After long road home, UNC’s Jarin Stevenson delivers signature performance at UVA

Finally.

If Nicole Walker Stevenson had to choose one word to describe what it felt like watching her son, Jarin, take over the final 13 minutes in Charlottesville — a season-high 17 points in the second half, a crucial charge taken, multiple threes splashed — it would be that. Finally.

Not in the sense of relief, or because she doubted he’d get here, but because she knew how much work it took. Both she and Jarin’s father, Jarod, did.

“We know he can do a lot more than he’s shown,” Jarod said, standing next to Nicole on Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena, where Jarin had just helped No. 22 North Carolina (16-4, 4-3 ACC) pull off an 85-80 road win over No. 14 Virginia (16-3, 5-2 ACC).

“It’s good to see it finally come out,” Jarod added. “Hopefully he can be a little bit more consistent. We’re going to stay on him.”

That last part, the nudge, was the coach in him. And in her, too.

Jarin’s parents coached him at Seaforth High School in Pittsboro, North Carolina, where Jarin blossomed into a top recruit before scholarship offers (Hubert Davis and UNC were the first), transfer portals or the concept of reclassifying entered the picture. Jarod, a former all-conference guard at Richmond who carved out a professional career overseas, and Nicole, a former North Carolina player under Sylvia Hatchell, knew what their son was capable of. They also knew how much patience it would take to get there, always placing a premium on development over exposure.

Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville, that patience was rewarded. There wasn’t much to critique about Jarin’s clutch performance, which allowed the Tar Heels to mount the biggest comeback by an opponent in John Paul Jones Arena. Well, except …

“Most of the time he don’t even look at me,” Nicole said with a laugh. Not even a wink or a wave, as he’s done once or twice to punctuate a play and acknowledge his mom in the crowd.

“I’m sure he heard his mom out here yelling,” Jarod added.

That’s the parent in him. In her, too.

And yell Nicole did. Nicole hollered when Jarin dunked with 11:57 to play, giving UNC its first lead since the opening minutes. She shouted again when his 3-pointer halted a 9-0 Virginia run with 5:09 left, cutting the deficit back to one. She applauded, too, when Jarin converted a three-point play with 2:09 remaining for a 75-74 Tar Heels lead — one North Carolina never relinquished.

Nicole’s light-blue beaded earrings swayed slightly as she cheered, her accessories as understated as she is. The Stevensons are like that: quiet, gentle, soft-spoken. Well, except when they’re cheering on their kids.

Except Saturday afternoon. Because here was Jarin throwing up three fingers into the air after a triple. Later, he hit the hardwood after an and-one and flexed his biceps. Another 3-pointer in the final minutes meant more extracurriculars.

“It was crazy,” said UNC freshman Caleb Wilson, who finished with 20 points and tied two UNC freshman records in the process. “We’re always talking to him about being emotional on the court. Off the court, he’s a pretty quiet guy, but seeing him show emotion and really put himself out there just lets him have a great game.”

Jarin was asked afterward — following a celebratory Gatorade bath in the locker room from his teammates — if he’d ever had this much fun in a college game.

He paused.

He’d scored 19 points in an Elite Eight win over Clemson in 2024. He’d poured in a career-high 22 at Texas last year. But he’d yet to have something like this: a double-digit performance in Carolina Blue, against a ranked opponent.

“It’s been a while,” Jarin said with a smile. “Probably nothing like this.”

Tuscaloosa to Chapel Hill

Jarin grew up about 15 minutes from UNC’s campus, but getting here wasn’t so simple.

When he left Chapel Hill for college in June 2023 — his car packed with duffel bags, ramen noodles, 10 pairs of Nikes and his beloved PlayStation 5 — Jarod drove him not across town, as many had expected, but roughly 600 miles south to Tuscaloosa.

The Seaforth High School star was heavily recruited by UNC and long viewed as a future fixture in the Smith Center. Alabama coach Nate Oats swooped in late. Jarin decided to reclassify. The Crimson Tide offered Jarin a clear path to early playing time in an NBA-style offense that suited his perimeter game. And so Jarin skipped his final year of high school and arrived a year early.

For many Tar Heel fans, it felt like a gut punch. The sting only deepened when Jarin’s Alabama teams beat North Carolina twice in two seasons — first in a stunning upset of the No. 1-seeded Tar Heels in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, then again the following December in the Smith Center.

In that latter game, Jarin locked down R.J. Davis, using his towering 6-foot-10 frame to neutralize the reigning ACC Player of the Year. It’s a performance Davis has referenced repeatedly since, pointing to it as proof of how many problems Stevenson can solve defensively.

And yet for all the Crimson Tide’s success in his two seasons in Tuscaloosa — 53 wins, a Final Four — Jarin’s individual offensive stats never quite matched the hype. He averaged 5.3 points per game as a freshman and 5.4 as a sophomore, started 27 games across two seasons and watched his shooting percentages stagnate. His flashes were undeniable, but they came inconsistently.

When Jarin entered the transfer portal last spring, he knew where he wanted to go — and what he wanted to prove.

“Definitely [want to] showcase a little bit more of what I can do, and also, I feel like being more consistent,” Jarin said back in October at his introductory news conference in Chapel Hill. “My time at Alabama, I wasn’t really the most consistent player. Some games, I would do very well. Some games, I wouldn’t produce as much. So I feel like this year is going to be important, being more consistent.”

Back home, Jarin believed he could “feel more free.” Free to be himself: the 6-foot-10, human Swiss army knife capable of guarding multiple positions, spacing the floor and attacking mismatches. And free to show off his midrange game, which Oats discourages in his offensive system.

Saturday, in the building where Virginia had been unbeaten all season, that freedom finally showed up on the scoreboard. And on his face. And on his teammates’ faces.

“He was amazing,” said senior guard Seth Trimble, who finished with 16 points and a team-high five rebounds. “I know y’all weren’t paying attention to me while Jarin was scoring, but I was just smiling the whole time, saying, ‘Yeah Jarin!’ Just having a ball because he was amazing.”

‘We met the fight’

The performance was overdue — for Jarin, and for UNC.

The Tar Heels entered Charlottesville having lost three of their first five ACC games, struggling defensively and hearing all the noise that comes with unmet expectations at a blue-blood program like North Carolina. The start of Saturday’s game looked like more of the same, Trimble said. Virginia jumped out to a 16-point first-half lead, controlling the glass and dominating points in the paint with plenty of second-chance putbacks.

Then, everything flipped.

A pair of stepback threes, one from Luka Bogavac and the other from Derek Dixon, in the final minute of the first half trimmed the deficit to single digits. After the break, UNC delivered its best half of basketball since Christmas — outscoring Virginia by 21 points over the final 22 minutes and averaging 1.68 points per possession over its final 34 possessions.

Most importantly, North Carolina defended. Finally. After Virginia hit six first-half threes, the Hoos managed just two after intermission. The Tar Heels held the Cavaliers to 44.8 percent shooting in the second half and 16.7 percent from deep.

“In the first half, I felt like they kicked our tail,” Davis said. “In the second half, I felt like we met the fight.”

With center Henri Veesaar limited by foul trouble and having an off night, UNC needed someone to step up. Jarin became that guy, exploiting mismatches in the post, knocking down open threes and holding his ground defensively.

He scored all 17 of his points in the second half on 6-of-9 shooting, despite playing just four minutes and attempting no shots before halftime.

His teammates weren’t surprised.

“He goes out some days in practice and looks like a totally different player,” Dixon said. “He’s out there hooping. And when he’s free like that, he’s playing aggressive, it’s really fun to watch. He’s a really special player.”

The win also underscored the growing impact of Dixon, who finished with 11 points, seven assists and one turnover while posting a game-high plus-22 in 33 minutes. Dixon’s ability to push tempo helped UNC generate 21 fast-break points — a critical counter to Virginia’s dominance on the boards.

Still, this night belonged to Jarin. And they’re still unlocking parts of him.

This is the same quiet kid who, when Wilson reflected on a preseason trip to the Outer Banks, was identified as the one always playing games on his phone. Clash of Clans, specifically.

He’s still getting comfortable with this group. He’s still working on playing with more emotion and, as his parents emphasized, more consistency. He’s still working on being louder, speaking up.

He’s naturally shy and modest, like his mother’s Carolina-blue earrings — the same ones she’s had for years. Nicole has just two pairs of Tar Heel-themed earrings, she estimates, and rotates them.

But after watching her son deliver a signature performance like that, against UNC’s toughest ACC opponent yet, for her alma mater?

“I might have to buy a few more,” she said, smiling.

Finally.

This story was originally published January 25, 2026 at 6:30 AM.