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UNC Basketball: Update on Donovan ‘Puff’ Johnson

By Zack Pearson

COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 22: Rameses, the North Carolina Tar Heels mascot, is seen as they take on the Iona Gaels during the first half of the game in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 22: Rameses, the North Carolina Tar Heels mascot, is seen as they take on the Iona Gaels during the first half of the game in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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UNC Basketball target Donovan “Puff” Johnson was ruled ineligible for his final season of high school basketball. What does that mean for his recruitment?

It really wasn’t a surprise when Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels offered class of 2020 small forward Donovan “Puff” Johnson. UNC has ties to the Johnson family with Cameron transferring from Pitt to UNC to play his final two seasons in Chapel Hill.

With his older brother at UNC, Puff was able to make several unofficial visits to see his brother play and spend time on campus. That’s where UNC might have the advantage in his recruitment.

Despite those visits and an offer in mid-May, his recruitment is still on-going and the Tar Heels are no lock to land him. He has a total of 17 offers including from UNC, Arizona, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh among others.

As it stands now, UNC’s biggest competition is Arizona as they currently have 80% of the Crystal Ball predictions on 247 Sports compared to just 20% for UNC.

Johnson will continue to play on the AAU circuit this Summer but recently there was a big development in his recruitment. He was ruled ineligible to play in his senior year at Moon Area in Pennsylvania because he played high school ball in seventh and eighth grade.

With that development, his family has ruled that with an appeal. But now they have some options and one of those options includes playing college basketball in 2019. Rivals recruiting analyst Corey Evans broke it all down with an update on Johnson in his three-point play article:

"The Johnson family has appealed the ruling, but until the final word comes down, Johnson is exploring his options in case things don’t work out. The four-star prospect is currently on campus at UNC working out with his brother, and it’s possible that Johnson could receive enough credits to be ruled eligible to play college basketball this season. If that is the case, Arizona might be the team to beat, though Notre Dame, Pitt and North Carolina would definitely be options, too."

Evans also said that going to Prep School or playing in Arizona while living with his brother could be options. With that, it appears as if this puts Arizona in good position to land him.

While Johnson has been on UNC’s campus working out with Cam, he soon might be living in Arizona and can visit there unofficially more. He could also join a loaded Wildcats team if he’s ruled eligible for this season.

Whatever happens, this will certainly be something to monitor in his recruitment moving forward.

Next. Tar Heels called legit contender for 2020 center. dark

For more on Johnson and other UNC Basketball recruiting targets, please check back with Keeping It Heel.

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