UNC Basketball: Top-10 recruit joining Tar Heels 2020 class?

Is the UNC basketball program about to have its third top-10 recruit in the last three recruiting cycles?

Two years removed from the cloud of NCAA investigation that hung overhead for the better part of four seasons, the North Carolina basketball program appears to be squarely back on the right side of the recruiting trail — and gaining momentum.

The Nassir Little commitment was a big one for North Carolina — probably more symbolically than anything else — signaling to other elite recruits that the Tar Heels were back on the map.

North Carolina followed that up with a commitment from 2019’s No. 1 point guard, Cole Anthony, a consensus top-5 prospect that was sought after by some of college basketball’s most prestigious programs. It was North Carolina that won his commitment in the end, though, giving the Tar Heels even more traction heading into the class of 2020 and beyond.

Some of the Carolina faithful were underwhelmed when Roy Williams and company got a commitment from then-top-75 class of 2020 prospect Day’Ron Sharpe. A 6-foot-9, 220-pound center out of Winterville, North Carolina, Sharpe was ranked No. 72 in the nation at the time of his pledge to the Tar Heels.

They couldn’t have been more wrong, though.

In the year-plus since his commitment, all Sharpe has done is move up 50 spots in the 247Sports Composite. And how? Well, for starters, Sharpe added 25 pounds to his once-wiry frame that now stands at 6-foot-10-inches tall. Not to mention, the incredible progression of Sharpe’s game, which has shown tremendous growth and improvement over the past year.

He’s improved so much that Rivals recruiting analyst Eric Bossi thinks Sharpe should be getting consideration for top-10 status in the 2020 class.

"“Sharpe looks a little bigger and a little better each and every time that I see him,” Bossi writes. “He has a soft touch, plays with a mean streak and has shown time and again that he may have the best hands of any big man in the 2020 class. He deserves consideration for the national top 10.”"

Don’t be surprised if Sharpe gains another inch and a few more pounds before he gets to Chapel Hill next year. It also shouldn’t come as a surprise if he’s the next top-10 UNC commit. His trajectory over the past 14 months has been rather remarkable, and it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down any time soon.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on Day’Ron Sharpe, and everything UNC basketball.