Keeping It Heel
Fansided

UNC Basketball: Should Tar Heels pursue Marquette transfer?

By Zack Pearson

Dec 30, 2019; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Ramses the North Carolina Tar Heels mascot performs on the court before the North Carolina Tar Heels play the Yale Bulldogs at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 30, 2019; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Ramses the North Carolina Tar Heels mascot performs on the court before the North Carolina Tar Heels play the Yale Bulldogs at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

News broke on Thursday morning that UNC Basketball head coach Roy Williams was set to retire, leaving the program after 18 seasons in Chapel Hill and 33 overall in his coaching career.

With Williams gone, UNC will now begin a new coaching search for the next man up to run the program. But with Williams gone, how will this impact recruiting?

The Tar Heels are set to lose Walker Kessler, Sterling Manley, Day’Ron Sharpe, Walker Miller and likely Garrison Brooks. Both D’Marco Dunn and Dontrez Styles are expected to stay but the program was hoping to look into the transfer portal for replacements.

Those plans may change, however.

One target for the Tar Heels is former Marquette commit Jonas Aidoo, a recruit that decommitted after Shaka Smart was named the head coach. Aidoo also has some connections to UNC as he grew up a lifelong Tar Heels fan and had interest in them during his first recruitment.

However, Aidoo never received an offer from the Tar Heels and eventually committed to Marquette instead. Now the Tar Heels have a chance to pursue the 7-foot center again and fill a void on their roster in the front court. But will they?

Aidoo was one of the topics that Rivals.com reporter Rob Cassidy broke down in his latest article this week. He mentioned the UNC interest and revealed that Aidoo would choose the Tar Heels if there is an offer:

"Roy Williams’ program seemed to be seriously considering offering the top-100 prospect on multiple occasions in the past and now has the opportunity to do so again. It seems likely that Aidoo, a lifelong UNC fan, would choose the Tar Heels if said offer manifests, but there’s no telling if it will. What Williams and his staff decide to do in the weeks ahead will likely determine the direction of the Aidoo sweepstakes."

The thing to note is that this was written earlier in the week prior to Williams announcing his retirement. So does that change some things? Potentially.

However, if UNC did make contact with Aidoo then he still could be interested even with Williams being retired. He’s a prospect to keep an eye on here this offseason especially with the shuffle at UNC.

Next. Top candidates to replace Roy Williams. dark

For more on Aidoo and other UNC Basketball recruiting targets, please check back with Keeping It Heel.

Home/UNC Basketball