Carolina Basketball Adds Seven-Foot Transfer Ivan Matlekovic

North Carolina is making a late addition to its 2025-26 roster, acquiring post depth by way of the transfer portal. High Point reserve center Ivan Matlekovic committed to the Tar Heels, his agent confirmed to On3’s Joe Tipton late Thursday.

Matlekovic, a 7-foot, 245-pound native of Croatia, appeared in five games as a freshman last season at High Point, totaling 13 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks in 31 minutes. His prior experience included playing for HAKK Mladost in the Croatian basketball league, and a spot on the Croatian national team, including at the FIBA U18 European Championship.

Matlekovic is the 10th new Tar Heel player joining the program this offseason. Hubert Davis and his staff have brought in five other incoming transfers: West Virginia wing Jonathan Powell, Arizona center Henri Veesaar, Colorado State guard Kyan Evans, Alabama forward Jarin Stevenson and Virginia Tech guard Jaydon Young. They signed and enrolled three high schoolers in blue-chip forward Caleb Wilson and combo guards Derek Dixon and Isaiah Denis. UNC also landed an international standout in Luka Bogavac from Montenegro.

Those 10 join returning scholarship Tar Heels Seth Trimble, James Brown and Zayden High for a team that plays its season opener on Nov. 3 at the Smith Center against Central Arkansas. The team will play an exhibition game vs. BYU in Utah on Oct. 24.

“I’m just really looking forward to this season and coaching another year and representing this great university,” Hubert Davis told Inside Carolina last month. “Offseason is the offseason, but summer school, individual workouts, team practices, and spending a ton of time with the players. Getting on the court with them, individual workouts like I talked about. Skill development is huge for us, and we want each one of our players to continue to get better and better. I mean, that’s the fun part. That’s all we’ve been doing all summer.”