UNC Hoops Profile: Kyan Evans and Henri Veesaar

On this episode of the Tar Heels Insider Podcast, beat writer Grant Chachere profiles the transfer additions of point guard Kyan Evans and 7-foot big man Henri Veesaar after their press conference on Sept. 10.

To watch, check out the video below!

Partial transcript from Bill Belichick's presser on Sept. 10.

Q: When you came in, how did you evaluate the special teams, given the issues here with that side of the ball in recent years?

Well, you know, when you're not part of a program, which I wasn't up until I got here, it's hard to evaluate what happened before. So, trying to put too much weight on that, I'd say most of our evaluation came from the spring with the players that were here, like Tom (Maginness), Spencer (Triplett) and Rece (Verhoff), of course, we got in the in the portal at the end of the spring. He had a lot of good film on tape, and we thought that he could help us, and he certainly has, and I think will continue to do that.

You know, Tom's been an interesting guy for me. I've never had a rugby punter before, or Aussie punter, whatever you want to call him, so that's been a little bit new. Now he can obviously punt conventionally. We saw that last year, you know, on tape, but in talking to him and in his skills, you know, as an Aussie punter, they're really good. And so we wanted to take advantage and utilize those. As I said, he can clearly kick conventionally, but just think he's even better doing, you know, what he's been doing. So we have adapted our punting system to him, which has actually been good.

He's done a great job. And, you know, we've covered, well, haven't had a lot of return yards, and so we've been able to, you know, handle the field position there, when we've operated it cleanly like we want to. I'm not saying it's been perfect, I'm not saying that, but it was, you know, it's been interesting to do that, and I think it's, it's worked out pretty well. And I said Rece has kicked the ball well, and, you know, Spencer's done a nice job.

We've adjusted a couple of things with him in terms of his blocking and things like that, that, you know, maybe a little bit different than what he'd done in the past. And he's done a great job on that, too. So all three of those guys really helped us in the Charlotte game with field position, with scoring and putting the offense and defense in good situations.

Q: You've played a lot of running backs and is that because of your philosophy, or is it just a coaching philosophy?

UNC — Bill Belichick | Jackson McCurdy, North Carolina Tar Heels On SI

Yeah, again. Well, none of those players really had very many carries going into the year, and they've gotten some in the early part of the season. So we'll see how all that goes. I've always said, if Jim Brown was my running back, I would leave them in a game on every play. I'm not looking for anybody else. And they kind of did that with Hampton here last year, which, again, I can certainly understand.

I mean, he's a great player, but, you know, we've given the players a chance, and, you know, we'll continue to evaluate them, but, and we'll see how it turns out. But I think they're all capable. They've all shown some good things and flashes, and I have confidence in all of them, but we'll see how the competition plays out.

You know, we've got two games and, you know, think there's some things that have gotten better as you get more game experience and live looks at things. And so we'll, you know, take it from there. But I have confidence in all those players.

Q: You did that a lot in the NFL, too?

UNC — Sep 6, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels defensive back Greg Smith (12) celebrates his interception with teammates during the second half against the Charlotte 49ers at Jerry Richardson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Again, if I had Jim Brown, I'd play Jim Brown. If I had Barry Sanders, I'd play Barry Sanders. But, you know, sometimes there are players that have similar levels of ability, but maybe different skills.

When I had Kevin Faulk and James White, those guys were very good third-down backs, some of the best that have ever played. And so we use them in that role. We used other players on early downs. So it just kind of depends on, you know, what you have and how it fits into your offensive system.

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