UNC Basketball: 5-star UNC target announces plans for official visits

5-star UNC basketball target announces plans for official visits

Despite recent momentum that appears to be favoring the Tobacco Road team in a darker shade of blue, the North Carolina Tar Heels got some good news on Tuesday night regarding class of 2020 prospect Walker Kessler.

According to Rivals’ Dan McDonald, the 5-star big man has scheduled official visits to four of his six finalists, beginning with Michigan on August 31. Duke will get his next visit on September 6. Kessler will return to the Tar Heel state a few weeks later to visit North Carolina on September 20. He’ll wrap up this round of visits a couple of weeks later when he takes a trip to Gonzaga on October 4.

Cal could also receive a visit from Kessler at some point, and he’s already made an official visit to Auburn.

The 6-foot-10, 225-pound big man out of Woodward Academy in Fairburn, Georgia had well over 20 scholarship offers to choose from when he cut his list to a half-dozen last month. Notable teams that didn’t make the cut for Kessler are Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, Memphis, Tennessee, Texas A&M, UCLA, Virginia and Xavier.

Kessler has a nice physique, particularity for a near-7-foot center. Despite not being overly athletic, his height, length and strength make him an elite college prospect. He can also run the floor very well — something that would be put on display at North Carolina with regularity — and has a nice offensive game.

He’s got some nice post moves, can face-up to the basket and has a nice hook shot. Given that many of his shots will come inside 15 feet, he’s going to hit a high percentage of his field goal attempts, and converts well from the free throw line, too. He’s obviously going to grab his fair share of rebounds, and can impact the game from a defensive standpoint with his long arms and ability to block shots.

Kessler is the No. 16 prospect in the nation according to the 247Sports Composite for the class of 2020. He’s the fourth-ranked center in the class, and No. 1 in the state of Georgia.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the Walker Kessler recruitment, and everything UNC basketball.