Keeping It Heel
Fansided

UNC Basketball: Tar Heels losing ground on Wendell Moore?

By Zack Pearson

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 16: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels looks on from the sideline against the Lipscomb Bisons during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 16, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 16: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels looks on from the sideline against the Lipscomb Bisons during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 16, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The North Carolina Tar Heels appear to have fallen behind their rival in the race for recruit Wendell Moore

Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels appeared to be the heavy favorites to land class of 2019 forward Wendell Moore.

The in-state recruit received an offer from UNC back in February of 2016 as they joined N.C. State, Wake Forest , Georgia and Tennessee as schools to offer the five-star recruit. The offer made UNC the reported favorites to land him early in his recruitment

Everything was going good until about October of 2017.

That’s when Duke and Coach K entered the race. Moore received an offer from Duke and things started to turn in favor of the Blue Devils.

He did include both teams in his Top 10 list, with Duke and UNC battling it out in an old fashioned Tobacco Road recruiting war. Moore even attended last season’s “Late Night With Roy” event as the Tar Heels celebrated the new season and hung a National Championship banner in the Dean Dome.

Shortly after that, Moore told the Tar Heels coaching staff that he was expanding his recruitment with other schools by going through the process, another bad sign for UNC.

Now with the second evaluation period over, the Blue Devils appear to be in the lead for the prized recruit. Duke now controls the Crystal Ball for Moore, earning the last eight predictions from experts. They currently are the favorites at 69 percent compared to just 31 percent for UNC.

Moore recently spoke to Corey Evans of Rivals to update his recruitment. He told Evans that all 10 teams are currently recruiting him hard and it’s been “hectic” lately.

Here’s what he said about both Duke and UNC:

"Duke: “They just want me to come in and have me be a leader right away. Make an immediate impact and help them as fast as possible.”North Carolina: “They are just talking about me coming in and making an immediate impact and helping their team win.”"

Moore also hopes to cut his list down to five or six teams in the coming weeks. He plans on taking some official visits starting in September.

While UNC still remains in the race, it’s not good news for the Tar Heels. Barring a drastic change in his recruitment, we expect Moore to end up in Durham.

Next: Roy Williams offers new 2019 target

For more on UNC basketball recruiting including Moore and other 2019 targets, please check back with Keeping It Heel.

Home/UNC Basketball