UNC Basketball: Five-star small forward close to a decision?

This UNC Basketball five-star target could make his decision sometime within the next month and that’s not good news for the Tar Heels.

Roy Williams and his UNC Basketball staff are hoping to add to their 2021 recruiting class which currently has just one commitment. After turning in a Top 2 class in the 2020 cycle, the Tar Heels landed four-star forward Dontrez Styles back in April.

But since then, it’s been a little quiet on the recruiting front for the program.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, travel for coaches and recruits have been banned which has put a wrench into things. Several top recruits are still uncommitted, although a few have done enough over Zoom meetings to make their decisions.

That could be the case for one five-star UNC target as he could be close to making a decision.

Five-star small forward Harrison Ingram is one of the top uncommitted recruits, ranking No. 13 overall, No. 4 small forward and No. 1 in the state of Texas per 247 Sports, and according to one analyst, he’s one of seven recruits that could make his decision any day now.

Rivals reporter Corey Evans listed Ingram as a recruit that could decide his fate next month and it appears to be down to a three team race: Stanford, Purdue and Michigan. Here is what he wrote on the topic:

"Could the finals days of the Harrison Ingram recruitment be nearing? The five-star has said very little about who he might be leaning toward and when a commitment might actually be made, but there is more than a decent chance that he decides his college fate sometime next month.Focused on a final six, Purdue and Stanford have always been thought of as the two to beat in the race for the top 10 prospect. That remains true going into potentially the final weeks of Ingram’s recruitment, but if there is one program that can trump both of those prestigious institutions it is Michigan. North Carolina has remained involved, as have Harvard and Howard. But as we inch closer to a decision, this one appears to be more of a three-team battle."

That doesn’t spell good news for the Tar Heels. Williams and his staff have been pursuing Ingram for a while now. But not being able to get him on campus over the past few months for a visit may have hurt the Tar Heels’ chances.

Both Purdue and Stanford have been long considered the favorites with the Tar Heels hanging on but Evans now suggests that Michigan has taken over UNC’s spot. There’s no guarantee that Ingram makes his decision in September and if he does, it’s bad news for the Tar Heels. The longer this drags out, the more it could benefit the Tar Heels.

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