North Carolina Basketball: Why Cade Tyson is the most important team transfer for 2024-25

After a dreadful season the year prior, North Carolina bounced back nicely last season, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen before getting upended by a very talented Alabama squad. Hubert Davis has had quite the first three years as head coach of the Tar Heels, but pushed a lot of right buttons in the last offseason to build another winning squad in Chapel Hill.

He’s been given that task again, as North Carolina has the unenviable mission of replacing a lot of their talent. The Tar Heels are beyond ecstatic to get a bonus year out of All-American guard RJ Davis, though they do lose super rebounder Armando Bacot. Last year’s talented transfers are both gone in Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan, leading to several holes in the frontcourt. Fortunately, a few other young players are back including Elliot Cadeau, who showed a lot of potential as a freshman.

This isn’t about the freshmen additions, but you should know that Ian Jackson and Drake Powell should do great work as rookies for North Carolina this season. However, we’re thinking more about the Transfer Portal and what Davis and his staff got done in the offseason. In rebooting that frontcourt, the Tar Heels added a pair of small forwards, one of which was former Vanderbilt sophomore Ven-Allen Lubin. Expect good things from him in his junior season.

However, Cade Tyson might be even better in his own junior year with the Tar Heels. Tyson comes to Chapel Hill by way of Nashville, having been an important starter for his first two collegiate seasons at Belmont. A North Carolina native, Tyson was a major part of Belmont’s success last season, averaging 16.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while earning Second Team All-MVC honors. More importantly, his 46.5% mark from outside the arc was second in the nation.

No matter how you slice it, Tyson is an elite shooter who would’ve instantly improved any D1 program. He was a strong weapon during a pair of 20-win seasons for the Bruins and has actually made nearly 45% of his 3-pointers across his career. That type of knockdown shooter is an important asset for the Tar Heels, especially when losing the shooting touch from both Ingram and Ryan. Tyson gives them someone with some size and strength who can be a reliable scorer all over the court and a nightmare to guard outside the arc.

There’s no question that RJ Davis is the player to watch next season at North Carolina, but Tyson could help take some of that pressure off of him. The Tar Heels now get a second elite shooter, though Tyson obviously won’t put up the same type of production as Davis or even Cadeau. His role will be to hit those spots and keep defenses honest, likely opening up even more opportunities for everyone else in the rotation. With a young and inexperienced frontcourt, having a shooter like Tyson becomes so important.

This season, North Carolina didn’t necessarily need to land a superstar in the Transfer Portal. Instead they settled on Tyson, a somewhat underrated player who can truly shoot the cover off the ball. Has enough been done in this offseason to put the Tar Heels back into elite company, even after Bacot’s departure? Does Tyson have a third-straight elite shooting season and play the same type of game in the ACC?