UNC Basketball: Is this top 5-star recruit ready to commit?

Is this top player in the 2021 recruiting class and UNC Basketball target ready to make his decision anytime soon? The latest on this important recruit

The UNC Basketball program is still hoping to reel in at least one more recruit in their 2021 recruiting class and ideally they want it to be a five-star player.

However, as the weeks have passed and we are in the middle of October, the options have dwindled for the Tar Heels. 

As it stands now, the Tar Heels have four active offers out to recruits in the 2021 class as the rest have either committed or eliminated UNC from contention. Three of those four recruits are ranked as five-star players including one of the top overall players in forward Patrick Baldwin Jr.

The Sussex, Wisconsin native is ranked as the No. 1 player overall in the 247 Sports recruiting rankings and has a total of 23 offers. He’s trimmed his list down to just UNC, Duke, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Virginia, Michigan, UCLA, Georgetown, Milwaukee and Northwestern. While Baldwin Jr. is down to 10 teams, it appears as if four or five have a legit chance to land him including rivals Duke and UNC.

For the longest time it appeared as if Duke were the favorites to land Baldwin with many also thinking a realistic option of playing for his father at Milwaukee as another option. Duke recently made Caleb Houstan’s top 4 list but that shouldn’t take them out of the running just yet. But how close in Baldwin to making a decision?

The recruit recently caught up with Jake Weingarten of StockRisers to talk about which teams are still in contact and when he could potentially make a decision. Here is what Baldwin said about the teams contacting him:

"Now onto your recruitment, how’s that been?Baldwin Jr: “Recruitment is going great so far. I talk to pretty much every school on my list frequently.”Duke, Kentucky, and North Carolina, they remain in heavy contact?Baldwin Jr: “Yeah, so the blue blood schools have still been in heavy contact.”"

Baldwin also noted that Michigan is another program that is starting to intrigue him more as the recruitment goes on. As for when he could make a decision, here is what Baldwin said:

"Where are you at with a time-table for a commitment?Baldwin Jr: “No timetable as of now, but I do feel closer to a decision than I was a few weeks ago.”"

It doesn’t sound like Baldwin is ready to make a decision anytime soon which could work out in UNC’s favor. The longer this recruitment goes on and the longer UNC stays in it, the better their chances.

However, they are likely going to have to beat out Duke and possibly a rising Michigan program to land him.

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