UNC Basketball: Where Tar Heels stand with 5-star prospect Cole Anthony

Where does North Carolina stand with the top guard in the class of 2019?

Despite recently missing out on a couple of high-profile targets, Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels still have plenty at stake in the class of 2019.

Sure, the Tar Heels seemed like favorites in the Josh Green recruitment before the five-star wing chose Arizona over North Carolina. The same could be said of Tre Mann, the now-Florida Gator was once seen as a likely UNC commit. And even though the Tar Heels recently lost the Wendell Moore sweepstakes, there were very few surprised by his long-awaited commitment to Duke.

Williams and the Tar Heels are still right in the thick of a couple of important recruiting battles, including that of Cole Anthony, the No. 1 guard in the 2019 class.

Anthony is a 6-foot-3, 184-pound combo guard out of New York City, and the son of former 12-year NBA veteran Greg Anthony. He’s the No. 3 overall prospect in the class of 2019 according to the 247Sports Composite, and has been lauded as one of the most talented players in his class. Some have even gone as far as tabbing him the top prospect in the class. He also represents one of the rare cases in which a basketball prodigy is widely considered to turn out better than his father.

Anthony recently released a list of 12 finalists that includes Duke, Georgetown, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Villanova and Wake Forest. He has since stated that he’d soon be eliminating some programs, and releasing a revised list.

There’s really no indication at this point how many programs will make that list, or which ones he’ll cut from the initial group of 12. However, it seems fairly certain that North Carolina, Notre Dame and Oregon will all make the cut.

Rivals recruiting analyst Corey Evans updated Anthony’s recruitment on Tuesday, and talked about the programs that he sees as the favorites at this time.

"“The Tar Heels, Fighting Irish and Ducks were viewed as the primary contenders for Anthony before he scheduled his fall visits and nothing since has really changed that perception,” Evans said. “Now, it is a bit interesting that he is speeding things up some, which could align with a fall signing but for now, all signs point toward a late signing.Other programs could push those three programs, possibly, but unless another official visit is scheduled, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Oregon are the three you need to monitor.”"

According to predictions from recruiting experts on 247Sports — namely Director of Basketball Scouting, Jerry Meyer — the Tar Heels are currently the favorite to land the five-star combo guard.

Meyer, along with recruiting experts from Duke and Kentucky, have all cast their votes in recent weeks. Each of them chose North Carolina as Anthony’s most likely landing spot. Past predictions for Duke are still included in the odds, but North Carolina is now a 67 percent favorite to snag the talented guard.

As of now, the Tar Heels appear to be in a pretty good position to sign a player that would look nice alongside five-star big man Armando Bacot, who already committed to North Carolina in August.

Stick with Keeping It Heel in the coming months for more on Anthony’s recruitment.