UNC basketball transfer tracker: Dontrez Styles enters portal

The NCAA Tournament starts Tuesday, but college basketball’s transfer portal opened Monday and North Carolina basketball players are jumping in.

Following a season that saw the Tar Heels (20-13) go from preseason No. 1 to becoming the first top-ranked team to miss March Madness since the field expanded in 1985, changes are coming in Chapel Hill.

UNC announced the end of its season Sunday night, deciding not to play in the NIT. According to multiple reports, Justin McKoy and Tyler Nickel on Monday became the first Tar Heels to enter the portal. On Friday, Kinston native Dontrez Styles became the third player to enter the portal.

Here’s a look at who has announced they will enter the portal, with the latest announcements at the top of the list.

Who’s leaving UNC basketball?

Dontrez Styles

The 6-foot-6 Kinston native played sparingly in two seasons with the Tar Heels. The sophomore is best known for his contributions in the 2022 NCAA Tournament as a freshman. Styles averaged 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 19.5 minutes against Marquette and Baylor in March Madness. He averaged 1.4 points per game in two seasons, appearing in 30 games as a freshman before playing 15 as a sophomore.

Tyler Nickel

The 6-foot-7 freshman wing appeared in 25 games, averaging 2.1 points and 0.6 rebounds per game. The Virginia native flashed potential with a career-high 16 points against The Citadel in December. Overall, Nickel played 152 minutes as a Tar Heel. He is the Virginia High School League’s all-time leading scorer with 2,909 points in 102 games.

Justin McKoy

A senior who spent two seasons at UNC after making the move from ACC foe Virginia, the 6-foot-8 Raleigh native will use his bonus COVID season elsewhere. McKoy averaged 1.2 points and 1.3 rebounds in 6.6 minutes per game in two seasons with the Tar Heels. He played in 41 games, including 11 in 2022-23.

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC basketball: Which Tar Heels will, won’t be returning in 2023-24?