University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Peyton Williams
Men's Basketball Announces 2026-27 Roster
August 21, 2026 | Men's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Carolina's 2026-27 men's basketball roster includes five returning players from last season and 11 newcomers, including four freshmen, six college transfers and one other international.
Seniors Jarin Stevenson, Jaydon Young and Evan Smith, junior John Holbrook and sophomore Isaiah Denis played for UNC last season, when the Tar Heels went 24-9, tied for fourth in the ACC and were a No. 6 seed in the NCAA South Region.
First-year head coach Michael Malone inked transfers from across the college basketball landscape – graduate students Angelo Brizzi from Buffalo and Cameron Fens from South Dakota, senior Terrence Brown from Utah and sophomores Matt Able from NC State, Neo Avdalas from Virginia Tech and Cade Bennerman, who red-shirted last year at Northwestern.
Alexandros Samodurov enters Carolina as a junior after playing for Panathinaikos in Athens, Greece.
The four freshmen include Maximo Adams (Los Angeles), Sayon Keita (Mali), Malloy Smith (Encino, Calif.) and Kevin Thomas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Keita played U18 for FC Barcelona in Spain.
Avdalas (Athens) and Samodurov (Evosmos) are the first Tar Heels from Greece, while Keita is the second from Africa, the first since Makhtar Ndiaye, a native of Senegal who played at UNC from 1996-98. They will increase the total of international Tar Heels all-time to 18.
Carolina opens the preseason on October 9 vs. Southern California at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro.
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Jersey Number Notes
• Denis switched from No. 5, which he wore as a freshman, to No. 2.
• Holbrook will not only be the first Tar Heel to wear No. 99, he will be the first to ever wear a number higher than 55. Four Tar Heels previously wore No. 55 – Matt Wenstrom, Wade Moody, Christian Keeling and Harrison Ingram.
• Malloy Smith is the third member of his family to wear No. 30. His dad, Kenny, was an All-America and record-setting point guard for head coach Dean Smith in the mid-1980s, and his brother, K.J., played for Roy Williams from 2017-21.
• Avdalas is the first to don No. 17 since Bill White, who wore 17 at home in 1949-50.
• Fens is the fifth to wear No. 54 and the first since Vasco Evtimov, who wore 54 as a freshman in 1996-97.
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Seniors Jarin Stevenson, Jaydon Young and Evan Smith, junior John Holbrook and sophomore Isaiah Denis played for UNC last season, when the Tar Heels went 24-9, tied for fourth in the ACC and were a No. 6 seed in the NCAA South Region.
First-year head coach Michael Malone inked transfers from across the college basketball landscape – graduate students Angelo Brizzi from Buffalo and Cameron Fens from South Dakota, senior Terrence Brown from Utah and sophomores Matt Able from NC State, Neo Avdalas from Virginia Tech and Cade Bennerman, who red-shirted last year at Northwestern.
Alexandros Samodurov enters Carolina as a junior after playing for Panathinaikos in Athens, Greece.
The four freshmen include Maximo Adams (Los Angeles), Sayon Keita (Mali), Malloy Smith (Encino, Calif.) and Kevin Thomas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Keita played U18 for FC Barcelona in Spain.
Avdalas (Athens) and Samodurov (Evosmos) are the first Tar Heels from Greece, while Keita is the second from Africa, the first since Makhtar Ndiaye, a native of Senegal who played at UNC from 1996-98. They will increase the total of international Tar Heels all-time to 18.
Carolina opens the preseason on October 9 vs. Southern California at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro.
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Jersey Number Notes
• Denis switched from No. 5, which he wore as a freshman, to No. 2.
• Holbrook will not only be the first Tar Heel to wear No. 99, he will be the first to ever wear a number higher than 55. Four Tar Heels previously wore No. 55 – Matt Wenstrom, Wade Moody, Christian Keeling and Harrison Ingram.
• Malloy Smith is the third member of his family to wear No. 30. His dad, Kenny, was an All-America and record-setting point guard for head coach Dean Smith in the mid-1980s, and his brother, K.J., played for Roy Williams from 2017-21.
• Avdalas is the first to don No. 17 since Bill White, who wore 17 at home in 1949-50.
• Fens is the fifth to wear No. 54 and the first since Vasco Evtimov, who wore 54 as a freshman in 1996-97.
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The squad is set đź”’ pic.twitter.com/oQ3cJfS4iH
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) August 21, 2026
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/ Men's BasketballFriday, August 21
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