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UNC Basketball: Oklahoma City Signs Tar Heel Talent

UNC basketball's Cormac Ryan is joining the Thunder via an Exhibit 10 deal.

Matt Giles

UNC basketball head coach Hubert Davis and guard Cormac Ryan
UNC basketball head coach Hubert Davis and guard Cormac Ryan / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
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It's highly unlikely Cormac Ryan will be on an NBA roster next season. Nevertheless, the one-year UNC basketball wing, now 25 years old following his six-year college stay between Stanford, Notre Dame, and the Tar Heels, will get a chance to impress one franchise this summer.

On Friday, the Oklahoma City Thunder signed the 6-foot-5, 195-pound Ryan to an Exhibit 10 contract, which secures his services for the Salt Lake City Summer League, July 8-10, and NBA 2K25 Summer League action in Las Vegas, July 12-22.

One of the Thunder's opponents in Salt Lake City is the Utah Jazz, who recently signed Ryan's UNC basketball teammate, center Armando Bacot, to an Exhibit 10 deal. Presumably, Ryan and Bacot will at some point be on the floor together in that outing, only this time on opposing sides.

If Ryan fares well in July, he stands a good shot at landing with the Thunder's G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, to jumpstart his pro career.

As a full-time starter for Hubert Davis' third batch of Tar Heels last season, Cormac Ryan averaged 11.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per contest while shooting 35.4 percent from three and 87.4 percent at the charity stripe.

His sweetest performance as a beloved Tar Heel came in the team's road win over archival Duke in early March, as Ryan tallied 31 points while knocking down six 3-pointers on only eight attempts.

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Matt Giles

MATT GILES

Matt Giles is the editor and publisher of FanNation's Blue Devil Country and All Tar Heels, covering the Duke Blue Devils and UNC Tar Heels on SI.com.

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