UNC Basketball: Northwestern transfer Pete Nance is the new hot name in Hubert Davis’ vacancy search

If we’re being perfectly honest, UNC’s navigation of the transfer portal has been a bit puzzling. We have long known, officially or unofficially, that Dawson Garcia would be leaving the program following a loss in his family. We also found out that Kerwin Walton was transferring, and so when factoring in the incoming freshmen it meant that there would be at least one spot that needed to be filled with a player from the portal. We are now in the middle of June, and Hubert Davis is still on a search for that final player to add to the roster. After striking out on a few options, Davis now has his sights set up on Northwestern transfer Pete Nance.

According to multiple sources, Nance is taking an official visit to campus this week. After going through the NBA Draft process, Nance decided to utilize his COVID season to play one more year in college. If you want a decent idea of why the NBA didn’t work out for him this time around, Inside NU writer Daniel Olinger did a good interview with NBA Draft expert Ben Pfiefer where they discussed in-depth Nance’s “Jack of all trades, master of none” skill set.

Still, don’t let this assessment fool you: Nance would be an excellent addition to this coming season’s Carolina team, and he honestly could be the Brady Manek replacement that many people have been screaming for. The 6’10 Akron native finished the 2021-22 season averaging 14.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game, all while shooting at an impressive 49.7% clip. What is even more impressive than that is his three-point shooting: he drained 45.2% of his shots from deep, which is considerably better than Manek’s final percentage (40.3%). I don’t know how likely it is that Nance could repeat such a stellar shooting season twice, but the fact of the matter is this: UNC would have another highly capable stretch big if Nance decides to suit up in Carolina blue.

Here is what Inside Carolina scouting analyst Sean Moran had to say about Pete Nance, and what he thought he could bring to the Tar Heels:

“He’s super-efficient, he’s been improving every year at Northwestern... he’s a guy that little-by-little improved each year. And going back to the efficiency, whether it’s KenPom offensive rating or synergy where he finished out, it was a stellar, stellar year that he did have.

“He plays a majority of his minutes at the five. He’s really comfortable in the pick and pop situations offensively and especially drawing bigs outside and just spotting up from the top of the key for threes, which he hit at a ridiculous clip. Defensively, strong shot-blocker, has some length to him, not crazy length, but definitely a good defensive prospect at protecting the rim.”

So far there haven’t been any other schools mentioned in the hunt for Nance officially, but we will almost certainly start to hear some names pop up in the coming weeks. Nance reportedly did not have any contact with college coaches while he was going through the NBA Draft process, so his visit to UNC could just be the beginning of what will likely be a multi-week process. Hopefully we will get information on how the visit went within the next few days.

What do you think of Hubert Davis’ latest target in the transfer portal? Let us know in the comments below.