North Carolina’s New Backcourt Gets USC on Friday

North Carolina plays USC on Friday, October 9, at 7 p.m. ET at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro. It is an exhibition. The score will not count. It is still the only game this week with two power-conference rosters and a reason to watch the backcourt.

Michael Malone is in his first season in Chapel Hill. Eric Musselman is on the other bench. Both spent years as NBA head coaches, Malone for 12 seasons, Musselman with the Warriors and the Kings. That is the sideline story. The floor story is that neither roster is the one that closed last season.

North Carolina went 24-9, tied for fourth in the ACC, earned a 6-seed, and lost to VCU in the first round. The offense finished 32nd in KenPom. USC went 18-14. The Trojans bring back three players, add seven transfers, and bring in ESPN’s No. 5 recruiting class, their second-best since ESPN started tracking classes in 2007. Carolina’s incoming high school class is No. 10. Friday is the first time either new group has to play somebody else.

What Carolina lost

Derek Dixon and Luka Bogavac are gone. Dixon started at the point in the middle of last season and averaged 6.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists before transferring to Arizona. Jonathan Powell also left. The offense that finished 32nd does not get to run it back.

Five players return: Jarin Stevenson, Jaydon Young, Evan Smith, John Holbrook, and Isaiah Denis. Stevenson is the one who already produced in Chapel Hill. He had a career year after transferring from Alabama and raised his numbers in ACC play. Young and Denis are bench options until they take a job. Eleven of the 16 players on the roster are new. Four are freshmen. Six are college transfers. One, Alexandros Samodurov, comes from Panathinaikos.

Terrence Brown

Brown is the scorer. He averaged 19.9 points, 3.8 assists, and 1.4 steals at Utah last season, shot 45.3% from the field, 32.7% from three, and 77.5% from the line, and was honorable-mention All-Big 12. He can create in transition and in the half court. Across his career at Fairleigh Dickinson and Utah he has averaged 1.7 steals. If Friday has a Tar Heel who looks like a first option, it should be him.

He is also the replacement for the creation Dixon did not provide. Dixon was a midseason starter at 6.5 points. Brown just led a Big 12 team in scoring. Those are not the same job. The question is whether a 20-point guard from Utah can be the first option on a roster that also brought in a 6-9 passer.

Neo Avdalas

Avdalas is the passer. The Greek guard averaged 12.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists at Virginia Tech and led the Hokies with 141 assists in 31 games. He was Malone’s first commitment. He is built for pick-and-roll and transition, not for replacing Brown’s scoring.

At 6-9 he gives Carolina a ballhandler who can see over the defense USC will throw out. He does not give them a second 20-point scorer. If he and Brown both need the ball, the hierarchy is not set. That is the thing an exhibition can show. Who brings it up in the first five possessions will say more than the final margin.Matt AbleAble is the wing. He came off the bench at NC State, tested the draft, and landed in Chapel Hill. He was a consensus top-20 high school recruit in 2025. Athleticism and shooting are the case. A starting job is the projection, not a guarantee.He is the one of the three who does not have a 12-point or a 20-point college season to point at. Friday is a check on whether the athleticism shows up against a Power Four wing, or whether he is still a bench piece who happens to be on a better roster.

The rest of the roster

Angelo Brizzi came from Buffalo. Cameron Fens came from South Dakota. Cade Bennerman redshirted at Northwestern. Samodurov played for Panathinaikos. Freshmen Sayon Keita, Maximo Adams, Malloy Smith, and Kevin Thomas are on the roster. Keita played U18 for Barcelona. Smith is the son of Kenny Smith. None of them are the Friday story unless one of the three transfers is in foul trouble.

Stevenson is the other name worth a line. He is the returning forward. If the new guards are hunting their own shot and he disappears, Malone does not have a frontcourt counter yet. A clean possession that ends with Stevenson is a better sign than a Brown isolation that goes in.

What USC brings

USC is the right opponent for a first look, and a limited one. USC is looking to greatly improve on their 97th ranked KenPom offense last season with the return of Rodney Rice who, a day ago made the Preseason All-Big Ten Team. Their three returners means Musselman is also figuring out a lineup. Seven transfers means Carolina will not be guarding a set rotation. The No. 5 recruiting class means at least one freshman will play real minutes in October. A clean Carolina possession against that group matters. A 20-point exhibition win does not.

The coaches are the other half of it. Malone has not coached a college game. Musselman has, and he has coached a roster built the same way, on the portal and on freshmen. Greensboro will not settle which staff is further along. It will show which one has a first side already.

What to watch

Who brings the ball up. Avdalas is the playmaker on paper. Brown is the one who just averaged 20. If both need the ball, the 32nd-ranked offense does not have a hierarchy yet.

The second watch is Stevenson. He is the one proven frontcourt piece. If he spends the night spacing for guards who do not pass, the new offense is a collection of transfers, not a team.

The third is the glass and the foul line. Exhibition scoring is cheap. Offensive rebounds and free throws are how a Malone team will have to survive ACC nights in January. If Carolina is living on Brown pull-ups and nothing else, Friday told you that.

Carolina’s other exhibition is October 18 against Indiana at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The regular season opens November 2 against Western Carolina. The next time this roster is in Greensboro is December 15 against NC State, and that one counts. Friday is the first look. The building is not the Dean Smith Center. The roster is not last year’s. Both of those are the point.

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