There is officially less than one month until the college basketball season tips off, that means it’s time for another block of conference opponent previews for the Orange.
If you missed the first two parts go check them out if you would like to see: Boston College, California, Clemson, Duke (part one), Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, and Louisville (part two). Let’s dive straight into it.
North Carolina Tar Heels
2025-26 record: 24-9 (12-6, 4th in conference)
Incoming Transfers: Angelo Brizzi (Gr. G from Buffalo), Cameron
Fens (5th year C from South Dakota), Terrence Brown (Sr. G from Utah), Alex Samodurov (Jr. F from Greece), Matt Able (So. G from NC State), Neoklis Avdalas (So. G from Virginia Tech), Cade Bennerman (RS-Fr. C from Northwestern)
Incoming Freshmen: Sayon Keita (five-star C), Maximo Adams (four-star F), Kevin Thomas (four-star F), Malloy Smith (three-star G)
Departures: Caleb Wilson (19.8 PPG), Henri Veesar (17.0 PPG), Luka Bogavac (9.8 PPG), Derek Dixon (6.5 PPG), Jonathan Powell (4.8 PPG), Kyan Evans (4.0 PPG), Zayden High (3.4 PPG), James Brown (1.2 PPG), Ivan Matlekovic (0.5 PPG)
Returners: Jarin Stevenson (8.1 PPG), Isaiah Denis (1.9 PPG), Jaydon Young (1.8 PPG)
Player to look out for: Neoklis Avdalas. Michael Malone is bringing his NBA champion level coaching to the college level with the Tar Heels, and Neoklis Avdalas is going to be a real talent under him. Avdalas showed lots of promise in his freshman year with Virginia Tech, so he already has the ACC experience. Going to North Carolina will give him more spotlight and he will be a dominant player this season.
Cameron Fens is in the 5-in-5 case in Nashville, Tennessee (Ineligible as of 8/26/26)
NC State Wolfpack
2025-26 record: 20-14 (10-8, 7th in conference)
Incoming Transfers: Kyle Evans (Gr. F from UC Irvine), RJ Keene II (Gr. G from Boise State), Shah Hall (Sr. F from JUCO Hillcrest), Robert Jurkovic (Sr. F from Slovenia), Comeh Emuobor (Sr. F from New Hampshire), Eemeli Yalaho (Sr. F from Washington State), Christian Hammond (Sr. G from Santa Clara), Darius Adams (So. G from Maryland), Jacari Brim (So. G from Appalachian State), Preston Edmead (So. G from Hofstra),
Incoming Freshmen: Kingston Whitty (four-star G)
Departures: Darrion Williams (14.0 PPG), Quadir Copeland (13.9 PPG), Tre Holloman (9.2 PPG), Matt Able (8.8 PPG), Jerry Deng (6.1 PPG), Alyn Breed (4.5 PPG), Terrence Arceneaux (3.8 PPG), Musa Sagnia (2.3 PPG), Scottie Ebube (1.1 PPG), Colt Langdon (0.3 PPG), Cole Cloer (redshirt), Jayme Kontuniemi (redshirt)
Returners: Paul McNeil Jr. (13.8 PPG), Zymicah Wilkins (redshirt)
Player to look out for: Christian Hammond. NC State fell victim to Will Wade leaving them after one year for a better job, so Justin Gainey has come in to pick up the pieces. Christian Hammond is one of the main pieces for the Wolfpack this season, coming from the mid-major level he will look to translate his efficient shooting to higher levels. He is an overall 40% shooter from the three point line, and a near 50% shooter overall. That kind of efficiency will be a key piece of year one under Gainey.
Ven-Allen Lubin is in the 5-in-5 case in McLennan County, Texas (Eligible as of 9/21/26)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
2025-26 record: 13-18 (4-14, 16th in conference)
Incoming Transfers: Logan Duncomb (Gr. C from Winthrop), Yoro Diallo (Gr. F from D-II UVA Wise), Braeden Smith (Gr. G from Gonzaga), Ethan Roberts (RS-Sr. G/F from Penn), Bryce Dortch (Jr. F from Rutgers), Devin Brown (So. G from Davidson)
Incoming Freshmen: Jonathan Sanderson (four-star G), Gan-Erdene Solongo (four-star C), Nick Shrewsberry (three-star G)
Departures: Markus Burton (18.5 PPG), Jalen Haralson (16.2 PPG), Cole Certa (12.8 PPG), Carson Towt (5.9 PPG), Sir Mohammed (5.7 PPG), Garrett Sundra (3.5 PPG), Ryder Frost (2.7 PPG), Kebba Njie (2.5 PPG), Matthew MacLellan (1.9 PPG)
Returners: Braeden Shrewsberry (11.9 PPG), Brady Koehler (5.6 PPG), Logan Imes (4.7 PPG), Tommy Ahneman (redshirt)
Player to look out for: Braeden Shrewsberry. He has building and building under his dad the past three years, and now in his senior year Shrewsberry will give it his best. He is the most talented player on this roster after the Fighting Irish lost their top three scorers in the offseason, so Braeden Shrewsberry will be given all the opportunities to step up and be the main man for Notre Dame and his father.
Pittsburgh Panthers
2025-26 record: 13-20 (5-13, 15th in conference)
Incoming Transfers: A’lahn Sumler (RS-Sr. G from Charleston Southern), Baye Ndongo (Sr. F from Georgia Tech), Akir Souare (Sr. F from Syracuse), Armani Mighty (Sr. C from Mercer), Naithan George (Sr. G from Syracuse), Kraig Gilbert (Jr. F from D-II Concord), Jalil Bethea (Jr. G from Alabama), Jonathan Powell (Jr. G/F from North Carolina), Dominique Diomande (Jr. F from BYU), Colin Hawkins (Jr. G from Gardner-Webb), Timofei Rudovskii (So. F from Bryant)
Incoming Freshmen: Chase Foster (four-star F), Jermal Jones (three-star G)
Departures: Cameron Corhen (13.6 PPG), Barry Dunning Jr. (12.5 PPG), Brandin Cummings (12.5 PPG), Roman Siulepa (10.0 PPG), Nojus Indrusaitis (9.1 PPG), Damarco Minor (8.5 PPG), Omari Witherspoon (7.5 PPG), Papa Amadou Kante (2.8 PPG), Kieran Mullen (0.8 PPG)
Returners: Macari Moore (1.4 PPG)
Player to look out for: A’lahn Sumler. A lot of the Pittsburgh roster this year comes from the mid-major level, with Sumler leading the charge. He is a high volume scorer that puts up numbers every night he takes the floor. Having this kind of scoring is always something a team looks for, and the Panthers have their guy when it comes to the fifth year guard.
