Encouraging Report: UNC Basketball to Host All-SEC Big Man Jonas Aidoo

With narratives constantly changing during transfer season, UNC basketball may still have a legit shot at landing Jonas Aidoo after all.

UNC basketball center Armando Bacot vs. Tennessee's Jonas Aidoo / Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Top-shelf talents continue trickling into the transfer portal ahead of the May 1 deadline. Some seem to fit the description of what the UNC basketball coaches must be seeking to help replace former five-year starting center Armando Bacot.

But the Tar Heels aren't out of the running for two of the big men they've been pursuing the past few weeks.

Hubert Davis and his staff remain in the top 12 for Rutgers graduate transfer Clifford Omoruyi. However, based on his reported visits elsewhere without scheduling one to Chapel Hill, one could say they look like longshots in that race.

RELATED: Another Transfer Includes Tar Heels Among Finalists

As for Tennessee junior Jonas Aidoo, who earned All-SEC Second Team and Defensive Team honors this past season before entering the transfer portal two weeks ago with one year of eligibility remaining, the 6-foot-11, 240-pound native of Durham, N.C., recently made a trip to Baylor. And it's been days since word got out about his plan to visit Arkansas this weekend.

Meanwhile, there had been no reports of a UNC basketball visit in the works. The Field of 68 national insider Jeff Goodman changed that on Thursday, though, as he reported, albeit without specifying dates, that Aidoo will head to Carolina "after the trip to Fayetteville."

Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo has already visited Baylor, will go to Arkansas this weekend and UNC after the trip to Fayetteville, source told @TheFieldOf68. Nothing set up for Alabama yet.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 25, 2024

On Sunday night, Goodman noted rumblings of only four teams "heavily in the mix": UNC, Baylor, Arkansas, and Alabama. Thus far, as Goodman added in his post on Thursday, Alabama is the only one of those four that has neither hosted nor scheduled a visit with the light-footed giant.

Jonas Aidoo on what he said running down the court after this dunk: “A lot of cuss words”

pic.twitter.com/uyupLR5Rex

— Ryan Schumpert (@rschump00) February 27, 2024

An elite shot-blocker and ever-improving offensive weapon, Jonas Aidoo averaged 11.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.8 swats for the 2023-24 Volunteers while shooting 51.5 percent from the field and 62.6 percent at the charity stripe. The 21-year-old drew a starting nod in all 36 Tennessee games, up from only nine starts as a sophomore and zero as a freshman.

Stay tuned to All Tar Heels on SI for more UNC basketball news.