CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Zayden High is expected to be back as a member of the North Carolina men’s basketball team for next season, presumably marking the last step in the pathway to his return after sitting out this past season, multiple sources close to the situation have told Inside Carolina.
The 6-foot-9 forward re-enrolled in January and resumed classes at UNC this semester, which ended Monday ahead of final exams. He didn’t rejoin the team in any official capacity, though, continuing his absence from college basketball as the Tar Heels went about playing the remaining three months of their 2024-25 schedule.
Now, the expectation is for High to return to the team, while UNC coach Hubert Davis, general manager Jim Tanner and Co. continue navigating a full-on roster makeover during the interim. The NCAA transfer portal window for college basketball opened last month (on March 24) and closed last week (on April 22), without High testing the free-agent market.
Carolina has picked up five transfer additions — Colorado State guard Kyan Evans, Virginia Tech guard Jaydon Young, West Virginia wing Jonathan Powell, Alabama forward Jarin Stevenson and Arizona big man Henri Veesaar — thus far during this cycle. Meanwhile, forward Ven-Allen Lubin recently became the fifth UNC player to enter the portal, joining point guard Elliot Cadeau (who has committed to Michigan), big man Jalen Washington (who has committed to Vanderbilt), guard Ian Jackson (who has committed to St. John’s), and forward Cade Tyson.
Seth Trimble is the only former teammate still on board with the Tar Heels from High’s time as a freshman in the 2023-24 season. Davis and the Carolina basketball program have continued to decline comment on High’s status. That’s a continuation of the public approach the UNC coach took when asked about the parameters for High’s possible return to the team on several occasions across the course of this past season.
High has maintained access to the Smith Center and had a presence around the building, including the UNC locker room and weight room, during his period away from the team, sources have continued to confirm to IC. He has worked out on his own on the court that’s named after Roy Williams at times, shooting sessions performed during off hours for the rest of the Tar Heels on the team.
High appeared sparingly while playing in 23 games two seasons ago during the 2023-24 campaign, when he was a freshman and one of the last options off the Carolina bench. Then, in late August, eight days after classes began for the fall semester and UNC’s new school year kicked off, the basketball program announced that High wasn’t “enrolled at the University of North Carolina.”
Multiple sources said then that High’s status had been in limbo for much of the offseason prior to this past 2024-25 season, due to an off-the-court matter. Ultimately, sources confirmed, the resolution for that situation entailed that he essentially would serve a suspension from school and sit out the then-approaching college basketball season. And about two weeks prior, former Georgia Tech forward Ty Claude committed to UNC in mid-August 2024 as a late addition through the transfer portal.
“I’ve been in the gym, I’ve been working,” High told IC last summer in July. “Kind of been trying to stay low, keep my head down. … I’m going to try to do whatever I can (in the 2024-25 season). At the end of the day, it’s all in Coach Davis’ hands. But I’m trying to force my way in and make him not have to put me on the bench.”
High contributed totals of 18 points (0.8 per game) and 26 rebounds (1.1 per game) in 102 minutes of action (4.4 minutes per game) during the 2023-24 season, when UNC went 29-8 overall and 17-3 in ACC league play, claiming the conference’s outright regular-season title and earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
In March 2024, High chipped in a season-high four points as the Tar Heels emptied the bench during their blowout of Florida State in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. Three months earlier, Carolina used High for a season-best 12 minutes in its defeat of Oklahoma at the Jumpman Invitational. He grabbed three rebounds that night and his energized effort sparked praise from Davis.
“It won’t show up huge on the box score, but a huge determining factor of us winning this game was him,” the UNC coach said of High that night. “I wish there was a stat of how many balls he kept alive or almost got. He always attacked the offensive glass.”
