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Expert Predicts Former UNC Basketball Player to Play for NC State
The UNC basketball program could face ex-Tar Heel Dontrez Styles as a rival next year.
Once again, Dontrez Styles has gone portaling. On Monday morning, On3's Joe Tipton reported that the 6-foot-6 wing, who spent two seasons in Chapel Hill as a seldom-used UNC basketball reserve under Hubert Davis before taking his talents to Georgetown last year, would enter the transfer portal for the second time in his college career.
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Styles, a former former four-star recruit out of Kinston, N.C., drew a starting nod in all 32 games for the 2023-24 Hoyas, averaging 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in 33.5 minutes per game. Those stats marked considerable jumps from his 1.8 points and 1.3 boards in only 5.9 minutes per contest across his combined 45 appearances as a freshman and sophomore with the Tar Heels.
But Georgetown finished 9-23 overall in its first season under Ed Cooley.
Interestingly, shortly after Styles' entry in the portal, On3's Jamie Shaw entered a prediction for the 21-year-old to choose NC State as his third and final stop as a collegian.
And there's reason to believe that would make sense for both sides. After all, Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts and his crew, fresh off the program's first Final Four trip since 1983, have lost the bulk of their starting lineup to expired eligibility. Furthermore, NC State is close to home, and Styles visited the school last spring before ultimately deciding on Georgetown as his next destination instead.
Of course, if Shaw's pick proves correct, such a move back to Tobacco Road would pit Styles against the Tar Heels at least twice as part of the rivals' 20-game ACC regular-season slates.
Stay tuned to All Tar Heels on SI for more UNC basketball news.
