Crazy Times: Ex-UNC Basketball Wing Commits to Nearby Rival

On Monday morning, Dontrez Styles entered the transfer portal following his lone season at Georgetown. And it didn't take long for the Kinston, N.C., native, who began his college career as a two-year UNC basketball bench player, to decide on his third destination for his final year of eligibility.

Styles is taking his talents to Raleigh to play for Kevin Keatts and NC State, a school he visited and considered around this same time last year but that now boasts the ACC's most recent Final Four appearance.

So, as was predicted by several insiders soon after he entered the portal, the 6-foot-6, 210-pound wing has signed up to battle Hubert Davis' Tar Heels at least twice next season via their two scheduled showdowns in ACC regular season play. In other words, he instantly went from being just a former seldom-used UNC basketball talent to a 21-year-old budding veteran who just joined one of the program's two primary rivals in the Wolfpack 30 minutes down the road.

Kevin Keatts watching DJ Horne hoop at the PIT while Dontrez Styles’ commitment becomes official.

Not a bad night. https://t.co/15hSfVU74l
— Cory Smith (@RCorySmith) April 19, 2024

In 2021, Dontrez Styles arrived in Chapel Hill as a four-star prospect but never played more than six minutes per game as a Tar Heel. As a junior at Georgetown this past season, he averaged 12.8 and 5.8 rebounds, playing and starting all 32 games for a Hoyas squad that finished 9-23 overall.

Stay tuned to All Tar Heels on SI for more UNC basketball news.