Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler.
The good news and, for us, the bad news about Elliot Cadeau.
The Tar Heels’ freshman point guard, as we all know, has steadily improved as the season went on to where he made the All-ACC Rookie Team. He was the preseason Freshman of the Year but had to gradually learn how to adapt his penetrating game against much bigger, stronger college players.
Cadeau has suddenly begun to appear on NBA mock draft boards in the early to mid-second round, where he was absent most of the season. As a five-star recruit out of New Jersey, Cadeau was considered good enough to perhaps go one-and-done, which he still may elect to do.
That’s potentially bad news for the 2024-25 Tar Heels, who could really use a true quarterback next season. A lot depends on how No. 2 performs on the biggest stage, the NCAA Tournament, where his stock could continue to rise.
The additional good news for Cadeau and UNC is NIL, which Cadeau has used successfully since his high school years, where his prep reputation was going through the roof before he reclassified and came to Carolina early but already as a 19-year-old. The 6-1 beep-beeper will turn 20 on September 4.
Cadeau was an all-sport athlete growing up until he decided to focus on basketball at Bergen Catholic High School, where he starred as a freshman but missed his entire sophomore season with a high ankle sprain. He transferred to Link Academy in Missouri as a junior, and also played in Nike’s Elite Youth League, rated the No. 1 point guard in the class of 2024.
Suffering from a congenital hearing loss in one ear, Cadeau can still hear the reaction when he splits the defense or, like he did at Duke, double-pumped and hit a clutch 3-pointer late in the game.
He currently is 8th in the ACC in assists and assist-turnover ratio.
His father is Haitian and an avid tennis player; his older brother plays college tennis at Howard University. His mother is Swedish, qualifying Elliot to play internationally for Sweden, and he became the first American high school athlete to sign an international NIL deal with Roc Nation and the Swedish drink Vitamin Well.
He also has deals with Leaf Trading Cards, Wilson Sporting Goods and another Swedish company, Flowlife. He has a No. 2 Nike jersey with his name on the back and a Carolina blue t-shirt with his adorable caricature, both selling around town and the state.
So, unless he is a slam-dunk first-round pick, Cadeau has reasons to return and play at least another season for the Tar Heels.
Featured image via Todd Melet
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
