Keeping It Heel
Fansided

UNC Basketball: Can Tar Heels land a big fish in 2021 recruiting class?

By Zack Pearson

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JANUARY 04: Chet Holmgren #34 of Minnehaha Academy Red Hawks dribbles the ball against the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers during the first half of the game at Target Center on January 04, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JANUARY 04: Chet Holmgren #34 of Minnehaha Academy Red Hawks dribbles the ball against the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers during the first half of the game at Target Center on January 04, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Can the UNC Basketball program land a big fish in the 2021 recruiting cycle? One analyst thinks they can finish strong and add one more player

With the college basketball season just a week away, the focus shifts to the actual games on the court. However, for the UNC Basketball program recruiting will still be huge as Roy Williams and his staff are hoping to build on their 2021 class.

Going into this season, UNC has just two recruits signed to the 2021 recruiting class as Dontrez Styles and D’Marco Dunn signed their letter of intent last week. But ideally UNC really wants to add at least one more player.

They want a big fish, too.

The Tar Heels have three players with active offers in the 2021 class and all are five-star recruits: Chet Holmgren, Patrick Baldwin and Hunter Sallis. All three are undecided and have UNC in their updated lists. The problem is, UNC appears to be trailing for all three including their biggest target in Sallis.

While things look pretty bleak for the Tar Heels in terms of all three recruits, one analyst says don’t count them out just yet. Rivals reporter Dan McDonald wrote on three teams that could close out the recruiting cycle strong in the Spring. And one of those teams is UNC:

"Commitments from a pair of four-star, in-state prospects has the Tar Heels ranked No. 40 overall in the team rankings. However, the Tar Heels are in play for a few of the most highly-ranked available prospects in the class. Although seen as trailing Duke and UW-Milwaukee for Patrick Baldwin Jr., the No. 1 overall prospect, the Tar Heels certainly shouldn’t be ruled out in his recruitment. Chet Holmgren at No. 3 overall has North Carolina among the seven programs he’s still considering. Hunter Sallis at No. 6 overall also has the Tar Heels among his eights finalists he released Monday."

If we had to make a prediction, we’d have to say that UNC’s best bet is Sallis but even then, they would have to makeup some ground in that recruitment.

UNC has come on strong as of late for Sallis but they still trail Kentucky according to the latest rumblings. The good news for UNC is that there is still a long way to go in the recruitment which gives them time. Landing one of these recruits would be huge for the Tar Heels moving forward.

Next. UNC meets with 2022 recruit. dark

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

Home/UNC Basketball