UNC Basketball: 5-star prospect talks recruitment, lauds Tar Heels

5-star UNC basketball target Chet Holmgren talks recruitment, contenders and timeline for a decision

With the No. 3-ranked 2020 recruiting class already secured, Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels are working hard on the class of 2021 and beyond. They’ve already extended scholarship offers to a handful of 5-star targets in next year’s class, including Paulo Banchero and Patrick Baldwin, Jr., a pair of the nation’s top-ranked players at their respective positions.

Another one of their top targets in the 2021 class is Chet Holmgren, a 7-foot, 190-pound center out of Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, Minnesota. One of a half-dozen 5-star prospects that the Tar Heels have offered for next season, Holmgren is the second-ranked recruit in the nation, and first among players at his position.

Holmgren already has better than 25 scholarship offers, including ones from Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Gonzaga, Iowa, Kansas, Memphis, Ohio State, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. In a recent interview with Rivals recruiting analyst Corey Evans, Holmgren noted that Minnesota, Gonzaga, Georgetown, Memphis, North Carolina and Ohio State are among the programs doing the best job of staying in touch with him of late.

"“It is definitely, again, the legacy there with its basketball program is crazy,” Holmgren told Evans. “To think that I have the chance to play in the same place that Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, and the list goes on, it is pretty crazy the guys that have gone there. Coach (Roy) Williams, he is great at what he does and has been there for a long time. I am very interested in them and there is reasons for why I am not rushing things and taking my time with my recruitment because there is so much that goes into how you fit into a school based off the personnel that they have and you just don’t know until right up until after your senior year with who is going to be there, who is leaving and if there is six big dudes at a school, it is definitely going to be something that weighs into my decision.”"

To this point, Holmgren has taken just two official visits; one to Gonzaga, and the other to Ohio State. Expect him to resume his college visits once the NCAA recruiting suspension has been lifted. I’d anticipate him visiting hometown Minnesota at some point, as well as North Carolina and Purdue, among others.

Holmgren has a versatile skill set that allows him to dribble, shoot, block shots and affect the opposition with his long, wiry frame. His length and wingspan help him in the paint on both ends of the court, but he’ll be even more effective once he gains additional weight. He’s an attractive prospect for Williams and the Tar Heels thanks in part to his ability to run the floor, both in the open court and on the fast break. That would bode well for a North Carolina team that’s prone to playing fast, and running often. He’s also got a nice jump shot out to the perimeter, good athleticism for a 7-footer and a great feel for the game.

Check back with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the Chet Holmgren recruitment, and everything UNC basketball.