UNC Basketball: Will this 5-star be picking between Blue Bloods?

The UNC Basketball program appears to be in a recruiting battle with a fellow Blue Blood program and it could jumpstart the 2021 class

The race for five-star 2021 recruit Hunter Sallis is still ongoing and the UNC Basketball program is right in the middle of it.

Roy Williams and his staff at North Carolina are pursuing Sallis as one of their top targets in the 2021 class, hoping to land a five-star to pair with already committed four-star forward Dontrez Styles. Landing a player like Sallis would be huge for UNC’s backcourt depth to pair with R.J. Davis and Anthony Harris down the line.

Sallis is ranked as the No. 7 overall prospect, No. 2 combo guard and the No. 1 player in the state of Nebraska by 247 Sports.

He has a total of 26 offers including from North Carolina, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Auburn, and Creighton among others. But this race could come down to some Blue Blood programs.

Rivals recruiting analyst Eric Bossi wrote a story on team recruiting rankings for the 2021 cycle and mentioned that Sallis’ recruitment could come down to UNC and Kentucky. Here is what Bossi said about Sallis jumpstarting UNC’s class as well as potentially adding Skyy Clark:

"The domino here is going to be 2021’s No. 6 ranked player Hunter Sallis . Sure, he could stay home and go to Creighton or he could give Kansas a real boost. But, if a bet had to be made as of today, it would be for either UK or UNC. They each have a solid four-star to start things off –Nolan Hickman for UK and  Dontrez Styles for UNC – but landing Sallis would really jump start things for their classes.It’s not just Sallis they are dueling over, though, they also appear to be the leaders for 2022 five-star point guard Skyy Clark. Clark is another who could reclassify to 2021. Conventional thought is that they don’t go to the same school, but nobody should completely rule out the idea of Clark and Sallis ending up in the same place."

Alright! So it looks like the Tar Heels are battling Kentucky for both Sallis and Clark and it’s not out of the question that the same program lands both recruits.

That would be huge for the Tar Heels as Clark could end up reclassifying from 2022 to 2021 and be another boost to UNC’s class. While it would only be a three-man class with Styles, Sallis and Clark, for now, the Tar Heels could add some more as they are in the running for both D’Marco Dunn and Trey Kauffman.

Things have been bleak in the 2021 class for the Tar Heels so far, but it might only take one commitment from Sallis to really open things up.

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