UNC Basketball: Tar Heels offer Top 5 player in 2021 class

A five-star power forward has officially been offered by the UNC basketball program. Will it change his recruitment at all?

The UNC Basketball program has officially entered the race for a top five power forward in the 2021 recruiting class by officially extending an offer.

After showing interest in Jabari Smith for months, the Tar Heels waited a bit to officially offer the prospect. But that changed on Thursday morning as the Tar Heels did officially extend that offer, making them a serious threat in the recruitment.

Smith is one of the top players in the 2021 recruiting class, ranking No. 4 overall, No. 2 at power forward and the top player in the state of Georgia per the 247 Sports Composite rankings.

While UNC has flirted with interest in Smith for months, meeting with him in 2019, they didn’t offer until now. With a recruiting dead period since March, it’s been tough to evaluate prospects as travel has been banned by the NCAA. It appears as if Roy Williams and his staff have seen enough of Smith to give him that offer.

Smith has a total of 10 offers in his recruitment now and while Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee might be the early favorites, an offer from UNC may change things. We wrote on Wednesday how the Tar Heels could be the one team to swoop in and really change this recruitment with an offer. 

Now that it has happened, it will be interesting to see how Smith’s recruitment changes from here on out.

For more on Smith and other UNC Basketball recruiting targets, please check back with Keeping It Heel.