Third-year UNC basketball head coach Hubert Davis went into enemy territory on Thursday with eyes on landing two-year Kentucky player Adou Thiero, a 6-foot-7, 200-pound wing whose long-limbed frame and athletic upside have drawn heavy interest since his entry into the transfer portal a month ago.

Davis, who brought along assistant coaches Jeff Lebo and Sean May to meet with Thiero at a Lexington steakhouse near campus, caught the attention of Wildcat faithful. Of course. several of their pictures began popping up all over social media:

Hubert Davis is at Malones in Lexington…how do I know? 4 people have sent me a picture of him pacing around the parking lot on his phone

 

Needless to say, the Tar Heels must’ve known they’d attract curious onlookers galore by entering the heart of a fellow blueblood’s turf, now transitioning out of the John Calipari era and into Mark Pope madness, and recruiting a promising Kentucky talent who has not yet publicly ruled out a return to Big Blue Nation.

Bold move by Davis & Co., indeed. Only time will tell if the effort pays off in the end.

Although some see the battle coming down to UNC and Pitt, Thiero hasn’t publicly ruled out any of the schools on his reported list, which includes the Tar Heels, Panthers, and Wildcats, as well as Arkansas (Calipari’s new home) and Indiana.

As a sophomore this past season for the Wildcats under Calipari, the 19-year-old Thiero averaged 7.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 21.4 minutes per game.

With eyes on applying a few finishing touches to a 2024-25 UNC basketball roster that already looks well on its way to a top-five preseason ranking, Hubert Davis and his gang have yet to find paydirt in any of their transfer pursuits this offseason.

They’ve contacted roughly a dozen names in the transfer portal and have hosted a few of them in Chapel Hill. And between the 247Sports Crystal Ball and chatter on social media, they’ve even looked like an outright frontrunner once or twice.

It’s likely only a matter of time before a prime target with serious championship aspirations pledges allegiance to Davis and the 2024-25 Tar Heels.

Perhaps it’ll soon be Adou Thiero.