The North Carolina Tar Heels will have to find a new starting center for next season.

On Friday, just hours before the deadline, Henri Veesaar made the decision to enter the NBA Draft and intends to stay in the draft rather than return to North Carolina. The decision is a big blow to North Carolina's 2026-27 rotation as they were hoping to retain Veesaar for another year.

However, with multiple centers dropping out of the draft and Veesaar's stock seemingly on the rise, it was a decision he was comfortable making.

North Carolina made a strong push to keep Veesaar under Michael Malone. They went out to California to meet with him and even offered him a big NIL deal per Matt Norlander.

NEWS—Henri Veesaar is leaving UNC and intends to stay in the NBA Draft, source told @CBSSports. Avgd 17.0 pts, 8.7 rebs, shot ~42% from 3. Big domino on this NCAA draft declaration deadline day. Veesaar a potential 1st-rounder but will leave a big NIL💰 on the table as a result pic.twitter.com/5r7MnX7qou

In his lone season at UNC, Veesaar averaged 17 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. He also shot 42 percent from the three-point line. When Caleb Wilson went down with his injury, Veesaar became UNC's best player and had a few big games for the Tar Heels.

With limited options in the transfer portal, it will be interesting to see how the Tar Heels pivot.

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: Henri Veesaar to enter 2026 NBA Draft