UNC Basketball: October projection for Tar Heels’ 2021 recruiting class

The UNC Basketball program continues to build their 2021 recruiting class but where do they stand with certain targets in October?

As it stands here in October, the UNC Basketball 2021 recruiting class has two commitments with the most recent one coming last week when four-star recruit D’Marco Dunn committed to the Tar Heels over Arizona.

The other recruit for the Tar Heels is four-star forward Dontrez Styles who pledged his commitment back in April. Styles was the first recruit to commit to North Carolina, getting their 2021 class off to a solid start.

But with two recruits committed, Roy Williams and his staff are hoping that’s not it. They turned in a Top 3 class for the 2020 cycle and would to at least have one that finishes in the Top 10 for the 2021 cycle. However, their options are getting limited.

As the calendar has now flipped to October, the race for a few big Tar Heels’ targets is starting to heat up. The Tar Heels still have six active offers out for recruits in the 2021 cycle:

• 5-star center Chet Holmgren
• 5-star forward Patrick Baldwin
• 5-star forward Caleb Houstan
• 5-star forward Jabari Smith
• 5-star guard Hunter Sallis
• 4-star forward Trey Kauffman

Of those six targets above, the ideal scenario for UNC is that they land at minimum one recruit but hopefully can get two. I’d lean more towards two being the ideal number for the Tar Heels which would give them a four-man class for 2021.

Over the past few weeks, there have been some updates on few recruits. Caleb Houstan will trim his list on Wednesday down to four schools and we should expect to see the Tar Heels on that list when he drops it. Jabari Smith will announce his college decision on Friday and the Tar Heels don’t appear to be the pick. Patrick Baldwin has checked in with teams including the Tar Heels. And finally, the Tar Heels are reportedly in great shape for Hunter Sallis, although that recruitment isn’t close to being over.

With the recruiting dead period still in place through the 2020 calendar year, it’s been tough to gauge the interest of recruits and which way they are leaning. However, based on what we know we project this to be the Tar Heels final 2021 class:

• 4-star forward Dontrez Styles
• 4-star guard D’Marco Dunn
• 4-star forward Trey Kaufmann
• 5-star Hunter Sallis***

Okay, I put an asterisk on Sallis for one big reason: His recruitment could depend on what five-star guard Skyy Clark (Class of 2022) does. Clark is a 2022 recruit and is expected to announce his decision in late October. The tricky thing is Clark reclassifying. There have been some rumors that he would make the move to the 2021 class, giving one school a five-star recruit right away.

With Clark reportedly picking between UNC and Kentucky in a few weeks, this could have a major impact on Sallis. If Clark picks UNC and reclassifies, I can see the scenario of Sallis going elsewhere playing out. But if he stays in 2022, Sallis could pick the Tar Heels.

We will continue to update our mock class as the weeks go on.

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