UNC Basketball: This 5-star prospect is planning a trip to North Carolina
Five-star guard will take trips to Duke, Kansas and North Carolina
Despite having an obvious emphasis on big men over the past several months, Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels have begun recruiting a number of talented back court players.
One of those players is Jalen Suggs, a five-star combo guard out of Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 6-foot-5, 185-pound junior already has excellent size for his position, and tremendous athleticism to match it.
Williams and UNC assistants were recently on hand to watch Suggs play in the Under Armour Association Challenge in Atlanta, Georgia where he averaged 15.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists over four games for Grassroots Sizzle. His tournament was highlighted by a 24-point game that included a perfect 14-of-14 mark from the free throw line, and 62 percent shooting for the week.
Also watching Suggs play in Atlanta was Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Kansas head coach Bill Self, and Kentucky Wildcats front man John Calipari. But despite the fact that all four Hall-of-Fame coaches were there closely watching Suggs, none have pulled the trigger on an offer yet.
Suggs has been very open about his desire to receive scholarship offers from college basketball’s blue bloods, and he feels that it’s only a matter of time before that happens.
"“I haven’t gotten offers from them, but I talk to all those coaches and assistants,” Suggs told the Star Tribune. “Talking and gaining knowledge from them is great. It helps me in becoming a smarter player and building relationships – that has been my main focus right now. I believe the offers will come if I keep performing. I just have to stay in the gym and keep getting better and do what I do.”"
Suggs has also stated that he plans to make unofficial visits to Duke, Kansas and North Carolina in the fall.
He’s also expressed an interest in playing with Jalen Green, his best friend and former teammate on the 2018 FIBA USA U17 Basketball World Cup team. Green is a shooting guard, and the No. 1 prospect in the class of 2020. The two top-10 players were roommates during the tournament, and played extremely well on the court together as well.
Green will, no doubt, get a lot of attention from college basketball’s elites, including all four blue bloods, which puts each team in a position to potentially sign both players.
"“We’ve talked about it a little bit,” Suggs said. “Me and him and a couple of the guys (on the World Cup team). But right now, the main focus is on getting better and competing with (our AAU teams).”"
The Tar Heels, in particular, have already been linked to both players, and would love for their 2020 recruiting class to be headlined by the uber-talented back court duo of Green and Suggs.
It’s not uncommon for schools like Duke and North Carolina to hold their offers until a player’s junior or senior season in high school, as they can typically make up ground quicker than most other programs. In the mean time, Suggs has offers from a handful of schools, and says that Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio State are the ones currently recruiting him the hardest.
Next: Tar Heels' 2019 class could look a lot like this...
Suggs is the No. 8 prospect in the class of 2020 according to the 247Sports Composite. He’s the No. 2 player at his position and the top prospect in the state of Minnesota.