Keeping It Heel
Fansided

UNC Basketball: Tar Heels showing interest in 2020 point guard

By Blake Cockrum

GLENDALE, AZ - APRIL 01: The North Carolina Tar Heels mascot performs against the Oregon Ducks during the 2017 NCAA Men's Final Four Semifinal at University of Phoenix Stadium on April 1, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ - APRIL 01: The North Carolina Tar Heels mascot performs against the Oregon Ducks during the 2017 NCAA Men's Final Four Semifinal at University of Phoenix Stadium on April 1, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Top-25 point guard hoping for scholarship offer from UNC

If it seems like Roy Williams is recruiting just about every five-star post player in the class of 2019, it’s because he is.

The Hall-of-Fame head coach, now in his 16th season at the University of North Carolina, has cast a wide net in an attempt to solidify the future of the Tar Heels’ front court. That stems primarily from his affinity for a traditional lineup, and reluctance to play small ball. But it also has a lot to do with the current make-up of his team, and their marked disadvantage against larger opponents.

Despite all of that, though, the most important position in Williams’ offense has – and will always be – the point guard. Thus, his search for talented guard play never ends.

Related Story: The latest on Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

The Tar Heels have an inexperienced junior point guard on their roster, and an incoming five-star combo guard that we’ll likely see transitioned to a full-time point guard. Beyond that, the team’s back court gets pretty thin.

North Carolina got an early commitment in the class of 2019 from four-star point guard Jeremiah Francis, but have extended no additional scholarship offers to ball-handlers in the class. Williams is, however, keeping tabs on a number of point guards in the class including top-25 prospect D.J. Carton.

Carton is one of the top point guards in the class of 2019, and despite already cutting his list to six schools – Indiana, Iowa, Marquette, Michigan, Ohio State and Xavier – reportedly remains interested in receiving offers from college basketball’s blue bloods.

Carton has already gotten to know Kansas head coach Bill Self, thanks to his time spent with the USA Basketball U18 team. They’ve been able to build a relationship and gain some familiarity between each other, and they’ve kept in contact in the time since.

And although Carton hasn’t heard directly from Duke or North Carolina, representatives from both schools have reached out to people close to him to get to know him a little better and gauge his interest. Both schools will be on hand to watch him play during the July evaluation period as well.

When asked about a potential marriage between him and the aforementioned programs, Carton expressed his interest and discussed the approach he would take upon receiving an offer.

"“I am going to approach it like I did everyone else. I’m open to them and I am going to take it slow,” Carton told Rivals. “I have to pay attention to them because I know they can help me get to what I hope will be my future. My approach right now is they aren’t any better than the schools that I am currently considering and I would need to get to know the coaches and the program, like I have done with the other schools.”"

Carton has left his timetable for a decision pretty open, taking his time to go through the process and allow for additional offers to come in.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound guard is the No. 24 player in the class of 2019 according to the 247Sports Composite. He’s the second-ranked point guard in the class and the No. 1 prospect in the state of Iowa.

Next: UNC's roster is set, but which players will start?

Stick with Keeping It Heel throughout the offseason for more on Carton and the class of 2019.

Home/UNC Basketball