UNC Basketball: Tar Heels’ toughest competition for Kennedy Chandler?

The UNC basketball program is making a hard push for 5-star point guard Kennedy Chandler, but the Tar Heels’ toughest competition for the elite recruit may not even be from the college ranks.

With absolutely no certainty on how long incoming freshman point guard Caleb Love will remain in college, Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels are working hard to secure their future floor general. A program with such rich history of indelible point guard play — and one that relies so heavily on outstanding play from its lead guard — North Carolina continues to bring in some of the nation’s best at the position year after year.

The Hall-of-Fame head coach and his staff have clearly prioritized one point guard over any other in the class of 2021, and that’s 5-star Memphis, Tennessee native Kennedy Chandler. The 6-foot-1, 160-pound Chandler is currently a junior at Briarcrest Christian, and he’s gotten as much attention on the recruiting trail as any player in his class. He was holding nearly 30 scholarship offers when he whittled his list down to just 10 schools in mid-January. Now it’s Duke, Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Michigan, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee and USC that are vying for a commitment from the talented guard. The toughest competition for Chandler, however, may be coming from another direction.

In an interview with the Memphis Commercial Appeal on Tuesday, Chandler and his father, Kylan, discussed their recent interactions with the NBA G-League, who’s attempting to persuade the younger Chandler to bypass college next year for professional basketball.

"“I was shocked,” Chandler said. “When my dad told me I asked him, ‘Did they really call you?’ He said, ‘Yeah.'”"

Due to the G-League’s focus on development, players are eligible to participate in the league at age 18. And thanks to the league’s new pay structure, elite 18-year-olds can earn contracts of $125,000 or more in a five-month season. Prospects such a No. 3-ranked Jalen Green, however, will make at least $500,000 plus endorsements for the time he spends in the NBA’s minor league system next season.

Unlike Green, though, Chandler seems fairly intent on attending college, but there does appear to be a little wiggle room in his recruitment to trade in a college campus for a G-League jersey in the fall of 2021.

"“I really don’t know right now,”  Chandler said of his option to attend college next year or turn pro. “So I’m going to keep on doing what I’m doing and talk to college coaches and see where I want to go for college.”"

This is, of course, a very fluid situation at this point, and there’s no real indication of where Chandler will end up next year. It’s my best guess that he’ll stick with his initial plan, and head to college next year for what could end up being a very quick stop before heading to the 2022 NBA Draft.

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 Tar Heels’ pursuit of Kennedy Chandler, and everything UNC basketball.