UNC Basketball: Tar Heels’ 2021 recruiting class could look a lot like this

Hunter Sallis

Caleb Love is easily one of the top incoming freshman point guards in college basketball this season; maybe even the best. While that’s good news for Roy Williams and the Tar Heels, Love’s stay in Chapel Hill could be a short one. That’s why the program has put such a high emphasis on nabbing one of the top guards in the class of 2021. In the event that Love does leave college for the NBA after just one season, they’ll need their next elite floor general to come in and run the Tar Heels’ high-octane offense.

That’s where Hunter Sallis comes into play. The 6-foot-4, 165-pound combo guard is the type of player that could come in and make an immediate impact for the Tar Heels. Similar to Love, Sallis has tremendous talent and elite play-making abilities that could make the transition from one to the other rather seamless.

Sallis is a quick, shifty, athletic guard with nice ball-handling skills and an excellent crossover. He’s got a quick first step, and gets to the goal with speed and efficiency. He drives the lane well in traffic and through contact, and can finish above the rim with ease. He can score at all three levels, rebounds exceptionally well for his position and plays pesky, tenacious defense.

Fortunately for the Tar Heels, Sallis recently named North Carolina among a star-studded group of finalists that includes Alabama, Auburn, Creighton, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, Oregon and UCLA.

There’s even more good news for the Tar Heels as it relates to Sallis. 247Sports Director of Basketball Scouting Jerry Meyer pegged North Carolina as his current favorite in the Sallis recruitment, that prediction coming just a week after the release of his top 12 schools.

"“There seems to be a good chance that Hunter Sallis does end up at UNC,” Meyer writes. “I think we have some time before a decision, and there are quite a few schools in hot pursuit of the athletic and talented five-star guard. North Carolina has put a lot of work into recruiting Sallis, and I like their positioning. Hometown Creighton is a factor. Kentucky recently offered. Kansas and Oregon also are major players in his recruitment. I’m not ready to place a Crystal Ball prediction, but I do lean to North Carolina at the moment.”"

Granted, Meyer did not cast his vote for North Carolina in Sallis’ Crystal Ball just yet, indicating that his confidence in the prediction is premature and wavering. If at some point he does give the Tar Heels the nod for a Crystal Ball pick, it’s a very good sign for them and their blue blood fan base. Meyer has correctly picked 38-of-42 prospects in the class of 2021, good for a 90.48 percent accuracy rate.

Sallis has risen better than 30 spots in the 247Sports Composite since the start of the year, and is now ranked No. 8 in the nation. He’s second among players at his position, and first in the state of Nebraska.