UNC Basketball: Five Tar Heels who outplayed their recruiting ranking

Luke Maye

Luke Maye committed to North Carolina amid a flurry of allegations that spawned an NCAA investigation into “paper classes” and impermissible benefits for athletes. Needless to say, there weren’t a lot of high-profile prospects looking to join the Tar Heels at that time.

Maye’s commitment to the UNC basketball program was one that came with very little fanfare or excitement; even from his own fan base. A 3-star prospect coming out of William Amos Hough High School in Huntersville, North Carolina, Maye was ranked No. 155 in the class of 2015. The 247Sports Composite had him tabbed as the 39th best power forward in the class behind so many players you’ve never heard of that there’s no point in listing them.

Suffice it to say that Maye outperformed his ranking, and most of the guys ahead of him on that list. And how did he do that? Well, he excelled on and off the court for four years as a member of one of the most prestigious basketball programs in the country.

He became an overnight sensation after hitting the game-winning shot against Kentucky in the 2017 NCAA Tournament Elite 8. His shot not only earned him the everlasting ire of Kentucky fans, but it made him a legend in the minds of the Carolina faithful.

He followed that up by averaging 15.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game over the next two seasons. The 6-foot-8, 240-pound Maye hit 86 three-pointers during that span, and started all 73 of the Tar Heels’ games from 2017 to 2019.

Among Maye’s accolades as a member of the Tar Heels are first team All-ACC, third team All-American, two-time second team Academic All-American and the 2019 Senior CLASS Award.