting with the idea of staying in the NBA Draft despite getting second-round grades left and right. His showing at the NBA Combine only provided the UNC faithful with more concern that maybe, just maybe he was never going to make his way to campus. Instead, the opposite turned out to be true.
Able's arrival has only been made better with Alexandros Samodurov committing to Malone as well. The international center will instantly become a key starter for this group and the thought of Able feeding him the rock down in the low post sure is fun to think about. Those two will be studs for the Heels, along with fellow projected starters Terrence Brown, Jarin Stevenson and Neoklis Avdalas.
With Able in particular, there's buzz that he could end up being UNC's best player next year, as he's going to want to help skyrocket his NBA Draft stock. It's easy to forget that he was a former 5-star prospect, but he'll be quick to remind people of that once he makes his Carolina debut.
It has taken a little while for Malone to finalize his starting five for UNC, but goodness, the future sure is looking bright for the 2026-27 campaign. Able is going to have some massive expectations placed on him and UNC fans are going to follow him closely. As will plenty of people over in Raleigh, as they'll be pretty bummed with each huge game Able records.
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