Matt Able Signs With UNC: What It Means For NC State

RALEIGH — Even before Will Wade's surprise move back to LSU, NC State men's basketball expected massive amounts of roster turnover after the 2025-26 season. As it turned out, that turnover became even more significant because of Wade's exit, with nine players entering the transfer portal from last season's roster.

Before Tuesday, most of the moves made by former Wolfpack players were to lower-level programs or conferences. However, rising sophomore guard Matt Able made a nearly unprecedented decision to transfer just down the road and join the UNC Tar Heels for the 2026-27 season, becoming the latest addition for new head coach Michael Malone. What does it all mean for Justin Gainey and the Pack?

North Carolina's revenge?

BREAKING: NC State transfer guard Matt Able has committed to North Carolina, @JoeTipton reports🐏https://t.co/dSHGsVCxbA pic.twitter.com/Ri34I4z8HV
— On3 (@On3) April 21, 2026

A year ago, Wade arrived at NC State needing to rebuild the roster from the ground up, with just one returning contributor in Paul McNeil and walk-on Jordan Snell set to return. He made a bold move, aggressively pursuing former UNC forward Ven-Allen Lubin in the transfer portal, ultimately making Lubin the first player to transfer from Chapel Hill to Raleigh directly.

Both Wade and the coach he snatched Lubin from, Hubert Davis, are gone, with Wade leaving a mess for Gainey to clean up at NC State, while the Tar Heels chose to part ways with Davis and forge a new path with Malone. There's no bad blood between Gainey and Malone and no reason to expect the same back-and-forth that occurred last year, as Wade took every chance he got to throw shade in the direction of Davis over his management of Lubin.

Mar 12, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; NC State Wolfpack guard Matt Able (3) brings the ball up the court in the first half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Able became the first player to make the move from NC State to UNC since the Second World War, joining three others from more than eight decades ago to transfer between rivals. It's an unfortunate loss for the Wolfpack, but there was always a fairly sizable risk that Able was going to leave after his freshman year for several reasons.

For starters, the freshman didn't have the debut season he had hoped for with the Pack, struggling during the non-conference portion of the schedule. Wade rode the young guard as he made mistakes early on, but ultimately relented as he realized Able offered his team the best possible chance to win if he played more through his errors.

Able also showed up on the radars of several NBA draft analysts before the season and even early in his freshman year, but faded more and more as the year went along. He declared for the NBA Draft and entered the portal shortly after Gainey took over the NC State program, with little expectation of a potential return, even though he indicated he'd be open to it if the circumstances were right.

Instead, he'll join a completely remodeled UNC program in the process of modernizing in some of the ways the Wolfpack did with Wade at the helm, something Gainey is working to move even further forward in the early days of his tenure. NC State already added two guards from the portal in Christian Hammond and Preston Edmead, who fit the mold of what the new coach wants to do in the backcourt better than Able, who was a very solid player in his one season with the Pack.

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