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After a Colorado judge ruled in favor of high school class of 2022 athletes being issued a fifth year of eligibility, a new transfer portal window opened Monday.
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With UNC holding onto one remaining roster spot, the program has been linked to multiple centers freshly eligible after the ruling. Among those talents are Florida transfer Micah Handlogten and South Dakota State transfer Cameron Fens, as first reported by 247Sports, and Villanova transfer Duke Brennan, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein wrote.
Handlogten spent the previous three seasons at Florida after playing at Marshall his freshman year. In 2025, he gave up his redshirt to play the final 16 games of the Gators’ season after the team suffered two frontcourt injuries, helping the team win the national title. Last year, he averaged 4.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in 34 games.
Fens spent his previous two years with South Dakota State after starting his career at Illinois-Chicago. Similar to Handlogten, 247Sports reported that other programs have reached out to the former Jackrabbits center. He averaged 14.4 points and 8.7 rebounds last season in 32 appearances last season.
Brennan has been with Arizona State to Grand Canyon to Villanova during his college career, and appears to be on the move to a fourth school as Rothstein reported his list was down to nine schools. In the 2025-26 season, he averaged 12.4 points and 10.3 rebounds in 32 games with the Wildcats.
It makes sense that UNC is pursuing another big man as it spent its first offseason with coach Michael Malone mostly retooling its backcourt, headlined by the addition of Utah guard Terrence Brown. Outside returning forward Jarin Stevenson, its current frontcourt is largely unproven following the departure of center Henri Veesaar to the NBA.
A source close to Handlogten confirmed UNC’s contact with the player to the News & Observer, noting several schools are interested in the center.
Handlogten is from Huntersville, near Lake Norman in the Charlotte metropolitan area, so from that perspective, the move to UNC would “make sense,” the source said. But they reiterated that the player has been in contact with multiple programs.
Handlogten is eligible to play one more college season because he didn’t sign a professional contract despite participating in NBA Summer League with the Utah Jazz. While he had the opportunity to accept a pro deal, the source said, he waited for the ruling on a fifth-year and got the good news Friday.
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The source said the Jazz were “terrific” and “patient” in ways they didn’t need to be as the process played out.
The federal lawsuit ruled on in Colorado was led by Colorado forward Brock Wisne and Minnesota guard Cade Tyson — who played for UNC during the 2024-25 season.
It was filed in the wake of the 5-for-5 rule, which revamped college athletes’ eligibility rules by eliminating traditional redshirts and hardship waivers in favor of a strict five-year clock, with limited exceptions such as military service or religious missions. Some class of 2022 players felt they were being treated unfairly by not being grandfathered into the rule, which they’ll now be, per the ruling.
Judge Charlotte Sweeney of the U.S. District Court of Colorado granted the preliminary injunction Friday.
“Plaintiffs have met their burden at every step,” the ruling noted. “They are likely to succeed on the merits … They will suffer irreparable harm without issuance of an injunction. And the balance of equities, as well as the public interest, favor them. They are entitled to the injunctive relief they seek.”
NCAA President Charlie Baker released a statement against the judgment, which the organization is appealing. Meanwhile, he advocated for the passing of the Protect College Sports Act — a bipartisan bill designed to standardize a framework for name, image and likeness (NIL) rules, transfer regulations and other similar matters.
“Without targeted intervention from Congress,” Baker stated, “college sports cannot set nationwide rules everyone can play by and without Congress, failed professionals will continue to use college sports as a fallback option — robbing the next class of young athletes of college scholarships.”
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This story was originally published August 3, 2026 at 2:57 PM.