North Carolina

UNC Tar Heels basketball team adds ACC transfer from Notre Dame

North Carolina State’s Ebenezer Dowuona fights for a rebound with Notre Dame’s Cormac Ryan and Dane Goodwin during the second half of a men’s basketball game at PNC Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, in Raleigh, N.C.
North Carolina State’s Ebenezer Dowuona fights for a rebound with Notre Dame’s Cormac Ryan and Dane Goodwin during the second half of a men’s basketball game at PNC Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, in Raleigh, N.C. kmckeown@newsobserver.com

North Carolina added a guard with three seasons of ACC experience when Cormac Ryan announced Thursday night he’ll transfer to play for the Tar Heels.

The 6-foot-5 Ryan played the past three seasons at Notre Dame, where he averaged 12.3 points, four rebounds and 2.5 assists last season.

Ryan began his career at Stanford before transferring to Notre Dame in the summer of 2019 and sitting out the 2019-20 season under the NCAA transfer rules that were in place at that time. Having already played four seasons of college basketball, Ryan has a fifth season available to use at UNC due to the NCAA’s COVID-19 pandemic rules.

Ryan gives the Tar Heels a solid 3-point threat, particularly in catch-and-shoot situations. He made 40.7% of his 3-pointers in the 2021-22 seasons before hitting 34.4% last season for the Irish.

Ryan joins 6-5 guard Paxson Wojcik and 6-9 forward Jae’Lyn Withers as transfers coming to UNC for next season.

Wojcik has played two seasons at Loyola (Chicago) and two seasons at Brown. Like Ryan, he’s using his fifth season to play for the Tar Heels.

Withers, who played prep basketball at North Mecklenburg High School outside of Charlotte, played at Louisville the past three seasons. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining to use at UNC.

After missing the NCAA Tournament last season while going 20-13, the Tar Heels return two starters in 6-9 all-ACC center Armando Bacot and 6-foot guard R.J. Davis for Hubert Davis’ third season as head coach.

This story was originally published April 20, 2023 at 8:51 PM with the headline "UNC Tar Heels basketball team adds ACC transfer from Notre Dame."

Steve Wiseman
The News & Observer
Steve Wiseman was named Raleigh News & Observer and Durham Herald-Sun sports editor in May 2025. He covered Duke athletics, beginning in 2010, prior to his current assignment. In the Associated Press Sports Editors national contest, he placed in the top 10 in beat writing in 2019, 2021 and 2022, breaking news in 2019, event coverage in 2025 and explanatory writing in 2018. Before coming to Durham in 2010, Steve worked for The State (Columbia, SC), Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, S.C.), The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.), Charlotte Observer and Hickory (NC) Daily Record covering beats including the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints, University of South Carolina athletics and the S.C. General Assembly. He’s won numerous state-level press association awards. Steve graduated from Illinois State University in 1989. 
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