UNC’s Michael Malone earns transfer commitment from Luka Doncic clone from Virginia Tech originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
To be clear: Neoklis Avdalas isn’t Luka Doncic.
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But UNC’s newest men’s basketball transfer commitment to play for head coach Michael Malone certainly moves around the court much the way Doncic does.
His commitment became official on Monday:
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Avdalas arrived on the college basketball scene for 2025-26 from Greece, and the Luka vibes came quickly.
He’s a 6-foot-9, deliberate, smart guard who moves around the court in much the same way Doncic does.
His numbers in the non-conference schedule were fantastic, but Avdalas fell off during ACC play. Malone is likely figuring that a year under his belt in college hoops will do Avdalas good.
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He finished his lone season with the Hokies averaging 12.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 31.4% from 3-point range.
The outlines are there of a game that can be highly impactful. But it also didn’t show up quite enough in the big moments for Virginia Tech.
Avdalas has professional experience from Greece and now ACC experience from the lesser part of the league standings.
It’s a step up to come to Chapel Hill, but he has such an impressive skillset that no one will be betting against Avdalas beginning to realize more of his potential when he puts on a UNC jersey.
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