UNC Basketball Starter Transferring After NCAA Tournament Loss
03/25/2025 05:05 PM
North Carolina may need a new starting point guard next season.
According to On3's Pete Nakos and multiple reports, Elliot Cadeau entered the transfer portal on Tuesday. The sophomore designated a "do not contact" tag
Cadeau joined UNC in 2023 as a five-star recruit. The 6-foot-1 guard from West Orange, New Jersey, started 68 of 74 games over two seasons with the Tar Heels.
This season, Cadeau averaged 9.4 points per game on a 44.5 field-goal percentage with a team-high 6.2 assists. He started all 37 games and played the second-most minutes (1,029) behind fellow guard RJ Davis.
On March 14, Cadeau tallied 15 points, five assists, and two steals in UNC's 74-71 loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals. He distributed 12 assists in a play-in victory over San Diego State before registering eight dimes and four steals in Friday's first-round loss to Ole Miss.
A year after going to the Sweet 16 as a No. 1 seed, North Carolina narrowly made the NCAA tournament's 68-team bracket. The Tar Heels went 23-14 but won eight of their final 10 games to garner a First Four invite.
UNC narrowed Friday's 44-26 halftime deficit down to two with less than two minutes remaining, but Ole Miss survived the late rally at the Fiserv Forum.
"I was really proud of how our guys fought back competitively and got back into the game," head coach Hubert Davis said, per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. "But just the whole game, that wasn't us the last two months. That was us the first four months."
If Cadeau leaves, Davis will need another true point guard to anchor his offense in 2025-26. His backcourt faces some other potential blows, as leading scorer RJ Davis completed his final year of eligibility while standout freshman Ian Jackson could enter the NBA Draft.
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