North Carolina forward Zayden High plans to enter NCAA Transfer Portal
· Yahoo Sports
North Carolina redshirt sophomore forward Zayden High plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal after three seasons in Chapel Hill. He announced the news on Tuesday morning.
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A Texas native, High appeared 52 games during his time with Tar Heels — and as a reserve in all but two contests. His career-best season came this year, where he averaged 3.4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in just over 9 minutes per contest. High shot 48% from the field and 68% from the free throw line, seeing extended minutes amidst the injuries to Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson toward the end of the year.
The 6-foot-9, 225-pounder scored in double-figures on four occasions, including a career-best 15 points and 7 rebounds in a February win over Pittsburgh. Despite his limited minutes for most of the season, High proved to be a key piece due to those injuries. In UNC’s final seven games of the regular season — where the Heels went 5-2 — High averaged 8.8 points and 7.7 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per game.
However, he saw only seven minutes of action in UNC’s losses to Clemson in the ACC Tournament and VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
High looking for new home with two years left to play
High played in 23 games as a freshman in 2023-24, only playing double-digit minutes four times. He looked poised to break into the rotation as a sophomore, but was suspended for the entire season after a university investigation found he filmed a fellow student without their contest during a sexual encounter. High returned to the team this year but will now be looking for a new destination after head coach Hubert Davis was fired last month.
As a high schooler, High was the No. 63 overall prospect and No. 9 center in the 2023 class, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking, an equally weighted average that utilizes all three major recruiting services.
He will have two years of eligibility remaining.