UNC Football: Tar Heels trending for top-10 prospect

The UNC football program is trending for one of the top prospects in the class of 2021, 5-star cornerback Tony Grimes.

Mack Brown and the North Carolina football program already have the nation’s No. 4-ranked recruiting class for the 2021 cycle, and that’s without the aid of any 5-star prospects. If they get a commitment from Tony Grimes, however, both their ranking and lack of 5-star commits will quickly change.

Grimes is the No. 7 overall recruit in the nation, and the top cornerback in the class according to the 247Sports Composite. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior from Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia named the Tar Heels among a list of eight finalists in early April. Joining North Carolina on Grimes’ top-8 list is Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Virginia.

Grimes had a recruiting trip to Chapel Hill that was scheduled prior to the NCAA’s recruiting suspension amid the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. That visit was obviously postponed indefinitely, but it doesn’t appear to have hurt the Tar Heels’ chances much, given their inclusion in his list of finalists, and the kind words he had to say about UNC and its coaching staff.

"“(Assistant) coach Dre Bly and coach Mack Brown, they have something crazy going on down there with their program,” Grimes told 247Sports last month. “And coach Dre Bly, a Hall of Fame Pro Bowler, Super Bowler, c’mon now, it doesn’t get any better than that as a coach but we are going to see what they do this year.”"

It’s also a positive sign for the Tar Heels and their fans that North Carolina picked up a new Crystal Ball prediction on Wednesday. The most recent pick, one from national recruiting analyst Brian Dohn, comes with a “confidence level” of eight, and gives the Tar Heels two of three votes cast by lead experts.

A commitment from a player of Grimes’ caliber — with his tremendous skill and athleticism — would only further solidify the fact that the Tar Heels have officially arrived on the football scene. Not only would his size, strength, speed and football I.Q. help the Tar Heels on the field, but his status as an elite, top-10 recruit would pave the way for future blue chip prospects to choose North Carolina over the likes of college football’s perennial powerhouse programs.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the Tony Grimes recruitment, and everything UNC football.