UNC Basketball Henri Veesaar Q&A: ‘We’re Going to Have a Good Connection’

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina transfer big man Henri Veesaar met with local reporters on Wednesday afternoon for the first time since committing to the Tar Heels out of the portal in early April. The 7-footer is from Estonia. He played basketball in Real Madrid’s youth program, before spending three seasons at Arizona.

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Veesaar played in all 37 games for the Wildcats last season and started five times, while averaging 9.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots per game. During the 2023-24 preseason, Veesaar suffered a dislocated elbow, an injury that resulted in him using a medical redshirt season.

Last season, Veesaar ranked second in the Big 12 Conference in 2-point field goal percentage (70 percent), seventh in blocked shot rate (7.3 percent) and eighth in offensive rebounding percentage (12.2 percent), per Ken Pomeroy’s college basketball database.

Watch his complete interview from Wednesday’s availability at the Smith Center, and read some noteworthy excerpts below …

Q: Can you take us through your basketball journey?

Veesaar: “I would say I started practicing first when I was 8 years old. But as long as I can remember, I’ve always had a basketball in my hand. My dad loves basketball. He used to play and then, as long as I can remember, I always had a basketball with my hands. But I would say, when I was 15, I moved to Madrid to go to Madrid Academy. Practiced there and then when I was in my last year there, I decided to go to Arizona, and I was there three years. … I would say I’ve been a long time away from home, so I’m kind of trying to get used to it, but I always still get homesick.”

Q: Have the UNC coaches shown you any Armando Bacot film and used that to demonstrate how you might fit into the post here?

Veesaar: “He was an amazing player here. Obviously, we have watched a couple of clips of him and how he plays, and as a team as a whole. We have watched a lot of the past teams rebounding, like Harrison Ingram or Armando Bacot. They were both phenomenal at it defensively, offensively, so it’s kind of what you just have to pick up and see what they’re doing.”

Q: What has it been like playing with transfer guard Kyan Evans and getting to know his game?

Veesaar: “We have had a great connection over the summer. Really great connection. We both had to first adjust to each other playing out of pick-and-rolls and just kind of learning about the way we play, because he definitely needs the space to shoot. He’s really good at it whenever anybody goes under. So in practice, whenever I can, if I see anybody like trying to decide if they should go over or under, I will try to take a step higher. That way I can just stay there in front of him, let him shoot behind me, because that way there’s no contest. And he shoots it at such a high rate and so efficiently that I think it’s very hard for other teams to guard. And when he gets down, he has a really good floater, and he’s such a good decision-maker. He stays very patient that it’s amazing playing with him.”

Q: How do you see yourself fitting into the offense on this team?

Veesaar: “There’s going to be room for me to shoot. I’m definitely going to be rolling a lot with the guards we have, getting downhill. We’re going to have great floor spacing with the shooters we have, and I think we’re going to have a good connection also with Caleb (Wilson) and the bigs. When he goes without the ball, we can kind of see each other moving around and see where the open spaces are. I think we can just have a very efficient offense this year.”