UNC Basketball: Tar Heels chances at 5-star Walker Kessler?

The UNC basketball program is vying for a commitment from 5-star center Walker Kessler. What are the Tar Heels’ chances against the likes of Duke and Gonzaga?

On Friday morning, Roy Williams and the North Carolina basketball program got some good news from the recruiting class of 2020 when 5-star center Walker Kessler included the Tar Heels in his list of six finalists.

Along with North Carolina on Kessler’s list is Auburn, Cal, Duke, Gonzaga and Michigan. Eliminated from contention on Friday were a number of big-name programs including Florida, Florida State, Memphis, Tennessee, Texas A&M, UCLA, Virginia and Xavier.

Perhaps, most notably, though, was Georgia, who was thought of as a legitimate contender due to Kessler’s family ties to the school — his father, late uncle and brother all played for the Bulldogs — the proximity from his home town to the school, and the relationship he’d built with head coach Tom Crean.

With all but six of the nearly two-dozen schools that had offered Kessler now out of the running, what kind of chances do the Tar Heels have?

Rivals recruiting analyst Dan McDonald touched on that topic Friday morning after Kessler named his finalists. And while he feels like all six programs have an opportunity to snag the 6-foot-10, 225-pound big man, a pair of teams are currently standing out to him the most.

"“I’m going to put this one as really, really tight between Auburn and Duke as we move into his last set of visits to the schools,” McDonald said. “The idea of getting Auburn over the hump of winning a national championship, potentially joining a top recruiting class, and staying about an hour from home has the Tigers right at the top. The history of Duke’s program, Coach K’s persistence in recruiting him, and the recent number of NBA players to come out of Duke will be tough for Auburn or any other school to overcome.”"

So, while McDonald likes the work that Bruce Pearl and the Tigers have done to this point, it seems like Duke is the most likely landing spot for Kessler in his eyes. He mentioned that Michigan has remained in the running thanks to the Juwan Howard hire, similar to Gonzaga with the hiring of former Vanderbilt assistant Roger Powell. He noted that the relationship Kessler and his family have with Cal head coach Mark Fox could be a difference-maker, too.

North Carolina, on the other hand, seems like more of a long-shot in the eyes of McDonald, though he refuses to completely count out Roy Williams and the Tar Heels.

"“North Carolina should be taken seriously as well because of Roy Williams and his history with post players, but I think the Tar Heels are fighting an uphill battle given that they haven’t been as committed to his recruitment as the other schools.”"

The Tar Heels seemed to back off the Kessler recruitment for a short time while they were finishing up the 2019 class, but have recently gotten back to prioritizing a commitment from him.

70 percent of predictions in Kessler’s Crystal Ball are for Duke, and that was prior to announcing his list of finalists. Obviously, the 20 percent of votes for Georgia are now obsolete, and we’ll continue to follow his recruitment over the coming months as more rumors and information begin to surface.

We should find out quite a bit more after Kessler completes his visits — he has just one scheduled for Gonzaga on October 5. He plans to take an unofficial to Auburn, as well as officials to Cal, Duke, Michigan and North Carolina.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the Walker Kessler recruitment, and everything UNC basketball.