Former UK basketball recruit Elliot Cadeau emerging as freshman star for North Carolina

A quick look up and down the North Carolina men’s basketball roster reveals a clear truth: The top-10 ranked Tar Heels are excelling in large part thanks to experience.

All four UNC players averaging at least 10 points per game — senior guard RJ Davis (21 points per contest), fifth-year big man Armando Bacot (15.9), junior forward Harrison Ingram (15.1) and fifth-year guard Cormac Ryan (10.4) — are multi-year college players who offer significant experience on head coach Hubert Davis’ team.

This same is true when you look at UNC’s top five rebounders (that same quartet plus former Louisville forward Jae’Lyn Withers).

But North Carolina’s leading assist man represents an element of youth on a Tar Heels team that ranks fourth in the country in Division I basketball experience, per KenPom.

That player also happens to be a former Kentucky recruit.

Freshman guard Elliot Cadeau’s 4.1 assists per game lead the way for North Carolina, the No. 9-ranked team in the nation per Monday’s new AP Poll.

While his shooting splits thus far have been unspectacular — the 6-foot-1 Cadeau is shooting 44.9% from the field, 27.3% from 3-point range and 54.8% from the foul line — he’s averaging only 1.3 turnovers per game and has started each of Carolina’s last four games.

“I think he thinks the game at a high level,” Brandon Jenkins, a national scout and recruiting analyst for 247Sports, previously told the Herald-Leader. “Another thing that I love is his combination of burst and change of pace. He just has a great shift of directions in the way he maneuvers to free up opportunities for himself and others.”

The Tar Heels are 3-1 in games Cadeau has started, with wins over then-No. 20 Arkansas (by 15 points) and then-No. 10 Tennessee (UNC scored 100 points in that one).

A 10-day gap between North Carolina’s last game (an 11-point loss to defending national champion UConn in New York City) and Saturday’s marquee showdown with No. 14 Kentucky in Atlanta should only give Cadeau more time to adjust and acclimate to the college game in practice.

“He’s just really skilled overall. (He) can make open shots. He has a great feel for the game, knows how to get others involved. He really takes care of the basketball,” Jenkins added. “I think there’s just a lot to like with him and how he projects on the college surface.”

Now a North Carolina freshman, Cadeau was formerly a Kentucky recruit

While a scholarship offer never arrived for Cadeau from Kentucky, there was clear interest in his game from the UK coaching staff.

Cadeau was the top-ranked point guard in the 2024 recruiting class, and was in contact with former Kentucky assistant coach K.T. Turner during his recruitment.

Cadeau — who represents Sweden in international basketball because his mother, Michelle, was born there — used his international experience to elevate his recruiting profile.

In 2022, Cadeau was named MVP of the FIBA Under-18 European Championship Division B after recording 36 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals in the championship game, which Sweden won.

This led ESPN NBA Draft analyst Jonathan Givony to rank Cadeau as one of the top NBA prospects to emerge from that event.

“I feel like I’m quick, athletic, I’m a shot maker and I make the right play at all times,” Cadeau told the Herald-Leader in August 2022, just days after winning that European title.

But as Kentucky’s 2023 recruiting class took shape, it was clear that despite interest from Turner and the Wildcats, a scholarship offer wouldn’t arrive for Cadeau, who missed his entire sophomore high school season with an ankle injury.

After beginning his high school career at Bergen Catholic in New Jersey, Cadeau transferred to upstart Link Academy in Missouri. His junior season at Link was highlighted by winning the 2023 GEICO Nationals championship in early April.

In the midst of that junior season, Cadeau committed to North Carolina in December 2022. In May, he opted to move up a year and reclassify, making him a member of this UNC squad.

“I’ve been playing with that 2023 class my whole life, it’s just normal to me. I’m pretty used to it,” Cadeau said.

While Cadeau has been hit-or-miss as an NBA mock draft candidate in recent weeks, the talent is clearly there, especially if he opts to spend a second season playing college basketball.

Regardless, this weekend is set to be a major basketball moment for not only Kentucky’s array of freshman guards, but also one at North Carolina that the Wildcats pursued.

Saturday

No. 14 Kentucky vs. No. 9 North Carolina

What: CBS Sports Classic

When: About 5:30 p.m. (following a game between Ohio State and UCLA that starts at 3 p.m. on the same court)

Where: State Farm Arena in Atlanta

TV: CBS-27

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Kentucky 7-2, North Carolina 7-2

Series: North Carolina leads 25-17

Last meeting: Kentucky won 98-69 on Dec. 17, 2021, at the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas

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