The 2024–25 Tar Heels will feature highly regarded NBA talent, per experts.
ESPN dropped its first 2025 NBA Mock draft, and analyst Jonathan Givony has three North Carolina players getting selected. Incoming five-star recruit Drake Powell is first off the board, going No. 10 overall to the Utah Jazz. Fellow five-star Ian Jackson goes No. 19 overall to the Indiana Pacers, while freshman Elliot Cadeau goes in the second round, No. 35 overall, to the San Antonio Spurs.
UNC hasn’t had two or more players selected in the first round of the same NBA Draft since Coby White (No. 7), Cam Johnson (No. 11) and Nassir Little (No. 25) in 2019. That was the only draft in history where UNC had two one-and-dones drafted.
Cadeau reclassified to arrive a year early at UNC, as a five-star prospect, ranked as the No. 12 overall player and No. 2 point guard in the class of 2023. He’s seen action in all 28 games this season (23 starts) and is averaging 7.6 points and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 19.4 percent from the three-point line. ESPN expects him to stay for his sophomore season and reunite with his former classmates in Powell, Jackson and James Brown.
Powell has flown up 247Sports’ rankings since over the past two years. He debuted in the rankings in March 2022 as the No. 74 player in his class. He’s steadily risen since and is currently ranked as the No. 9 overall prospect in the class of 2024. He stuffed the box score at Pittsboro’s Northwood High School as a senior this past season, averaging 17.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. He shot 58.5 percent from the field and 42.5 percent from three.
“Powell has made tremendous strides in his development over the last year in every single area,” national recruiting analyst Travis Branham said. “He has always been a great athlete, but his ability to put the ball on the floor, create off the dribble, pass, he’s improving as a shooter from both mid- and long-range, and his athleticism translates to defense where he always brings energy and a high motor. His ability to impact the game in every single way — he’s a high-floor, high-upside guy. There’s still plenty of potential to tap into.”
Jackson is rated as the No. 8 prospect and No. 4 shooting guard in the class of 2024. He averaged 24.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.7 steals at Our Savior Lutheran School (N.Y.) last season. He’s the seventh-highest-rated recruit to commit to UNC since 2000 and the highest-rated since Cole Anthony in 2019.
“Jackson has some really impressive highs,” 247Sports director of basketball scouting Adam Finkelstein said. “And then he’s got some less impressive lows. There’s a wider range of outcomes when you watch him play. He needs to work on the consistency of his shooting and the consistency of his guard skills. It’s great that he can explode and have those big nights, but when he’s not on, there’s got to be a higher baseline.”
