UNC Basketball: D’Marco Dunn missing opportunities to shine

4-star UNC basketball target missing opportunities to improve recruiting ranking throughout summer months

D’Marco Dunn’s recruitment began heating up in the late months of spring, but a scholarship offer from Roy Williams and the Tar Heels signaled an even more elevated level of exposure for the rising senior from Fayetteville, North Carolina.

A 6-foot-4, 180-pound shooting guard at Westover High School, Dunn is currently holding nearly 20 scholarship offers from some of the nation’s best basketball programs. In addition to his offer from the Tar Heels, Arizona, Clemson, Houston, Louisville, Marquette, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Wichita State and Xavier highlight Dunn’s growing list of schools. He’s also received interest from New Mexico, Texas, Texas Tech, UCLA and Virginia Tech, among others. And despite the NCAA’s current recruiting freeze that’s keeping Dunn off the basketball court, his list is likely to grow over the next several months.

It’s that lapse in time between appearances on the court that Rivals recruiting analyst Eric Bossi believes could be hurting Dunn’s stock as one of the top guards in the class of 2021. According to Bossi, Dunn is among the handful of players that would have benefitted most from playing basketball throughout the summer months.

"“Actually getting to see Dunn in person would have been extremely beneficial to myself – and everybody else,” Bossi writes. “The vast majority of schools offering him have done so primarily off of high school film and we certainly based his ranking on watching multiple high school games on film. How big is he really? What’s his athleticism and his ability to create like? We could all get a much better idea in person to decide if he was getting enough attention, ranked properly and all of that.”"

Dunn averaged 20.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, two assists and 2.7 steals per game as a junior. He also knocked down 45 percent of his shots from three-point range for a Westover squad that went a perfect 30-0 on the season. His offensive game is highlighted by a smooth, high release jump shot that has proven to be very effective beyond the three-point line. He’s improving as a ball handler, too, and can hit shots from mid-range. He’s got speed in the open court, and runs the floor well on the fast break. He’ll also drive the lane, and finish strong in the paint from time to time.

All of those factors have already helped Dunn’s ranking in the 247Sports Composite rise substantially since receiving the UNC offer. He was ranked 146th in the nation less than a month ago, but has now improved to No. 70 in his class. He’s listed at the No. 14 shooting guard in the country, and second among those in the state of North Carolina. He’s ranked even higher in the Top247 at No. 62, 12th among players at his position and No. 1 in his home state.

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