Isaiah Denis heard it from a lot of people after his freshman season with UNC basketball.
Following a two-week stretch of uncertainty in the transfer portal, Denis decided he would return to the Tar Heels with hopes of becoming a regular member of the rotation in Michael Malone’s debut season as head coach.
The 20-year-old Charlotte native is ready “to get out there and show the world what I got” after a season spent mostly on the bench under former coach Hubert Davis.
“I feel like my confidence right now is really through the roof,” Denis said during an episode of the Carolina Insider podcast, an in-house production which features play-by-play announcer Jones Angell and writer Adam Lucas.
“I’m on another level right now and I’m just ready to get out there and let that dog outta the cage.”
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During his brief stint in the transfer portal, Denis said he knew what he was looking for and “UNC was where I needed to be” as a sophomore. Leaning on his family and faith, Denis decided everything he wanted to accomplish could be accomplished in Chapel Hill.
“Just praying it over with my family, talking to God, I’m a big faith believer. My relationship with Jesus is very strong, so definitely just wanted to keep Him at the forefront of everything in my decisions,” Denis said.
“I felt like Carolina is home and this is where He wants me to be. He wants me to be able to show the community and everybody what they were missing out on last year.”
A nagging finger injury presented Denis with a setback before he even got a chance to find his footing with the Tar Heels ahead of his freshman year.
“I’m 100% healthy. Last year, that definitely set me back. As a freshman, you’re trying to come in and earn the coaches’ trust, earn minutes and things of that nature, which I felt like I was doing,” Denis said.
“Some of the coaches told me I was right on track to be one of those rotational guys, but the injury set me back. I was out for like two or three months, so that really hurts. Was played a bad hand, but just kept working at it and then just kind of got into a groove in practice around November and just started getting my confidence back.”
After reportedly “lighting up” the Tar Heels on a consistent basis in practices throughout the 2025-26 season, Denis received glowing recommendations from assistant coaches Sean May and Pat Sullivan, both of whom told Malone that keeping Denis around would be a wise move for the Tar Heels.
“We connected on a competitive edge type of thing. He hadn’t watched film prior to that, so he wasn’t really familiar with my game,” Denis said of Malone.
“He was just going off what Coach May and Coach Sully were saying, vouching for me. They were people that guided me in practice and coaching me up. … They’ve seen what I can do in practice, so they really vouched for me and was like, ‘That is one of the guys that we need to retain.’ I appreciate them for that, for sure.”
That competitive mindset and the promise to get an “equal opportunity” to secure a spot in the rotation provided Denis with reasons to believe in Malone’s vision for the program.
Malone has “painted a clear picture,” Denis said, of what he wants to see from the Tar Heels, starting with that competitive edge.
“Coach Malone took time to go watch my film and he was really impressed,” Denis said. “He was like, ‘You have great tangibles, you’re really athletic, can shoot it, got a nice touch. Very fast.’ That was the first thing that stood out to him: very electric, very fast.”
He’s hopeful fans will be able to see that version of him this season.
As a senior and state championship season at Davidson Day School in North Carolina, Denis averaged 16.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound guard appeared in 10 games as a freshman at UNC, averaging 1.9 points and 3.4 minutes per game.