Keeping It Heel
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UNC Basketball: Don’t expect these 2020 recruits to sign with UNC

By Blake Cockrum

ANN ARBOR, MI - NOVEMBER 28: North Carolina Tar Heels Head Basketball Coach Roy Williams watches the action during the second half of the game against the Michigan Wolverines at Crisler Center on November 28, 2018 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan defeated North Carolina Tar Heels 84-67. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MI - NOVEMBER 28: North Carolina Tar Heels Head Basketball Coach Roy Williams watches the action during the second half of the game against the Michigan Wolverines at Crisler Center on November 28, 2018 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan defeated North Carolina Tar Heels 84-67. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /
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UNC Basketball
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – MARCH 18: Head coach Shaka Smart of the Texas Longhorns shouts to his team in the first half against the Northern Iowa Panthers during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena on March 18, 2016 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Greg Brown

The Tar Heels and Longhorns have long been thought of as the favorites in Greg Brown’s recruitment. Rivals’ Dan McDonald reiterated that notion last week when he called Texas and North Carolina the “schools to beat” for the elite class of 2020 prospect.

The 6-foot-9, 195-pound power forward out of Vandegrift High School in Austin, Texas recently announced a top-5 list that includes Auburn, Kentucky, Memphis, North Carolina and Texas. The five teams that Brown named were a surprise to virtually nobody, none more than the Tar Heels and Longhorns, two programs that have long been considered the prohibitive favorites in his recruitment.

https://twitter.com/gb3elite/status/1158910067699331073

Brown, the No. 8 prospect in the class and No. 1 among players at his position, made 53 percent of his shots from the floor and 71 percent of his free throws as a junior at Vandegrift. He earned All-Nike EYBL honorable mention this year when he averaged 17.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game with the Texas Titans.

With numbers like that, it’s easy to see why Brown quickly became the envy of so many of college basketball’s premier programs. He’s got tremendous athleticism with length and speed to match. He’s a terrific finisher in transition and in the half court, and drives the lane for powerful, highlight reel dunks with regularity. He’s a good rebounder and shot blocker, too, and has the ability to guard multiple positions on the defensive end of the court.

His physique is reminiscent of a freshman John Henson or Brice Johnson, both of which joined the Tar Heels as fantastic athletes with raw, unrefined games. Similar to the aforementioned, Brown will need to put in additional work on his jump shot and ball-handling skills, but he’s got the ability to come in and make the same kind of impact that they did.

If I were putting odds on Brown’s recruitment, though, I’d give the Longhorns a growing edge over the Tar Heels. A trio of national recruiting analysts recently named Texas as the prohibitive favorite in Brown’s recruitment. If Brown leaves the state of Texas, however, I think North Carolina becomes an overwhelming favorite against the likes of Auburn, Kentucky and Memphis. For now, though, his Crystal Ball is currently 100 percent in favor of Texas.

We should get a little more of a feel for Brown’s recruitment in the coming months as he begins to take official visits to his finalists, and inches closer to a decision; a decision that’s likely quite a ways in the future.

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