Angelo Brizzi had filed his waiver, but then forgot about it.
The University of North Carolina guard, who had stops at Villanova, Davidson, Longwood and Buffalo in his career before transferring to the Tar Heels this offseason, had to seek an additional season of eligibility in order to arrive in Chapel Hill.
Read more Jury selection begins in Faith Hedgepeth murder trial 14 years after her death
But he didn’t make it seem as if there was much seeking going on as he awaited the results of the waiver process. After a strong finish to his college career, averaging 14.5 points per game for Buffalo with six 20-plus point scoring performances from February on, he was prepared to head overseas. He’d never had an agent in college, but he met with one to get a jumpstart on settling his overseas situation, which he said is typically handled on the back-half of the summer.
“I’d actually had my first conversation with my agent about that stuff when the waiver hit,” Brizzi said. “So all we ever really had was one conversation, and then pivoted right back to college. So didn’t get very far.”
He didn’t know what he was searching for in a team, but in joining UNC, he joins an interesting situation. He’s one of four transfers new coach Michael Malone has brought on in the backcourt, and no two players are all that similar. Brizzi said he’s played a lot on-ball as a point guard in his career, which is a position that 6-foot-9 Neo Avdalas said he’s traditionally played, but Avdalas noted that the Tar Heels have Terrance Brown for that, too, “who’s also elite at handling the ball.”
“They’re pretty good,” Brizzi said of the two with a smile.
Then there’s also NC State transfer Matt Able, who also can handle the ball some. The early indications where that the Tar Heels could play faster, but it remains to be seen what that would look like — and who would be pushing the ball up the floor. Avdalas said that’s not his decision, but expected it would be a mix of him, Brown and Able. And if Brown is hot, he’s going to give it up. He doesn’t care about stats, he said, he wants to win.
Avdalas has individual goals: He averaged 12.1 points and 4.6 assists per game as a freshman at Virginia Tech, but shot just 38.6% from the field. He said his numbers didn’t represent who he is as a player. His 44.9% shooting from two-point range, per KenPom, “wasn’t really me.” His 67.3% free-throw shooting was “awful for me.” But the challenge for North Carolina will be finding ways that a collection of able ballhandlers complement each other, and Avdalas said Malone is already working out ways to run plays where everyone “can eat.”
Read more 13 of the best places to pick apples this fall in North Carolina
In that time, Brizzi said he’s played a mix of on the ball and off the ball, which is what he expected his role could be. Roles aren’t clear yet, and returners Isaiah Denis and Jaydon Young hope to carve out a place in the Tar Heels’ rotation, too. But late in the transfer portal, Brizzi provided capable insurance in one key area: experience.
This isn’t the first time he was recruited by UNC, actually. He took an unofficial visit to Chapel Hill, taking in a football game, in the fall of his junior year at Highland High School in Monterey, Virginia. Yet he was on campus to be recruited by Roy Williams, the same weekend as former Tar Heels Caleb Love and Walker Kessler.
“Shows you how old I am,” Brizzi joked.
Brizzi eventually chose Villanova after Williams made it clear he had another point guard target, and returning is “full circle.” He even gets to play for the person who coached a former Villanova teammate of his, Collin Gillespie, in the NBA, seeking Gillespie’s advice after UNC reached out. The Tar Heels have a lot of dynamic options. So Brizzi wants to remain reliable.
“Just from having been around the block,” Brizzi said, “I think I could be a steady presence.”
Read more Bill Belichick: UNC football’s passing game struggles not all on quarterback
This story was originally published September 29, 2026 at 6:04 AM.