Seth Trimble, Henri Veesaar Spark Lob City Excitement for UNC

If you’re point guard and center are on the same page and have unbreakable chemistry, the chances of having a championship season go up tremendously.

Just look at some of the past great duos: Raymond Felton and Sean May from 2002-2005, Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansbrough from 2007-09, Joel Berry and Kennedy Meeks for the 2017 national championship team and most recently, RJ Davis and Armando Bacot.

North Carolina will have that magic once again with senior guard Seth Trimble and redshirt junior center Henri Veesaar.

UNC — Mar 29, 2009; Memphis, TN, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Ty Lawson (5) and Tyler Hansbrough (50) celebrate after the Tar Heels 72-60 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners in the final of the south region of the 2009 NCAA basketball tournament at the FedEx Forum. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Trimble, a rare four-year senior who spent his entire career with one program, averaged 11.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

Despite being a rotational player off the bench, Veesaar had an extremely productive season for Arizona last season. He averaged 9.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 59.2% from the floor and 32.7% from behind the arc.

The two have a great relationship and they could form the next championship 1-2 punch for North Carolina this season.

The Relationship Began Over the Offseason

UNC — Mar 21, 2025; Seattle, WA, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Henri Veesaar (13) dunks the ball against the Akron Zips during the second half in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Climate Pledge Arena. | Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

Trimble has been a large factor in helping land several key players to Chapel Hill — especially Veesaar.

"I talked to him on my visit to see where he was at, how he saw Chapel Hill and seeing what role he's going to have next year and what he wanted to be," Veesaar said.

Trimble said he ate dinner with several transfer prospects who visited Chapel Hill, but the one with Veesaar left him the most confident about a potential fit with the program.

“I mean, every dinner I did this past summer, this past recruiting trail. But, I don't know, I just had such a good feeling with Henry. Everything that he was asking, he was super – I mean, everything was just flowing super smooth. He was super invested. He had a bunch of questions, not just for Coach (Hubert) Davis and the rest of the staff. But for me and other players, he had questions for JB (James Brown).”

“You know, we would talk about, like, how he could see himself fitting in. And he'd say, me and you, or, you know, you and I, sort of stuff like that. But, yeah, the answer was there. I mean, it was just – it was a really good dinner overall, and I was really confident leaving.”

Chapel Hill or Lob Hill

UNC — Mar 14, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Seth Trimble (7) brings the ball up court during the first half against the Duke Blue Devils at Spectrum Center. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

In recent seasons, North Carolina has run a lot of offensive sets through the pick-and-roll. With Trimble, Luka Boigavac and Kyan Evans sharing the ball-handling duties, they will have plenty of options to pass the ball too with Jarin Stevenson, Caleb Wilson and Veesaar.

Veesaar studied tape of Trimble while weighing his transfer, wanting a sense of how their styles could fit together. He expects their inside-out pairing will put defenders in uncomfortable spots and said their skill sets balance each other seamlessly.

"I'm gonna be able to pop, he's gonna have more room to go downhill," Veesaar said. "And he's an amazing passer off the pick and rolls. He sees the pocket pass really well. All summer we've worked on it and he's very good at seeing lobs late. And the bigs have to respect his athleticism because he's such a freak, like he can dunk on anybody if they're seven foot or not."

Lobs, you say? Alley-oops, even? Could Chapel Hill be the next Lob City? With skilled ballhandlers and athletic big men like Veesaar, the answer might just be yes.

“Our bigs are so dynamic,” Trimble said.They're very good poppers. They're great rollers. They're great screeners. So we're going to have to use that to play to the best of our abilities.”

According to Trimble, Veesaar is not your stereotypical 7-foot European stretch four.

“He's not just a seven-foot foreign guy who you just see can just dunk the ball. I can really throw it up to Henry. He's going to go get it. He's such a dynamic roller. If I throw him a pocket pass and I'm leading him a little bit, he just has this burst out to the ball to beat the opposing way.

“And it's just – it's something that not a lot of bigs have,” Trimble continued. “And it's going to create a lot of opportunities for us. It's going to open up our games a lot. And he's going to be able to create and just feed off himself for that.”

With the pick-and-roll in full swing, Veesaar could see more wide-open lanes in the paint—and fans might be treated to some jaw-dropping alley-oops.

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