UNC Basketball: A new 2022 target might be on the board for the Tar Heels

Will Roy Williams and his UNC Basketball staff be interested in a five-star prospect that just decommitted from an ACC program?

With limited options in the 2021 class, the UNC Basketball program is starting to turn more attention to the 2022 class.

Roy Williams and his staff already have a few offers out for prospects in 2022 as they continue to evaluate talent for their recruiting board despite the restrictions with COVID-19. After missing out on five-star guard Skyy Clark in October, UNC has a need for a guard and a new target may have just become available.

Five-star guard Dior Johnson committed to Syracuse earlier in the year, giving the Orange their highest-rated recruit since Carmelo Anthony. However, on Tuesday Johnson decided that he had a change of heart and decommitted from Syracuse, reopening his recruitment:

Now, there isn’t anything that links Johnson to the Tar Heels right now. Even before he committed to Syracuse, UNC didn’t show a lot of interest other than watching him at an AAU event that also featured Ziaire Williams.

But with his recruitment open now, the New York native might be a candidate for the Tar Heels to pursue.

As mentioned above, the Tar Heels do have a need at guard as 2020 recruit Caleb Love is expected to leave after one year. After him, there’s not a lot of depth at point guard other than Anthony Harris and R.J. Davis. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound guard is a dynamic scorer that would fit in well with what Williams wants to do with his offense by getting out on fast breaks and picking up the tempo.

Check out some highlights of Johnson below:

Johnson had a total of 16 offers in his recruitment, but didn’t have one from UNC, and it’s expected that some of those teams will be involved again as will new teams. With that need at guard, will the Tar Heels get into this race? Stay tuned.

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