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UNC Basketball: Tar Heels showing interest in 5-star forward

By Zack Pearson

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 11: Rameses, the North Carolina Tar Heels mascot, cheers during their game against the Syracuse Orange in the second round of the 2020 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum on March 11, 2020 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 11: Rameses, the North Carolina Tar Heels mascot, cheers during their game against the Syracuse Orange in the second round of the 2020 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum on March 11, 2020 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /
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The UNC Basketball program is showing some interest in a five-star forward in the 2021 class as they look to expand their recruiting board

This new “quiet” period for recruiting due to COVID-19 hasn’t slowed down the North Carolina Tar Heels’ basketball program much.

The Tar Heels landed 2020 four-star recruit Kerwin Walton on Monday, just a week after they landed their first recruit in the 2021 class in Dontrez Styles. Roy Williams and his staff have picked up some momentum here and are now focusing on the 2021 class.

Over the past few weeks teams haven’t been able to conduct visits with prospects and have had to instead turn to software like Zoom or Skype to virtually connect with recruits. The Tar Heels have virtually met with targets Kennedy Chandler, Paolo Banchero and Hunter Sallis, all five-star prospects in 2021. But now they are showing some interest in another top recruit from that 2021 class.

Per StockRiser’s Jake Weingarten, the Tar Heels held a virtual visit with five-star forward Jabari Smith Jr. over the past few days:

Smith Jr. is ranked as the No. 5 overall player in the 2021 class per 247 Sports and is a new target on UNC’s recruiting board. The power forward has a total of 9 offers in his recruitment with programs like Tennessee, Ole Miss, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn and LSU among others in the mix.

This is the first known visit for UNC with the Tyrone, Georgia native as they shift their focus now to the 2021 class. With six scholarships out and one player committed, Williams and his staff are hoping to expand their recruiting board a bit and that includes showing interest in both Smith Jr. and Sallis over the past week.

Neither prospect holds an offer from UNC just yet but that could certainly change over the coming weeks.

Next. Will UNC make the cut for five-star point guard?. dark

For more on the UNC Basketball program and recruiting, please check back with Keeping It Heel.

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