UNC Basketball: Will it be Kansas vs. North Carolina for this recruit?

The race for a top UNC Basketball target in the 2020 recruiting class could come down to a battle of blue bloods per a recruiting analyst

There is still a long way to go in the 2020 recruiting circuit after the Summer AAU session wrapped up last week. With only a handful of Top 100 recruits having verbally committed to programs, the cycle will eventually heat up over the coming months.

For the North Carolina Tar Heels, they have five-star center Day’Ron Sharpe as their lone commit so far in the class.

Sharpe originally committed to UNC back in June of 2018 as a four-star but since then he’s elevated his play and reached five-star status. The center has also been named a standout a few times over the past few months at some AAU events.

With a post player committed and others targeted, Roy Williams and his staff would love to add some players on the perimeter.

The Tar Heels will have a void on the perimeter following this season with Brandon Robinson graduating, Christian Keeling and Justin Pierce only being eligible for one season and Cole Anthony likely being a one and done. Williams has a few perimeter players targeted as they are high on his list, including five-star rising combo guard Bryce Thompson.

Like Sharpe, Thompson also recently hit five-star status with his stellar play in his junior season of high school and on the AAU circuit. Thompson has also shot up the recruiting rankings and is drawing interest from several big programs including UNC who offered him a few weeks back.

In total, Thompson has 17 offers and in-state Oklahoma currently leads the 247 Sports Crystal Ball predictor with 53% of the predictions. But one recruiting analyst from Rivals thinks that this recruitment could come down to a battle of two blue blood programs.

Rivals’ Eric Bossi wrote on 10 intriguing recruitments left in the 2020 class and included Thompson second on his list. While Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are involved, Bossi thinks that it could be a battle between the Jayhawks and Tar Heels:

"There is intrigue here as Kansas’ Bill Self and North Carolina assistant Steve Robinson both coached Thompson’s father in college. We may be headed towards a battle between the two. He’s been to Michigan State officially and locally Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and his father’s alma mater Tulsa are doing all they can to keep him local."

As noted above, Thompson’s father played at Tulsa and was coached by Self and Robinson so there is a connection to both schools.

The five-star guard has yet to visit UNC but has taken an unofficial visit to Kansas. He’s expected to take more visits before he makes an announcement and the goal is to get him on campus in Chapel Hill. From there, anything can happen in the recruitment.

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