Arizona big man Henri Veesaar commits to North Carolina
Two years after Arizona picked up a huge transfer from North Carolina, the Wildcats are sending one to the Tar Heels.
Arizona redshirt sophomore Henri Veesaar, one of the most promising big men in college basketball, committed to North Carolina on April 4. Veesaar entered the transfer portal on March 31.
Veesaar, a 7-footer with 3-point range, averaged 9.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 20.8 minutes per game this season for Arizona. He has tremendous potential, especially if he learns to stay out of foul trouble. Earlier this season, Baylor coach Scott Drew called him "a pro."
"Their big guy [Henri Veesaar], he's a pro," Drew said. "First time I saw him on film I was like 'he's a pro.' I don't know how Tommy [Lloyd] does it. Year in and year out he finds them dudes, develops them. Does a great job."
Veesaar's teammate at Arizona the past two years, Caleb Love, transferred from Chapel Hill to Tucson in 2023. In Arizona's postgame press conference after losing to Duke 100-93 in the Sweet 16 last week, Veesaar went out of his way to praise Love.
"If anybody ever thinks (Caleb's) not a good teammate, it's not true. He's the best teammate we have. He's one of the better persons I've ever met," Veesaar said. "He's pushed me so much over the last two years. I'm so grateful for him."
"(In the) tournament I was struggling. ... He came up to me after I missed the first free throw, because he's made me practice free throws ... and after that he just came up to me, he's like 'Hey, we worked way too hard. You got this.' After that I didn't miss a free throw. I made seven in a row."
"I just want to set the record straight: For any scouts, anybody who thinks he's not a good teammate, he's the best person. Everybody loves him on the team. There's no problems with him. (He's) the best person we have."
It was an emotional, heartfelt response from Veesaar, and Love was wiping away tears after his comments. Now Veesaar could be playing at Love's former school.
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-029877d49238355bd3388a94f90e3c72.jpg "Ben Sherman")
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his 27-year journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. A basketball junkie, March Madness is his favorite time of the year.