A few months before the 2024-25 UNC basketball campaign got underway, the program shockingly announced that Zayden High was not enrolled at the university for the fall semester and would not be on the roster for that season.
A former four-star prep out of Compass Prep, High arrived in Chapel Hill two years ago as a four-star prospect, ranking No. 70 overall and No. 14 among power forwards on the 247Sports 2023 Composite.
He was expected to have a bigger presence on the team.
So, what went wrong?
It turns out UNC-Chapel Hill suspended men’s basketball player Zayden High from the university last semester after finding he violated the campus policy on sexual exploitation, per documents reviewed by The News & Observer and interviews of those involved in the case.
The publication reported that High filmed another student during a sexual encounter without their consent.
The student in question told the News & Observer that she felt “validated and “relieved” when the university ruled in favor of Zayden High’s dismissal in August.
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“Not that it made my pain from what happened go away, but it did make me feel like he was being held accountable,” she told the newspaper.
It looks like his dismissal from the team was temporary.
The 6-foot-9 forward re-enrolled in January and resumed classes at UNC this semester, which ended Monday ahead of final exams.
Now, the expectation is for High to return to the team.
Zayden High Has The Chance to Be a Huge Factor For North Carolina
As a freshman in 2022-23, High saw action in 23 games off the bench.
The 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward from San Antonio, Texas, averaged 0.8 points and 1.1 rebounds in 4.5 minutes per outing.
High’s return would make him one of the only members of the team next season with experience playing for the Tar Heels.
He could end up being a huge factor for the team.
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