UNC men’s basketball picks up late commitment from transfer portal guard
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Angelo Brizzi, a Buffalo transfer, committed to UNC and first-year coach Michael Malone.
- Brizzi averaged 14.5 points and shot 48% from the field last season.
- UNC has 10 new players for next season, including transfers and high school recruits.
North Carolina men’s basketball made a late addition to its backcourt on Wednesday night.
Buffalo transfer Angelo Brizzi committed to UNC and first-year head coach Michael Malone this week after visiting Chapel Hill in June.
This will be Brizzi’s fifth school in five years after playing one season at Villanova, Davidson, Longwood and Buffalo.
Last season, he averaged 14.5 points per game on 48% field goal shooting. He went 50 for 134 (37.3%) from the perimeter and 83.5% from the free throw line.
He scored a career-high 27 points against Massachusetts and 26 against South Alabama. In the two games, he shot a combined 12 of 22 (54.5%) from 3-point range. Brizzi finished the 2025-26 season with eight 20-point games and 25 double-digit outings. He was held under five points four times last year. He was active defensively, recording a team-high 58 steals last season.
Brizzi received an additional year of eligibility in June after playing nine games as a redshirt freshman at Villanova.
The guard is listed at 6-foot-3 and was a three-star prospect out of high school. Several ACC teams recruited him at the time, including UNC early in the process, before he chose Villanova.
Brizzi joins a solid UNC transfer portal class, which features Matt Able (N.C. State), Neoklis Avdalas (Virginia Tech), Cade Bennerman (Northwestern) and Terrence Brown (Utah). Able, Avdalas and Brown play in the backcourt. The trio is expected to make up most of the starting lineup. Avdalas and Able can play multiple positions, so it’s possible to see some experimentation early in the season.
The Tar Heels also returned Isaiah Dennis, Jaydon Young and Jarin Stevenson, who is expected to start, as well.
Brizzi, with his experience, could be one of the first guards off the bench in a rotational role, most likely in a catch-and-shoot role. He is not the player to rely on for ball distribution. Only once in his career has the incoming guard finished with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. Last season, he finished with 57 assists and a team-high 67 turnovers.
Carolina also added high school prospects Maximo Adams, Kevin Thomas and Malloy Smith, son of UNC graduate Kenny Smith. Alexandros Samodurov committed from Greece, while Sayon Keita spent time with FC Barcelona.
Under the new regime, UNC currently has 10 new players set to debut in the fall.
