Heading into the 2025 season, North Carolina boasts one of the most prospect-filled rosters in college basketball. High-upside freshmen, returning players, and transfers help make the Tar Heels not only an interesting team to monitor in terms of the draft but also a real title contender.

Let’s highlight five standout players who have the best chance of being selected in the 2025 NBA draft.

Ian Jackson may have the most star potential out of this group, thanks to his polarizing two-way upside. He has great athleticism, which allows him to disrupt opponents on the defensive end as well as finish plays above the rim in transition. While playing in the halfcourt, Jackson does a great job of penetrating defenses and either sliding to the rim or knocking down mid-range pull-ups. His ability to make highlights will surely make him a fan favorite and could propel him up draft boards, but he will need to improve his connectivity and three-point shooting to reach his full potential as a prospect. Jackson looks like a surefire first-round selection and could battle his way into the top 10 if his fit promotes him to one of the Tar Heel’s first scoring options.

Drake Powell is a physically dominant wing whose high-level motor makes him impactful all over the court. He is not much of a self-creator at the moment, which could slow his development throughout his freshman year, but he excels in the open court. His ability to attack the rim off-ball is impressive, as he jumps at opportunities to cut for open runways. Defensively, Powell uses his elite athleticism and strong frame to create havoc within opponents’ offenses. Major shooting improvements may be a little ways off, but if he can show some steps in the right direction, his potential will be extremely intriguing to NBA teams. Powell could easily be viewed as a lottery-level talent, but time will tell just how promising his off-ball skill set will be.

Elliot Cadeau was one of the highest-ranked guards coming into his freshman season in 2024 but struggled at times, which led him to return for his sophomore year. He is a little undersized but has an impressive handle, great court vision, and high-end change of speed. Cadeau led the Tar Heels in assists last season and should be able to continue his playmaking productivity heading into year two. A key factor in his draftability will rely on how well he improves his three-point shooting. Last season, Cadeau made just below 19% of his threes, which is far from NBA-ready. Depending on where his improvements take him during the upcoming season, Cadeau’s draft range is uncertain but would likely fall somewhere in the second round.

Cade Tyson is a very intriguing transfer for the Tar Heels and has a chance to be seen as one of the best shooters in all of college basketball. He has good size and moves extremely well off-ball while getting to his spots for open threes. Tyson also has decent athleticism, which can be seen as he runs the court in transition and finishes plays at the rim when he gets a running start. His career shooting splits of 49%/45%/86% paint a clear picture of just how deadly he is on jumpers. He has good touch inside the perimeter and can also serve as a great connective playmaker, which should take another leap while playing with a more talented Tar Heel roster. If Tyson enters the 2025 draft, he would most likely be viewed as a second-round steal and could be a plug-and-play shooter.

RJ Davis was one of the best players in college basketball last season, and while he does not have great positional size, his ability to create space seems translatable to the NBA level. He can score from all three levels efficiently and excels both on and off the ball. Davis was productive while playing with upperclassmen last season and should showcase even more leadership on their retooled roster. Davis’ on-ball scoring could fit into a spark-plug off-the-bench role for several NBA teams, similar to how Cam Thomas has been used by the Nets at times, but he will need to continue improving on the defensive end. As an older, undersized prospect, his draft range is wide, but he will definitely get an opportunity to prove himself regardless of where he is drafted.

Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — It’s the calm before the storm but people in Biltmore Village are bracing for the worst.

“Well, you know, I’m kind of in a place of like shock and awe and also how do you protect,” said David Ross, a Biltmore Village resident. “So, like I’m in that place of like trying to do the best you can.”

When Ross saw the forecast — with the river expected to crest — he quickly got to work boarding up an Indian restaurant housed in his building and protecting what they could from inside by putting it in trucks.

Across western North Carolina, people anxiously prepared for the expected arrival of Helene, which Thursday night was menacing the Florida coast as a major Category 4 hurricane.

“I don’t think people are aware of the magnitude of what’s going to they say is going to happen,” one person said.

Across Asheville, stores and shops were getting ready for the storm.

Susan May-West said she remembers how bad things got 20 years ago from a similar storm and wasn’t taking any chances.

“We’ve got sandbags, tarps, silicone, you name it. We’re doing everything we can because I was here in 2004, and I know what it looks like and it’s going to be worse than that,” said May-West, who owns Blue Goldsmiths in Asheville. “So, we’re pretty prepared.”

Stores weren’t the only thing closing. Even the Blue Ridge Parkway was shut down.

Meanwhile, it’s been a tough couple of days for Mac Parra. He had a tough time getting to Asheville from California in time for his sister’s wedding this weekend.

“We circled Atlanta for an hour, hour and a half, and then got diverted to Birmingham, sat at the gate for a good two hours,” Parra said.

After another two-hour delay and a shortage of Ubers in Asheville, he made it. Now he’s trying to make the most of the weekend.

“That’s what I’m trying to do. Yeah, Hopefully,” Parra said. “Hopefully it won’t be raining on Saturday.

Helene is forecasted to cause significant problems including flash flooding and landslides in portions of western North Carolina.

Buncombe County’s emergency management leaders have been telling people who live down close to the river in the Biltmore Village area to self-evacuate.

Once things ramp up Friday, they said it could get to the point where water rescues may not be possible.

The North Carolina State Emergency Operations Center deployed 16 swift water rescue teams and added three additional swift water rescue teams from New York, Indiana and Illinois.

ABC11 was in Cary early Thursday as local emergency teams geared up to head to western North Carolina.

The Cary Swift Water team out of Station No. 7 loaded up several cars and trailers with boats attached.

WATCH | Duke Energy on preparation for power outages from Helene

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is attempting to rally Republican support in the final stretch of the North Carolina governor’s race — but it won’t include the GOP governors in all four neighboring states.

In the days since CNN published an investigation connecting Robinson to a series of explicit racial and sexual posts online, the governors of South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia — all Republicans — have distanced themselves from Robinson’s candidacy.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, head of the group for GOP governors, has withdrawn his endorsement. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he “will not be offering further support,” while Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office similarly said he had “no plans” for future support. And South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster plans to direct his attention elsewhere.

“I don’t think I’ll be going back to North Carolina,” McMaster told South Carolina reporters. “They haven’t asked me to come. I have been there before. I campaign for a lot of Republicans, and I will continue to do that. But I think there are others that may need help as well.”

The comments come as the Republican Governors Association, the campaign group dedicating to electing GOP governors, halted spending in the state despite it being one of the only competitive races this cycle. RGA’s most recent spending expired on Tuesday; they have not made any new investments.

Robinson, meanwhile, has sought to rally what remaining support he has left among Republicans, while stamping out criticism within the party. In a short video posted to social media Wednesday, he appears to be speaking on a video call on a computer.

“This morning I spoke with Republican leaders across the state and made it clear: This is an election about policies, not personalities,” Robinson wrote. “Now is not the time for intra-party squabbling and nonsense.”

“A surefire way to destroy this country is to start attacking each other rather than enemies at hand,” Robinson wrote in another post. “As Republicans, we should have one mission, and that is VICTORY in November.”

His campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the four governors distancing themselves from Robinson.

NC GOP candidates want answers — but those in top races stop short of calls to step aside

The reception from North Carolina Republicans down the ticket have been slightly less chilly.

GOP candidates for statewide office have urged Robinson to get to the bottom of the online comments. He has hired an attorney to investigate CNN’s reporting, and today pledged “complete cooperation.”

Hal Weatherman, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, said if Robinson can prove the allegations are false, “he will win in a landslide.” If not, “he will lose, because the comments being attributed to him are highly disturbing.”

Weatherman said Republicans in the state “need to stay focused on winning our own races.” He did not call for Robinson to step aside as nominee if he cannot find evidence that proves he did not make the online comments.

U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop said he was “focused on winning the attorney general’s race.”

“As a matter of law, any decisions about how to proceed in the governor’s race rest solely with Mark and are between him and the people of North Carolina,” Bishop wrote on social media.

One Republican candidate has explicitly called for Robinson to step aside if he’s unable to refute the allegations made in the CNN story — Brad Briner, the nominee for state treasurer.

“If Mark Robinson cannot put these allegations to rest in the coming days, he should step aside for a candidate that can turn the focus of the campaign back to issues like inflation, healthcare costs and taxes that voters tell me they are concerned about,” Briner wrote.

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis did not explicitly call for Robinson to step aside, but did write on social media that if the reporting is true, Robinson should “take accountability for his actions and put the future of NC & our party before himself.” He gave Robinson a deadline of Friday. U.S. Sen. Ted Budd called the allegations “disturbing,” and said Robinson should prove they’re not true.

Robinson has not listed any public events on his campaign website since Monday.

Several media outlets reported Wednesday that top staffers in the lieutenant governor’s state office have issued resignations this week. Robinson announced Thursday afternoon that Krishana Polite would serve as his new chief of staff.  She previously served as the deputy chief of staff.