UNC Basketball: Dunn and Styles to stick with Tar Heels “for right now”
A pair of UNC basketball recruits state that they’re sticking with the Tar Heels for the time being
Dontrez Styles and D’Marco Dunn currently make up 100 percent of the North Carolina Tar Heels’ 2021 recruiting class. The pair committed to North Carolina — and Roy Williams in particular — in April and September of 2020, respectively.
Upon the unexpected retirement of Williams on Thursday, their commitments to the school were quickly brought into question by fans and members of the media. Would they remain pledged to the Tar Heels, or would they look elsewhere in the absence of the Hall-of-Fame head coach they committed to less than a year prior.
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According to SI All-American Director of Basketball Recruiting Jason Jordan, the 4-star UNC signees plan to remain committed to the Tar Heels…for now.
"“I thought about my top seven and what I would do if I decided to go to another school,” Dunn said. “It’s a lot to consider. Right now, they’re still my No. 1 option. I want to see who comes in and how they see me fitting in. It’s a business so I have to think of it that way. For now, I’m just going to stay with them and see who the next coach will be, then I’ll go from there.”"
In a separate conversation, Jordan states that Styles told him that he also plans to remain committed to North Carolina “as of right now.”
Both players will be monitoring the situation in Chapel Hill in the coming days to see who is hired to take over for Williams, and how it affects them moving forward. Dunn said that assistant coach Steve Robinson indicated in a phone conversation yesterday morning that he believes Williams’ successor will be someone within the Carolina family.
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If I were placing bets on who the next head coach of the Tar Heels would be, it would definitely be somebody that’s been in the program at some point, or currently on the coaching staff. The two most likely choices are UNC assistant coach Hubert Davis, and former Tar Heel sharpshooter and current UNC-Greensboro head coach, Wes Miller.
Having said that, I wouldn’t put it out of the realm of possibility for the Tar Heels to cast a little wider net to get a feel for interest from top-tier coaches outside of the Carolina coaching tree. Guys like Mark Few, Jay Wright and Tony Bennett are obviously popular names in a time like this, but I think they’re all incredibly improbable options. On the other hand, I could see a guy like Brad Stevens potentially returning to the college ranks, particularly since his Celtics are having a miserable season, and his seat there appears to be as hot as ever.
We’re simply not sure right now what direction UNC Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham and Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz will go in their search for a head coach, but we’ll continue to follow the situation as it unfolds.
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