UNC Basketball: Tar Heels’ targets shine at Nike Skills event

A few top UNC Basketball recruiting targets shined at the Nike Skills Academy event over the weekend in California

More than 30 of the nation’s best prospects participated in the Nike Skills Academy event over the weekend in California including some big North Carolina Tar Heels’ targets.

While UNC has just one recruit signed in the 2020 class, five-star center Day’Ron Sharpe, Roy Williams and his staff still have several offers out to top prospects. The goal is obviously to add to the class but more specifically, a wing player as it will be a big need following the 2019-20 season.

As the Summer winds down, the recruiting cycle will start to pick up as recruits are scheduling and then will take visits.

Cade Cunningham, Caleb Love, Jalen Green, and Greg Brown were among the recruiting prospects and UNC targets that participated in the Nike Skills Academy and all were praised by Rivals’ recruiting analyst Corey Evans. Following the event, Evans broke down what he liked about each recruit.

He listed Cunningham as the guy that “continues to raise the bar”, speaking on his stellar play as he’s elevated his play over the past few months. Cunningham is a Top 3 player in the class and has UNC on his final list. As for Love, Evans says he’s “Trending in the right direction” for his recent play and could possibly see a rating increase.

The biggest takeaway was from Brown. Evans called Brown the “best athlete in America” for his play at the event. Here is the full part on Brown via Evans:

"I know, Earth-shattering news! We all know how great of an athlete Brown is, but even alongside the college participants in attendance, the top-10 prospect stood above the rest. Brown had a few eyebrow-raising dunks but also showed the ability to make shots out of the mid-range and lead the break off of the defensive glass. If he’s doing that consistently, his ceiling as a prospect is raised another few levels."

Cunningham, Love, Green and Brown will all likely take visits to UNC come this Fall before making their decisions as Evans says in the article. Green will make his announcement on December 25th while Brown will wait until the Spring. Both Cunningham and Love don’t have timetables for their decisions.

It will be interesting to see how each prospects recruitment plays out over the next few months as they plan to visit UNC and if the Tar Heels can make a big impression to land at least one of these big recruits.

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