Date set for Jumpman Classic featuring Michigan vs. Florida, UNC vs. Oklahoma

Details have been released for the Jumpman Classic, featuring matchups between Oklahoma and North Carolina and Michigan and Florida.

The men’s team and women’s team for all four schools will be involved in the event, which will be held in Charlotte.

The first game of the Jumpman Classic will feature the UNC women facing off against the Sooners. Following that game, the Florida men will face Michigan. Both of those games will be played on Tuesday, Dec. 19.

On Wednesday, Dec. 20, the Gators women’s basketball team will face Michigan. After that game, the North Carolina men will play Oklahoma.

This will be the second Jumpman Classic featuring these four Jordan Brand programs. Game times and television information will be announced at a later date.

While all four men’s programs have historically had strong seasons, none of the four made the NCAA Tournament last year.

Of the group, UNC had the most disappointing season. The Tar Heels went from preseason No. 1 to missing out on the postseason after declining a chance to play in the NIT. Expectations will once again be high for North Carolina entering 2023-24. The Jumpman Classic will provide a good early test for the Tar Heels.

On the women’s side, North Carolina, Michigan and Oklahoma each made the NCAA Tournament last year.

North Carolina was the No. 6 seed and beat St. John’s in its first game, before falling to Ohio State.

Michigan was also a 6 seed and beat UNLV in its first game, before getting blown out by eventual national champion LSU.

Oklahoma was a No. 5 seed and beat Portland in its first game, before falling to UCLA in the second round.

North Carolina guard Cormac Ryan withdraws from 2023 NBA Draft

UNC learned Wednesday that it will have Cormac Ryan for the Jumpman Classic and throughout the 2023-2024 season.

The North Carolina guard will withdraw from the 2023 NBA Draft and will return to college, according to Jon Rothstein. Ryan transferred to North Carolina from Notre Dame as a graduate transfer this offseason.

After spending the 2018-19 season at Stanford, Ryan transferred to Notre Dame. He featured for the Irish for three seasons after a redshirt year. He averaged 12.3 points per game while starting all 32 games he played in 2022-23 for Notre Dame. And there aren’t many college basketball players with 116 career games played going into a season.

He’ll bring a veteran presence and some consistent scoring ability to a North Carolina team that fell well short of might expectations a season ago. Things have been tempered in Chapel Hill, and Ryan can play a role in raising the ceiling back up.

Ryan was one of the top recruits in the 2018 signing class, coming out of Milton (N.Y.) Academy. According to the On3 Industry Ranking, he was the No. 62 overall prospect and the No. 10 shooting guard, earning a four-star rating.