During the 2024 offseason for Carolina Basketball, Hubert Davis more or less had one goal: find a big to replace at least 60% of the production that he lost in Armando Bacot. Once the transfer portal opened, name after name slipped through Davis’ fingers, and by the time the dust settled, he managed to land Ty Claude, Cade Tyson, and Ven-Allen Lubin, none of whom are true centers. Lubin was as close as you get to a big, and while he certainly can play the role of a four, he didn’t have any business playing center against a team like Duke, for instance. Needless to say, Hubert failed spectacularly in his mission.
While it’s clear that he didn’t get what he wanted out of the portal, did the players he acquired at least grade decently? Let’s discuss the grades for this year’s 2024-25 transfer class, but spoiler alert: they’re not great.
Cade Tyson
Where do I even start with this one?
The 6’7 Belmont transfer was recruited by Davis and his staff because he is a forward with some size that was a shooting specialist at his previous school. During his sophomore season with the Bruins, Tyson averaged 16.2 points per game, and drained 46.5% of his shots from deep. More and more with some of the guys Davis has gotten out of the portal we are learning that context is important, and boy was it important when it came to Tyson. While he had a good amount of success against the likes of Illinois State, Indiana State, and Bradley, it turns out that his game didn’t translate very well against Power Four opponents. Sound familiar? Looking at you, Paxson Wojcik.
During his first season with the Tar Heels, Tyson averaged 2.6 points per game, shot 40.3% from the field, and 29.2% from three. Beyond his poor shooting, Tyson at times just looked overwhelmed, unsettled, and downright lost. It’s not lost on me that his best games were against Lasalle and American University, and those were the only two games in which he scored in double figures. I honestly don’t know if he will stay or go this offseason, but what I do know is that if he does stay, it’s going to be really hard to find minutes for him if he doesn’t figure things out over the summer.
Final Grade: F
Ty Claude
Georgia Tech transfer Ty Claude was an interesting player to follow this year. It didn’t seem like Hubert Davis expected him to be a guy that gave him any specific form of production, but really just expected him to play hard. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, and for what it’s worth, that’s pretty much what Davis got out of him. His stat line would tell you that he basically did nothing — he finished his season averaging 1.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Perhaps that is true, but perhaps he didn’t need to do much of anything beyond not messing up?
There’s not a whole lot more to say about Claude, if I’m being honest with you. I was not hot or cold on him, and when he came into the game I usually shrugged and figured he’d give some solid minutes before making his exit. For that reason, I’d say his grade matches how I felt when I’d see him on the floor.
Final Grade: C-
Ven-Allen Lubin
Things got off to an interesting start for the Vanderbilt transfer — Hubert Davis started Jalen Washington and Jae’Lyn Withers in the front court, so Ven-Allen Lubin was usually one of the first guys off the bench. It’s for this reason that it didn’t seem like he did much near the beginning of the season, but really he gave quite a bit of production, he just didn’t take many shots at first. Why? I’m not entirely sure, but I do wish that he did.
As the season progressed, Lubin became more and more comfortable on the court for the Tar Heels, and by the time February came around he comfortable settled in his newfound starting role and regularly put up double digits in scoring every night. It was a blast watching him catch lobs from Elliot Cadeau, and his rim protection also became something of note in the postseason. I do think sticking Lubin at the five wasn’t ideal, and I’m sure anybody on the team would be happy to say the same thing. If Hubert Davis actually finds a true center to put next to Lubin — assuming that he doesn’t transfer, of course — I think he’s going to have a really good 2025-26 season.
Final Grade: B
Overall Grade
I know that all of these guys were previously graded by my fellow writers here at THB, but the point of this exercise was to specifically focus on grading UNC’s transfer class as a whole. If I were to grade them based on what Davis should’ve gotten out of the portal, then the only thing keeping me from failing the entire class is the fact that Lubin was a key part of UNC’s late season recovery that eventually led to them making the NCAA Tournament. If
I’m being fair, however, and I’m averaging all three grades together, it’s a little bit of a different story. I will admit that Claude was the hard one to grade, mostly because I think my expectations more or less met reality. I do think if UNC repeats this transfer portal situation that someone’s job should probably be in danger. There’s no bones about it: Lubin carried this group, and honestly if he wasn’t around, this would’ve been an easy fail.
Final Grade: D+
