A former local standout is coming back home.
Jarin Stevenson, a 6-foot-11 forward who spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career at Alabama, committed to head coach Hubert Davis and UNC out of the transfer portal Sunday night. Stevenson will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Stevenson’s high school recruitment saga stands as one of the more controversial in recent UNC history. A star at Seaforth High School in Pittsboro, Stevenson grew into a highly-touted prospect. ESPN and 247 Sports both rated Stevenson as a four-star recruit in the Class of 2024. And he was not the only Pittsboro prospect to draw national attention: Northwood High’s Drake Powell also ranked highly in the class.
UNC was heavily involved in Stevenson’s recruitment and initially considered one of the leaders in the race for his commitment. But Stevenson ultimately chose to reclassify – effectively skipping a year of high school and moving into the recruiting class of 2023 – and commit to Alabama.
Once he arrived in Tuscaloosa, Stevenson played a key role in helping the Crimson Tide reach the Final Four in 2024 – defeating No. 1 seed UNC in the Sweet 16 along the way. He saved the best game of his freshman season for crunch time, as Stevenson scored a then-career-high 19 points and shot 5-8 on three-pointers in an Elite Eight victory against Clemson, punching the Tide’s ticket to the national semifinals. He then wouldn’t score at all in Alabama’s season-ending loss to eventual champion UConn.
Stevenson started 22 of Alabama’s 37 games as a sophomore, including a 94-79 win against the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. He set a new career high with 22 points in just 20 minutes in a 103-80 win at Texas in February, shooting 4-5 from downtown. Stevenson reached double figures again in each of Alabama’s two SEC Tournament games, but would only score six total point in the Tide’s four NCAA Tournament contests – including a zero-point showing in its season-ending loss to Duke in the Elite Eight.
Stevenson’s numbers in his freshman and sophomore seasons are remarkably similar. In his first season, Stevenson averaged 5.3 points per game while shooting 41.8 percent overall and 31.7 percent on threes. As a sophomore, he averaged 5.4 points per game, shot 42.9 percent overall and 30.7 percent on threes. His free-throw percentage took a noticeable dip, from 68.9 percent as a freshman to 59.7 percent as a sophomore.
Now, Stevenson will finally suit up as a Tar Heel, joining a UNC program which has been vocal about its need to get bigger. He is the fourth transfer to commit to Carolina out of the portal during the 2025 offseason, joining West Virginia’s Jonathan Powell, Arizona’s Henri Veesaar and Colorado State’s Kyan Evans.
Featured image via Associated Press/David Richard
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