UNC Basketball: Skyy Clark turns down Tar Heels, commits to Kentucky

Roy Williams and the UNC basketball program missed out on 5-star combo guard Skyy Clark, and the future of their back court is in serious question.

Class of 2022 prospect and consensus 5-star combo guard Skyy Clark committed to the Kentucky Wildcats on Thursday night, ending one of college basketball’s most heated recruitments.

Clark announced his much-anticipated decision via Instagram Live, eliminating Memphis, North Carolina and UCLA in the process. It didn’t come as much of a surprise that he chose Kentucky, given that the Wildcats had seemingly separated themselves from the pack over the past couple of months. Roy Williams and the Tar Heels were once thought to be the only legitimate competitor for John Calipari’s Wildcats, with Memphis and UCLA trailing somewhere in the distance.

Now, the future of the Tar Heels’ back court is in serious question. Yes, they still have a scholarship offer out to 2021 point guard Hunter Sallis, but he appears to be a strong Kentucky lean as well. How that works out with him and Clark — if the latter decides to reclassify to the 2021 class as many have speculated that he will — I do not know. What I do know is that it leaves North Carolina in a potentially precarious situation at the point guard position.

It’s become a nearly universal notion that incoming freshman point guard Caleb Love will look to leave North Carolina after one season. If he does, who will the Tar Heels entrust to run their high-octane offense moving forward? Will R.J. Davis be prepared to slide over from the two-guard to the one, or will Roy Williams and his staff be forced to look in another direction between now and then? Will there be any better options left in the class of 2021? Or will the transfer market provide a suitable replacement for the dynamic, offensive-minded Love?

With Clark off the table, and an expected Kentucky commitment from Sallis that likely won’t come until the spring, it’s just a game of wait-and-see. If there’s one thing that we do know, though, it’s guards like Love, Clark, Sallis, and potentially Davis, that Williams needs leading his squad on the hardwood.

For all the latest on the Tar Heels’ 2021 recruiting class, and everything UNC basketball, check back Keeping It Heel.