Zayden High, a four-star Class of 2023 recruit who has barely gotten on the court in his time at North Carolina, is getting minutes now, with Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar on the sidelines with injuries.
The 6’10” sophomore got the business from the NC State crowd during the Heels’ 82-58 loss to the Wolfpack in Raleigh on Tuesday night, serenaded with chants of “No means no!” – a reference to the off-the-court issue that sidelined him for the 2024-2025 season.
Per reporting from The News & Observer, High was suspended by the University of North Carolina in 2024 after the UNC Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office found that he had violated the school’s policy on sexual exploitation – specifically, he filmed another student during a sexual encounter without the student’s consent.
There was controversy surrounding the suspension – that UNC allowed High to have access to athletics facilities while on suspension for the fall 2024 semester, and then during a probationary period that he served in the spring 2025 semester, in violation of the sanctions handed down by the EOC office.
That all got quietly swept under the rug, which you’d expect in big-time college athletics – but even for a kid who barely got off the bench this season until the injuries to Wilson and Veesaar?
High had played a total of 105 minutes in Carolina’s first 24 games, just 29 minutes in the first 11 games of ACC play, before getting 32 minutes (15 points, 7-of-11 FG, seven rebounds) in the 79-65 win over Pitt on Saturday, and then 30 minutes (13 points, 4-of-6 FG, 5-of-8 FT) and 10 rebounds in last night’s loss.
I mean, sure, the kid filmed a sexual encounter without consent, which, you know, that’s a crime, if the victim hadn’t wanted to avoid having to go through the court system, and having her name dragged in the process.
But, you never know when you might need to get minutes from a 6’10” guy on the end of the bench.
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Chris Graham
