UNC Basketball: Did Tar Heels chances for Jalen Wilson increase?

Where does the UNC Basketball program stand with four-star recruit Jalen Wilson after R.J. Hampton’s decision to play overseas?

Many thought the North Carolina Tar Heels 2019 recruiting class was wrapped up after landing commitments from guards Cole Anthony and Anthony Harris within hours of each other in late April. With the possibility of one scholarship left, there was a very slim chance at the time that UNC would add to the class.

Fast forward to Mid-May when four-star small forward Jalen Wilson announced he was decommitting from Michigan and re-opening his recruitment. Right away the Tar Heels were listed as a team to watch in the recruitment for Wilson and he is even set to visit Chapel Hill from June 3-5. 

As it stands now, Wilson has two visits lined up as he will take one to Kansas and one to UNC over the next few weeks. He’s also interested in Michigan again now that Juwan Howard has been named the coach.  Those three programs appear to be the teams his most interested in but some believe his decision will come down to either the Tar Heels or Jayhawks.

While we don’t know where Wilson stands with the two teams and who he is leaning to, some news on Tuesday from a fellow recruit in the 2019 class may impact his decision.

Five-star recruit R.J. Hampton announced Tuesday morning that he would not be playing college basketball and instead will head overseas to play for the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian National Basketball League. Hampton was down to Kansas, Memphis and Texas Tech in his recruitment and told Barstool Sports that he would have picked Kansas if he had not gone overseas.

Hampton’s decision could very well impact Wilsons. The two are best friends and have been rumored to be a package deal, centering around Kansas.

But now with Hampton going overseas, does that hurt the Jayhawks chances and help the Tar Heels? It’s very possible that both UNC and Michigan could benefit from Hampton choosing to play overseas and not picking the Jayhawks. However, there was never any 100% package deal as concrete info, more of just speculation.

The Jayhawks have some holes to fill on their roster and now Wilson becomes a top priority for them. They could also get back Devon Dotson and Quentin Grimes, who both have to make a decision on whether to stay in the NBA Draft or return by Wednesday.

The Tar Heels already have a really good 2019 class and welcomed in two graduate transfers in Christian Keeling and Justin Pierce. Of the three teams that are really left for Wilson, the Tar Heels have the best chance to make a deep run with their talented roster. Now, would Wilson want to join that class and potentially have to split playing time? That’s the big question.

Rivals recruiting analyst Corey Evans still believes Wilson picks Kansas when he’s set to make his decision but with the visits coming up, anything could happen, including him re-committing to Michigan. This is going to be an interesting next few weeks.

For more on UNC Basketball recruiting, please check back with Keeping It Heel.