It has been hit-and-miss for most of the transfer portal in the first week and a half that it has been open. The North Carolina Tar Heels secured their first player with a commitment from West Virginia freshman sharpshooter Jonathan Powell earlier this week. Now, the Tar Heels add a much-needed big man to the list in former Arizona center Henri Veesaar.
The 7-foot-0 center visited Chapel Hill earlier this week. He is the No. 2 ranked center in the portal, according to 247Sports. He has a .9500 ranking, putting him in four-star transfer territory.
Last season in his second collegiate year, Veesaar averaged 9.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game in just five starts. He played in 37 total games, averaging 20.8 minutes per game for the Wildcats.
A big man who can both score and protect the rim was a big blunder of Hubert Davis’s team over the last season. Ven-Allen Lubin came on late, but it took him half the season to get to a place where he was averaging more than five rebounds per game. No one on the team averaged more than a block per game either, making the team’s rim defense mediocre at best.
BREAKING: Arizona transfer Henri Veesaar has committed to North Carolina. The 7-foot Estonian is one of the best available big men in the portal. Important frontcourt addition for Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels.
Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 4, 2025
He will immediately make his presence known on the court alongside five-star incoming freshman Caleb Wilson, another highly-touted big man.
North Carolina is still working on the portal as Hubert Davis and Jim Tanner have continuously been reaching out to players looking for a new home to improve the roster for the 2025-2026 season and get UNC basketball back to a position of dominance. However, it is nice to be on the right side of a transfer decision with such an important piece.
