UNC Basketball: Could Gonzaga be the leader for top Tar Heels’ target?

Could Gonzaga swoop in and land this top UNC Basketball recruiting target for the 2021 class? It’s looking like that’s a legit possibility.

It’s becoming more and more clear that the UNC Basketball program is in need of a scorer at the guard position, especially with their struggles through the first 8 games of this 2020-21 college basketball season.

While the Tar Heels have just two players signed to their 2021 recruiting class, they have offers out to three five-star players. Among them, their biggest target is five-star combo guard Hunter Sallis out of Nebraska. Sallis is one of the top recruits in this class and would fill a big need for a scorer at the guard position.

UNC has been in the mix for Sallis for months now and many have believed that his recruitment would be a two-team race between the Tar Heels and Kentucky Wildcats. But during this difficult recruiting period with no official visits to campuses allowed, a new contender may have emerged and is rumored to be the new favorite.

On Tuesday, two 247 Sports recruiting analysts – Jerry Meyer and Travis Branham — logged their Crystal Ball predictions for Sallis. But they logged them for Gonzaga which is a bad sign for both UNC and Kentucky.

Meyer and Branham are pretty plugged into what is going on, so this isn’t good for the Tar Heels right now. The Zags are off to a hot start this year and look like they are the favorites to win it all this year. Meanwhile, both UNC and Kentucky have had their struggles. Now, this probably isn’t the biggest reason why Sallis might be leaning that way but it could be a factor.

Sallis is ranked as the No. 7 overall player, No. 2 combo guard and No. 1 player in the state of Nebraska per the 247 Sports recruiting rankings. There is no timeline for his announcement as of now.

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