The 2024-25 North Carolina Tar Heels didn’t have the storybook ending they were after. Despite sneaking into the NCAA Tournament field and demolishing San Diego State in the First Four in Dayton, Hubert Davis’s team fell short of a magical first-round comeback against Ole Miss. Now, with Davis in place, but on the hot seat next season, the program is under immense pressure to build a winner this offseason, and now it looks like they’ll have one key piece in place.
In the immediate aftermath of the Tar Heels’ season-ending defeat, junior guard Seth Trimble made it clear that he intends to return to Chapel Hill for his fourth year in Carolina blue.
Seth Trimble when asked about his future at #UNC:
— Jacob Turner (@JacobTurnerTHI) March 21, 2025
"Absolutely. I want to come back to this school. I'm a Tar Heel."
Trimble was North Carolina’s third-leading-scorer this season, averaging a career-high 11.6 points and 5.0 rebounds. While he struggled shooting it from three, dropping well under 30% from beyond the arc after hitting at a 41% clip as a sophomore, his return will provide crucial continuity in an offseason of uncertainty.
Davis is returning for his fifth year after a mid-season report surfaced about a contract extension as his seat began to warm. Davis has made the NCAA Tournament in three of his first four years with a run to the National Championship Game in Year 1, but UNC earned its lowest seed in NCAA Tournament history this year as the final at-large team into the field, and Davis struggled mightily to replace longtime starting center, Armando Bacot.
Now, Davis will have an equally tough rebuild in the backcourt with the ACC’s third all-time leading scorer, RJ Davis, finally out of eligibility. Davis has been a superstar across his five seasons in Chapel Hill, and while Trimble will not be able to replicate his production or efficiency in an increased offensive role, he will provide veteran leadership and a reliable secondary playmaker regardless of what the rest of the roster looks like.
The other questions shift to the rest of North Carolina’s backcourt. Freshman Ian Jackson is likely heading to the NBA after averaging nearly 12 points a game, but sophomore point guard Elliot Cadeau could return to stabilize the backcourt with Trimble as Davis welcomes the ninth-ranked high school recruiting class in the country headlined by five-star forward Caleb Wilson.
Retention and high school recruiting are still crucial, but for Davis to produce an ACC contender next season, he’ll need to nail his transfer portal additions. Last offseason he looked to provide his roster with some much-needed outside shooting in the form of Belmont transfer Cade Tyson. However, Tyson played just under eight minutes a game and never found his rhythm from three. Vanderbilt transfer Ven Allen-Lubin took on an elevated role late in the season, but Davis’s portal class wasn’t nearly enough to keep pace with Jon Scheyer’s astounding roster additions at Duke.