UNC Basketball face off against Big 12 school in exhibition game
Thanks to another strong incoming high school recruiting class, combined with a significantly-improved transfer portal class, the UNC basketball team has a strong outlook heading into its 2025-2026 season.
The crown jewel of North Carolina's 2025 recruiting class is 5-star power forward Caleb Wilson, who committed to Hubert Davis' program in January. Lacking height on their roster last year, the Tar Heels snagged a pair of tall, talented post players in Henri Veesaar and Chapel Hill native Jarin Stevenson.
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We also know a little bit about UNC's schedule, with a few non-conference matchups released for this fall. North Carolina will play both St. Bonaventure and Michigan State in the Fort Myers (Fla.) Tip-Off during Thanksgiving Week, travel to Kentucky for the ACC-SEC Challenge on December 2, then travel to Atlanta (Ga.) for a CBS Sports Classic matchup with Ohio State.
On Friday afternoon, the Tar Heels released another teaser for their 2025-2026 schedule: an October 24 exhibition game in Salt Lake City, Utah against the BYU Cougars.
BYU, which is coming off a Sweet 16 appearance in March, should be one of the top teams across college basketball this coming season. The Cougars fared well in the transfer portal themselves, but their top roster highlight will be AJ Dybantsa. Ranked the Class of 2025's top recruit, Dybantsa chose BYU over UNC during his recruiting cycle.
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This is the second-consecutive season North Carolina will open its season with a high-profile exhibition matchup. The Tar Heels traveled to face the Memphis Tigers on October 15, 2024, a 84-76 victory highlighted by Seth Trimble's 33-point outburst.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC basketball to open season with exhibition against AJ Dybantsa, BYU
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