UNC Basketball: Could this 5-star be the Tar Heels’ first commit of 2023?

Could this 5-star prospect be the first member of the Tar Heels’ 2023 recruiting class?

Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels are yet to earn a commitment from the class of 2022 — though we think we know who their first will be — but they may already have a leg up on one of the top prospects in the 2023 class.

Although the Tar Heels have extended a scholarship offer to just one player in the class, it appears as if they’ve worked themselves into a pretty good position with that player for a potential commitment somewhere down the line. That player, Robert Dillingham, is a 6-foot-1, 160-pound point guard that’s ranked among the top prospects in his class.

A sophomore at Combine Academy in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dillingham is the No. 10 prospect in the class of 2023 according to the 247Sports Composite. He’s ranked second among players at his position, and No. 2 in the state of North Carolina. And he’s bound to be one of the most sought after recruits in the nation by the time it’s all said and done.

Dillingham already has offers from a handful of schools, though North Carolina is the most noteworthy of the bunch. The offers from DePaul, Middle Tennessee State, Ole Miss, Tennessee Tech, USF, Wichita State and Winthrop won’t impress many, but the interest from Kansas and Tennessee might. And so will the attention that he gets from many of the nation’s top basketball programs over the next couple of years. By the time Dillingham makes a decision, he’ll likely have his pick of the litter.

The good news for the Tar Heels, however, is that they’re already trending for Dillingham. His first Crystal Ball prediction back on December 24 came from an NC State contributor, and the second, which came just a day later, was from Director of Basketball Scouting Jerry Meyer. Both predictions came with a high level of confidence (8 and 7, respectively), while the third and most recent prediction, one from Travis Branham on February 17, was projected with a medium confidence level (6). He’s also got a FutureCast prediction from Rivals’ Jamie Shaw that came in late January.

We’ll see when the current college basketball season is over if the Tar Heels continue to gain traction with Dillingham, or if they begin to lose ground once other high major programs begin to get involved. With him still being just a high school sophomore, there’s obviously plenty of time for other programs to get involved, so Roy Williams and his staff will, no doubt, look to keep their foot on the gas in the coming months.

Check back with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the Tar Heels’ pursuit of Robert Dillingham, and everything UNC basketball.