Last offseason, Hubert Davis was riding high off a 29-win season and a No. 1 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. A year later he’s entering the 2025-26 season on the hot seat attempting a roster overhaul in the transfer portal, and a single failed portal addition could be to blame.
Belmont transfer Cade Tyson is back in the portal after averaging just 2.6 points and playing fewer than eight minutes a game in his lone season in Chapel Hill. The 6-foot-7 wing was the most coveted sharpshooter in the transfer portal last offseason, coming off a year in which he shot 46.5 percent from beyond the arc on 5.5 attempts per game and averaged 16.2 points, but struggled to find his footing in Carolina Blue. Now, that one mistake ultimately cost Davis his job.
Cade Tyson re-enters the transfer portal after one season as a Tar Heel
With Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan both out of eligibility following the Tar Heels’ Sweet 16 loss to Alabama in 2024, UNC desperately needed to add shooting on the wing to supplement a talented returning backcourt. Tyson appeared to be the best option, but never adjusted to the pace of ACC basketball and lacked the athleticism to stay on the floor at the high-major level.
The transfer portal has enabled so many mid-major stars to earn nice paydays as Power Conference role players, but not every Missouri Valley Conference is capable of making the jump. Tyson clearly wasn’t which left the Tar Heels incredibly thin on the wing and forced 6-foot RJ Davis, 6-foot-4 Ian Jackson, 6-foot-3 Seth Trimble, and 6-foot-1 Elliot Cadeau to share the floor far too often. That lack of size was exposed, especially by Duke’s oversized starting lineup, and Davis nearly missed the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four years.
Had Tyson panned out, Davis wouldn’t have relied on four undersized guards for the bulk of his minutes and his seat would be much cooler heading into Year 5. Instead, UNC's season spiraled and the pressure is remarkably high heading into next season. That’s the risk you run playing portal roulette, and now Davis has to spin that wheel again with Davis out of eligibility and Jackson, Trimble, and Cadeau all transferring out of the program.
Now, Tyson will likely find a new mid-major home to rehabilitate his collegiate career as Davis attempts to save his job with a new portal class.