UNC Basketball: Tar Heels picking up momentum with 2019 target?

The latest on a big class of 2019 five-star UNC basketball recruiting target and where things stand heading into the July Evaluation period.

With the July evaluation period beginning next week, Roy Williams and his Tar Heels basketball staff will be plenty busy checking in on 2019 recruiting targets. With point guard Jeremiah Francis as the lone verbal commitment, UNC still has a lot of targets left on their recruiting board.

One of those targets is power forward Armando Bacot.

The five-star recruit out of Virginia has become one of UNC’s top targets in this recruiting class as they look to add to the post. Bacot is one of the top recruits in the 2019 class as he’s ranked 21st in the class according to 247 Sports and is the top player in the state of Virginia.

Bacot’s recruitment has been pretty quiet of late and he’s still sticking with his final 10 that he released just a few months back. While we don’t have an update from Bacot, we do have some analysis from a recruiting analyst.

Rivals reporter Corey Evans published his weekly mailbag on Tuesday and answered questions about recruits including Bacot. He wrote on Bacot and how his recruitment has been quiet as of late.

Evans did say that Bacot was still down to his final 10 and that nothing has changed over the past few weeks. But as for the leaders? Well Evans hinted that UNC was still in the lead and has picked up some momentum.

Here’s what Evans wrote:

"Armando Bacot, a five-star prospect in the 2019 class, has been stuck on a final 10 for the past few months. Nothing has changed in recent weeks and while Duke was the perceived favorite for him during the spring months, momentum has been drifting in North Carolina’s direction."

Back in 2017 Duke was thought of as the favorites to land the big post player from Virginia and led the 247 Sports Crystal Ball predictor. But after Bacot visited Chapel Hill in February for UNC’s home game against Duke, things changed.

All of a sudden UNC took over the Crystal Ball predictor and was said to be the favorites to land him.

Since his recruitment has been pretty quiet, that’s where things stand today. Going into this July evaluation period, we can expect Williams and the Tar Heels staff to be in contact with Bacot and watch him play on the AAU circuit.

With both Vernon Carey and Wendell Moore being unlikely options, it’s very possible that Bacot is the top target on UNC’s list.

Next: Coby White wraps up USA Today Blog

For more on the five-star recruit and other UNC targets, please check back with Keeping It Heel.