UNC Basketball: Will this 5-star recruit be UNC’s next star point guard?

Could the UNC basketball program have its next star point guard in top-20 prospect Kennedy Chandler?

The North Carolina Tar Heels have boasted some of the best point guards in college basketball throughout their rich history that dates back more than a hundred years. Roy Williams, in particular, has reeled in some of the nation’s most talented lead guards since his return to Chapel Hill in 2003.

The star-studded list of floor generals to play under Williams at UNC includes Raymond Felton, Ty Lawson and Kendall Marshall — all three of which won the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s best point guard. Marcus Paige, Joel Berry, Coby White and Cole Anthony also played important roles for Williams over the past several years, and their combined list of accolades includes multiple national title game appearances, All-American bids and individual scoring records.

Williams has already secured his point guard of the future in 5-star 2020 signee Caleb Love. But given the ever-changing landscape of college basketball, and how quickly star players come and go, Williams is already working hard to bring in a lead guard from the 2021 class. The 2021 point guard that’s gotten the majority of Williams’ attention to this point is Kennedy Chandler, a 5-star prospect out of Briarcrest Christian in Memphis, Tennessee.

The 6-foot-1, 160-pound Chandler already had nearly 30 scholarship offers when he announced his top-10 list in mid-January. Duke, Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Michigan, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee and USC are the 10 that made his list of finalists. Given the programs that are vying for Chandler’s commitment, you can bet that his recruitment will intensify substantially as the year moves on.

And what has Chandler been doing in the time since cutting down his list of schools? Well, training and preparing the same way that he has since he was seven years old. That’s when his dad signed him up to train with a Memphis-area strength and conditioning coach that he credits for helping him become the player that he is today.

Chandler is yet to tip his hand as to where he might be leaning, or if he’s leaning any way at all. It wouldn’t be shocking, however, to see Duke play a major role in his recruitment moving forward. Roy Williams and the Tar Heels have clearly prioritized Chandler, though, and should remain in contention until the very end. Regardless, it’s a safe assumption that Chandler’s recruitment still has a long way to go, and he’ll take his time in deciding where he’ll play his college ball.

Chandler is the 15th-ranked prospect in the class of 2021 according to the 247Sports Composite. He’s the No. 2 point guard in the class, and second in the state of Tennessee.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the Kennedy Chandler recruitment, and everything UNC basketball.