The 2024–25 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by coach Hubert Davis in his fourth season as UNC's head coach, and is assisted by Jeff Lebo, Sean May, and Brad Frederick. The Tar Heels played their home games at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
The Tar Heels began the season ranked ninth in the AP poll and defeated Elon 90–76, before traveling to Kansas to face first-ranked Kansas. The Tar Heels fell 92–89 and fell one spot to tenth in the polls. Two wins before the Thanksgiving tournament was not enough to see the Tar Heels hold on to their tenth spot in the rankings as the fell to twelfth. They traveled to Lahaina to participate in the Maui Invitational. They defeated Dayton in the quarterfinals before losing to fourth-ranked Auburn in the semifinals and Michigan State, in overtime to finish in fourth place. The Tar Heels fell to twentieth in the polls before facing tenth-ranked Alabama in the ACC–SEC Challenge. They lost 94–79 at home before defeating Georgia Tech in their ACC opener. The win wasn't enough to see the Tar Heels stay ranked, as they dropped out of the polls for the first time in the season.
The Tar Heels went 1–1 against the next ranked teams they faced, losing to seventh-ranked Florida in Charlotte in the Jumpman Invitational. They defeated eighteenth-ranked UCLA at Madison Square Garden in the CBS Sports Classic. The Tar Heels opened 2025 with a loss to Louisville before winning their next four games, which included a 63–61 victory over rival NC State. The Tar Heels went 1–4 in their next five games, with the only win coming in overtime against Boston College. They lost to rivals Wake Forest and their rival and second-ranked Duke over this stretch. However, their form improved after this stretch as the won seven of their next eight games. The only loss was against twenty third-ranked Clemson. Notable wins included a one point win over Pittsburgh, a six-point win over Syracuse and a second victory over NC State. The team concluded the regular season with a 82–69 loss to second-ranked rival Duke.
The Tar Heels finished the regular season 20–12 and 13–7 in ACC play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place. As the fifth seed in the 2025 ACC tournament earned a bye into Second Round where they defeated twelfth seed Notre Dame. In the Quarterfinals they avenged a regular season loss to rivals Wake Forest, 68–59. In the Semifinals they faced rivals Duke for a third time this season. Duke was the first seed, and first ranked team in the nation. The Tar Heels lost for a third time this season to Duke 74–71. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels were an eleven-seed and placed in the First Four in the South region. There they defeated San Diego State 95–68 to advance to the full tournament. They were defeated in the First Round by six-seed Ole Miss. They finished with an overall record of 23–14.
The North Carolina Tar Heels drew an average home attendance of 20,521, the highest of all basketball teams in the world.https://www.espn.com/nba/attendance/_/year/2025/sort/homeTotalhttps://stats.ncaa.org/rankings/change_sport_year_div
Previous season
The Tar Heels finished the season 29–8 and 17–3 in ACC play to finish as regular season champions. As the first seed in the ACC tournament, they earned a bye to the Quarterfinals, where they defeated ninth seed Florida State. They defeated Pittsburgh in the Semifinals but could not overcome NC State for a third time in the season in the Final. They lost 84–76 to finish as runner-up. They earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and were placed as a first seed in the West region. They defeated sixteenth seed Wagner in the First Round, and ninth seed Michigan State in the Second Round before falling to fourth seed Alabama in the Sweet Sixteen to end their season.
Offseason
Departures
North Carolina Departures Cormac Ryan 3 G 6'5" 195 New York, New York Graduated Armando Bacot 5 F/C 6'11" 240 Richmond, Virginia Graduated Paxson Wojcik 8 G 6'5" 195 Charleston, South Carolina Graduated Creighton Lebo 14 G 6'1" 180 Greenville, North Carolina Graduated Rob Landry 22 G 6'4" 190 Greensboro, North Carolina Graduated James Okonkwo 32 F 6'8" 240 Maidenhead, England Transferred to Akron Duwe Farris 34 F 6'7" 210 Charlotte, North Carolina Graduated Harrison Ingram 55 F 6'7" 225 Dallas, Texas Drafted 48th overallin the 2024 NBA draft
Additions Incoming transfers Incoming transfers Cade Tyson 5 G/F 6'7" 205 Junior Monroe, North Carolina Belmont Ven-Allen Lubin 22 F 6'8" 225 Junior Orlando, Florida Vanderbilt Tyzhaun Claude 0 F 6’7" 226 Graduate Goldsboro, North Carolina Georgia Tech
Recruiting class
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=""| Regular Season
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Rankings
References