{"id":625824,"date":"2026-04-24T15:47:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/625824\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T15:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:47:16","slug":"unc-big-man-henri-veesaar-declares-for-2026-nba-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/625824\/","title":{"rendered":"UNC big man Henri Veesaar declares for 2026 NBA Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"usatsi-27874228.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Imagn Images<\/p>\n

North Carolina<\/a> big man Henri Veesaar<\/a> is entering the 2026 NBA Draft<\/a>. The 7-foot center was a Second Team, All-ACC selection after averaging 17.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists while shooting over 42% from 3-point range.<\/p>\n

Veesaar is slotted at No. 26 in the CBS Sports NBA Draft prospect rankings. He is projected to be a late first-round pick, but now has a chance to go even higher after potential first-rounders like\u00a0Florida’s<\/a> Thomas Haugh<\/a>, Duke’s<\/a> Patrick Ngongba and UConn’s<\/a> Braylon Mullins<\/a> all announced that they will return to college basketball next season.<\/p>\n

North Carolina had a massive NIL contract on the table for Veesaar, who would have been positioned to be the Preseason ACC Player of the Year in 2026-27. The big man still has the option to return to UNC, but he is expected to stay in the NBA Draft, barring a change of heart.<\/p>\n

It’s a critical blow to North Carolina’s immediate 2026-27 outlook under new coach Michael Malone. The Tar Heels have done yeoman’s work in the portal, reeling in three top-50 transfers in Virginia Tech’s<\/a> Neoklis Avdalas<\/a>, Utah’s<\/a> Terrence Brown<\/a> and NC State’s<\/a> Matt Able<\/a>. But Veesaar was positioned to be the head honcho.<\/p>\n

Now Malone has to pivot to try and find a replacement at the final hour, and the options in the center market are slim. Arizona State’s<\/a> Massamba Diop<\/a> is the top-rated big man on the board, but Gonzaga<\/a> and St. John’s<\/a> are major players with a decision looming shortly. Cincinnati<\/a> transfer Moustapha Thiam<\/a> is another big-time option, but Michigan<\/a> just hosted the 7-foot shot-blocker for a visit.<\/p>\n

Other potential options for UNC could include Georgetown<\/a> transfer Julius Halaifonua<\/a>, Washington<\/a> big man Franck Kepnang<\/a> or Texas Tech<\/a> transfer Luke Bamgboye<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But time is running out. Nearly 90 of the top-100 players in the 2026 transfer portal window<\/a> have chosen their next school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Imagn Images North Carolina big man Henri Veesaar is entering the 2026 NBA Draft. The 7-foot center was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625825,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[6437,234676,234687,57482,49,48,6018,547,234672,234674,6017,1715,5915,234680,234684,2894,234679,234686,234689,234681,234682,6427,234685,459,234671,17317,190951,234678,234673,1040,6034,82,3545,234688,3036,234683,234677,234675,162775,6042,142702],"class_list":{"0":"post-625824","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-arizona-state-sun-devils","9":"tag-basketball-recruiting-news-2026","10":"tag-braylon-mullins","11":"tag-brown-bears","12":"tag-ca","13":"tag-canada","14":"tag-cincinnati-bearcats","15":"tag-college-basketball","16":"tag-college-basketball-transfer-portal-2026","17":"tag-college-basketball-transfers-2026","18":"tag-connecticut-huskies","19":"tag-duke-blue-devils","20":"tag-florida-gators","21":"tag-franck-kepnang","22":"tag-georgetown-hoyas","23":"tag-gonzaga-bulldogs","24":"tag-henri-veesaar","25":"tag-julius-halaifonua","26":"tag-luke-bamgboye","27":"tag-massamba-diop","28":"tag-matt-able","29":"tag-michigan-wolverines","30":"tag-moustapha-thiam","31":"tag-nba","32":"tag-nba-draft-2026","33":"tag-nba-draft","34":"tag-nc-state-wolfpack","35":"tag-ncaa-basketball-roster-ch","36":"tag-ncaa-transfer-portal-tracker","37":"tag-neoklis-avdalas","38":"tag-north-carolina-tar-heels","39":"tag-sports","40":"tag-st-johns-red-storm","41":"tag-terrence-brown","42":"tag-texas-tech-red-raiders","43":"tag-thomas-haugh","44":"tag-top-transfer-portal-players-college-basketball","45":"tag-transfer-portal-commitments-2026","46":"tag-utah-utes","47":"tag-virginia-tech-hokies","48":"tag-washington-huskies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}