In UNC’s win against Duke in Chapel Hill Feb. 7, Kyan Evans played six minutes off the bench and Zayden High didn’t play at all. That was less than a month ago, but it may as well have been ancient history Saturday night.
Evans and High both played more than 20 minutes in Carolina’s 89-82 win against Virginia Tech, providing critical bench support as their corresponding starters struggled. Jarin Stevenson was mired in foul trouble and eventually fouled out, while Derek Dixon finished just 1-4 from the floor.
High finished with 12 points and five rebounds in his 21 minutes of action. He was a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line and logged a team-best +13 plus-minus rating, meaning the Tar Heels outscored the Hokies by 13 points with High on the floor. Evans’ numbers weren’t as flashy, but the veteran’s steadiness was hard to quantify. The junior who helped lead Colorado State to the NCAA Tournament last season scored five points, dished out three assists and grabbed two rebounds and a steal in his 24 minutes. He also finished the game as UNC’s primary ball-handler against Virginia Tech’s full-court press defense. The Tar Heels did not commit a turnover against the press.
It would’ve been hard to predict this turn of events back on Feb. 7, but times have changed. The Duke game was UNC’s last with a fully healthy Caleb Wilson, who fractured his left hand in Carolina’s next game at Miami. Henri Veesaar also injured himself in the Miami game and missed UNC’s next two contests, paving the way for High to inherit more minutes. As for Evans, his role has diminished after beginning the season as the Tar Heels’ starting point guard. Even so, Evans has finished each of UNC’s last three games with positive plus-minus ratings. His 24 minutes played Saturday night were his most since UNC’s game at Stanford, which coincidentally was his most recent start.
“It’s rewarding for them,” UNC head coach Hubert Davis said of Evans and High. “Their toughness, their resiliency has been at practice, too. That hasn’t wavered.”
High put it simply: “It feels good to have a coach and a coaching staff that believes in you.”
If there is a silver lining to Wilson’s injury, it’s been the play of High in his absence. He’s now logged at least 16 minutes in each of UNC’s five games without Wilson, and the Tar Heels are 4-1 in those games. Outside of raw numbers, any casual observer can see High’s confidence growing by the minute. He’s not merely the stopgap until Wilson checks back into the game anymore. He’s his own player — and that’s good news for the Tar Heels.
“For those guys to stick through it, get out of the mud and battle through that adversity, it’s amazing,” said senior guard Seth Trimble, himself no stranger to in-season struggles. “You’ve seen over the years how many guys don’t make it out of that adversity, out of that mud. It’s incredibly hard.”
The unspoken truth of the matter is this: High and Evans could both very well enter the transfer portal in the offseason. There are plenty of schools that would give them starting roles as cornerstones of the program. Perhaps both will take that step. No one would blame them.
But for now, High and Evans both appear to have settled into their new roles — roles which neither of them likely expected back in November. Evans surely saw himself as the wire-to-wire starter, while High – for all of his confidence – could never have anticipated the injuries to Wilson and Veesaar. Now, they are two key pieces to the ever-evolving puzzle of UNC’s roster. And once Wilson returns to action, the puzzle will realign itself again.
Every game for the 2025-26 Tar Heels is its own story. Some have been good, some have been forgettable, and others have been “burn after reading” bad. Saturday night, Kyan Evans and Zayden High both took on lead roles in this particular story. And both were key to ensuring it ended as a crowd pleaser.
Featured image via Todd Melet
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Contributions from Kyan Evans, Zayden High Key in UNC Men’s Basketball’s Win vs. Virginia Tech Chapelboro.com.
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