UNC basketball guard RJ Davis (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)

UNC Basketball Reportedly Thumps Final Four Team in 'Secret Scrimmage'

UNC basketball's closed-door test appears to have gone swimmingly for the Tar Heels.

Author:
Matt Giles
Oct 21, 2023 5:19 PM EDT

In this story:

The 2023-24 UNC basketball team, the third under Hubert Davis' command, was in South Florida on Saturday for a closed-door "secret scrimmage" against Florida Atlantic in the Owls' FAU Arena.

There's no confirmation yet on the contest's final score or individual stats. However, college basketball insider "Trilly Donovan" — specializing in "secret scrimmage" intel everywhere this week — reported on Saturday afternoon that "North Carolina beat Florida Atlantic by 20+ in today's scrimmage, per source."

Roughly 30 minutes later, national basketball analyst Jeff Goodman added a few more details from his source:

"North Carolina had NO issues with FAU in a secret scrimmage. Tar Heels were dominant. RJ Davis was terrific. Jalen Washington and Elliot Cadeau played well for UNC."

A few minutes after that, 247Sports' Eric Bossi chimed in with what he had heard, slightly differing from the "20+" report and including a note about FAU being without one of its top weapons in senior guard Alijah Martin:

"Source tells me UNC beat FAU 79-63 in secret scrimmage today. Alijah Martin didn't play for FAU."

Still, Florida Atlantic returns all five starters from a 2022-23 squad that became the first in school history to reach the Final Four. The Owls rank No. 10 in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll.

With that in mind, the No. 19 Tar Heels, who return only two starters from a team that began the 2022-23 season at No. 1 in the country but failed to earn an NCAA Tournament bid, must have been impressive.

On Friday afternoon, the UNC basketball program's official account released pictures of the Tar Heels at the Miami Heat practice facility:

Earlier in the day, the account posted the following pic of graduate transfer forward Jae'Lyn Withers and rookie guard Elliot Cadeau striking the famous pose of Miami Heat champion teammates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade:

Perhaps the UNC and FAU basketball programs will post some highlights from the action in the coming days. And maybe we'll even get a box score of some sort.

UNC plays its only exhibition game at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday when St. Augustine's comes to the Dean E. Smith Center. On Nov. 6, the Tar Heels tip off their regular season when they host Radford.