North Carolina has major problems in the frontcourt heading into Michael Malone's debut season as the Tar Heels' head coach. Losing out to Duke on Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje stung, and one college basketball expert spoke to the fact that Duke's backup center, Belmont transfer Drew Scharnowski, would likely be the starter in Chapel Hill next season.
As things stand, UNC will be going into next season with a couple of international big men who have major question marks in Sayon Keita and Alexandros Samodurov. Losing Henri Veesaar unexpectedly to the NBA Draft was a devastating blow, and the Tar Heels look to have one of the ACC's weakest frontcourts as a result.
Now, their desperation is clearly showing.
It appears that UNC is showing interest in ex-Florida big man Micah Handlogten, who is out of eligibility but is doing what all college athletes do nowadays when they are out of eligibility with no professional options: pursue an additional year anyway.
Handlogten was mainly a backup big man for the Gators during his four seasons in Gainesville. The 7-foot-1 center averaged 4.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in 14.8 minutes per game last season for Florida.
He recently participated in the NBA Summer League with the Utah Jazz, but could still find himself playing college basketball next season. That's the state of college athletics at the moment.
The pursuit of Micah Handlogten is a desperate move by Michael Malone, UNC
While Jon Scheyer has Duke's roster completely set and the Blue Devils are practicing and building chemistry together, Malone is clearly not satisfied with the state of his roster in Chapel Hill.
Handlogten has applied for a medical hardship waiver with the NCAA, which is unlikely to be granted. It's unclear whether he'll join the chorus of athletes suing for a fifth season of eligibility off the NCAA's new 5-in-5 rule if the waiver isn't granted.
Handlogten was set to take a medical redshirt during Florida's 2024-25 national championship season, but he chose to return to the court for the Gators due to some injury issues that had piled up for Todd Golden with seven games left in the regular season. He voluntarily burned that redshirt and went on to play in 16 games as Florida made the run to the national title. There's really no legitimate case for his eligibility being granted.
Alas, that means very little in college sports now. Even if the NCAA denies his waiver, he could still pursue other avenues that allow him to play next season despite having no business doing so.
It's unlikely to make a big difference, regardless. That Handlogten would immediately be the best big man on the Tar Heels' roster speaks to how bad that frontcourt is. He's been a career reserve. A solid rebounder and defender who won't provide a whole lot more than that.
It's obvious, regardless of what happens, that UNC won't be swimming in the same pond as Duke next season, or in the foreseeable future.
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