UNC Announces Re-Signing Of Isaiah Denis

Fifteen days after announcing his return to Chapel Hill for his sophomore season, Isaiah Denis made it official. On Sunday afternoon, UNC announced Denis had put pen to paper to remain at North Carolina.

“The University of North Carolina men’s basketball program has announced that Isaiah Denis will return to Chapel Hill, re-signing with the Tar Heels for the upcoming 2026-27 season,” the university said in its announcement.

Denis became the first Tar Heel to announce his intention to enter the transfer portal on April 5, before ultimately withdrawing his name and returning to UNC.

“Chapel Hill we got unfinished business,” Denis said in his April 18 return announcement.

Denis’ portal decision wasn’t an easy one, and came amid the uncertainty of the Tar Heels’ coaching search and the frustration of a freshman season in which he appeared in just 10 games, including three in ACC play.

In limited action, Denis averaged 1.4 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the floor (7-for-14) and 50 percent from 3-point range (4-for-8).

Denis’ seven minutes and six points against ECU on Dec. 22 marked season highs in both categories. Across three conference appearances, he logged six total minutes, seeing the floor primarily in mop-up duty against Wake Forest, Notre Dame and NC State, while going a combined 0-for-3 from the field.

Once on the job in Chapel Hill, Michael Malone quickly prioritized retaining the 6-foot-4 combo guard as part of North Carolina’s backcourt rotation next season, ultimately convincing him to withdraw his name from the transfer portal, where he had drawn interest from programs like Vanderbilt, Saint Louis, Ohio State and Tennessee.

>>> Inside Isaiah Denis’ Decision To Return To UNC: ‘There’s No Bigger Stage’ <<<

“With the new coach coming in, we felt that we should give him a chance — he’s a pretty straightforward person,” Denis’ father, Frantz Denis, told Inside Carolina.

“After Isaiah met with him, he told him that everybody would get a fair shot, so we felt like the stage was already set.”

Denis committed to Hubert Davis and North Carolina out of high school as the No. 75 player in the 2025 class and the No. 4 player in North Carolina, choosing the Tar Heels over finalists Miami, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Wake Forest.