UNC Basketball: Recruiting analyst weighs in on Isaiah Todd and UNC

Recruiting analyst weighs in on 5-star prospect Isaiah Todd, UNC basketball and the programs working hardest for his commitment

With the imminent departure of senior forward Luke Maye, and the uncertainty surrounding a group of largely inexperienced sophomore bigs, Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels continue to look for front court help in the classes of 2019 and beyond.

After missing out on many of their top targets over the past few years, they were thrilled to get a commitment from Armando Bacot, one of the nation’s premier high school bigs. The class of 2019 prospect should help alleviate some of the Tar Heels’ immediate concerns with depth, as well as add a talented big man to the roster that could potentially make his way into North Carolina’s starting lineup in the fall.

But even with Bacot, and an improved soon-to-be junior Garrison Brooks, North Carolina may still be lacking size and talent in its front court. Reserve power forward Sterling Manley showed promise in year one at North Carolina, but a nagging knee injury kept him out of the Tar Heels’ lineup for 16 games this season, and he’s played just three total minutes in the two games since his return.

That’s why Williams and his staff have maintained their fervent pursuit of many of the biggest names on the recruiting trail. Although they didn’t get commitments from players such as James Wiseman, Vernon Carey, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl or Wendell Moore, and almost definitely won’t hear their names called during Matthew Hurt’s upcoming announcement, there are plenty of elite prospects to be had.

One of them is class of 2020 big man Isaiah Todd, a 6-foot-10, 195-pound power forward out of Richmond, Virginia. A junior at Trinity Academy of Raleigh, Todd is an elite talent, and one of the top players in the class at his position. And as you’d expect, Todd is being recruited by some of the top basketball programs in the nation including Kansas, Kentucky and Maryland.

Todd has plenty of time to make a decision, but going off of the evidence that we have now, it appears that those three schools, along with North Carolina and Oklahoma State, have separated themselves from the pack.

Rivals recruiting expert Corey Evans spoke to that topic this week when he was asked about Oklahoma State’s chances of signing both Todd and class of 2019 4-star prospect Christian Brown.

"“I do not see Oklahoma State landing both Isaiah Todd and Christian Brown, but I do give the Cowboys about a 50 percent chance of at least nabbing one of the two,” Evans said. “I feel most comfortable predicting Brown for OK State even though they have recruited Todd longer.Todd has the chance to reclassify into the 2019 class this spring. Kentucky was the most recent to offer and a visit could be in the works. However, it is North Carolina that has a good shot with him when it comes to his commitment.”"

There was a flurry of speculation in late January that Todd might reclassify into the 2019 class, but much of that talk has died down. It seems more likely at this point that he remains in his natural class, and joins the collegiate ranks in the fall of 2020.

Along with that speculation was the popular belief that a reclassification meant that Todd was likely leaning toward a Kentucky commitment. That notion, too, has seemed to take a back seat in recent weeks, and it’s North Carolina — who was considered a favorite for Todd from the early goings — that seems to be picking up steam again.

Projections by experts and contributors on 247Sports.com still favor the Wildcats as a 58 percent favorite to land Todd. North Carolina is in second-place with 17 percent of the vote, while three other schools — Kansas, NC State and Oklahoma State — each have eight percent of the vote.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the Todd recruitment, and everything North Carolina basketball.