UNC basketball tabbed a way-too-early top 25 team by 247Sports
We're not even a week removed from Florida's comeback against Houston in the National Championship game, but people are already talking about the 2025-2026 college basketball season.
Some of that chatter features your North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC is still searching for its starting point guard through the transfer portal, contacting the likes of Xaivion Lee and Tre Holloman. Seth Trimble is returning for senior year, a major boost to a North Carolina squad with unproven leadership, while Caleb Wilson's pending arrival and Henri Veesaar's commitment give the Tar Heels a suddenly-lethal frontcourt.
Part of preseason predictions feature Way-Too-Early rankings, but teams rarely finish in the spots media outlets predict them in.
247Sports has UNC ranked 23rd in its Way-Too-early Top 25 for the 2025-2026 season. Check out the reasons why North Carolina landed the ranking it did:
"North Carolina's top-five of Seth Trimble, Drake Powell, Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar and Ven-Allen Lubin can coalesce into one of the best teams in the ACC," Isaac Trotter wrote. "The Veesaar addition is enormous — literally and figuratively — but losing Ian Jackson to the transfer portal on Monday is a blow. UNC has a lot of moves left on the docket and the pressure is on to find a difference-making guard who can pass, dribble and shoot."
Lubin is a key piece of the Tar Heels' roster puzzle, who doesn't get enough credit for his late-season ascension into the starting lineup. After flip-flopping with Jalen Washington at center, Lubin's consistent productivity made him a starter from February on.
As Trotter says above, once UNC lands a starting point guard for its upcoming season, the roster picture looks a lot more clear. Combo guards Derek Dixon and Isaiah Denis are highly-anticipated arrivals, but you want them to have help.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
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