UNC Basketball: Tar Heels must land this recruit in 2021 class

This recruit was named as the “must have” for the UNC Basketball program in the 2021 recruiting class by Rivals this week

Roy Williams and his staff at North Carolina turned in a really good 2020 recruiting class that was ranked Top 3 among major recruiting outlets. The class comes at a perfect time too after UNC finished with a disappointing 14-19 record in 2019-20.

But with that 2020 cycle over, the focus shifts to 2021.

UNC has interest in a few big recruits for the 2021 class and has one commitment as forward Dontrez Styles pledged his verbal back in April. Williams and his coaching staff have seven offers out to recruits and are showing interest in a few others for the class. With this recruiting dead period of no visits, it’s a little tough in the recruiting world right now.

With those seven offers out, the Tar Heels hope to pull in at least two more commits. But which ones must they land?

Rivals recruiting analyst Eric Bossi broke down recruiting by the Top 12 teams in college basketball, listing one recruit that is a “must have” for each program. While two UNC targets were listed for other programs, Bossi made his prediction for the Tar Heels and it’s a recently offered guard:

"Since moving to North Carolina from Arizona, D’Marco Dunn has blossomed into a national-level prospect. One of the best shooters in the country, he has good size and is sneaky good as a ball-handler. Another guard who can handle the ball has to be a priority for Roy Williams, and the Heels would love to get another local kid who can stroke it from deep like Dunn."

UNC has some tough competition for Dunn, as Arizona, Marquette, Texas, Louisville, Maryland and Wake Forest among others are also involved with offers. But after Dunn transferred from Arizona, he started to rise on the national scale.

A big final season in high school could earn him some more recognition and potentially more offers.

It’s tough to tell who the leader is at the moment for Dunn but we could be coming down to another battle between UNC and Arizona when it’s all said and done.

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