UNC Basketball target makes change to his top schools list

With the retirement of Roy Williams and a new head coach search already beginning, future recruits will be something to keep an eye on for the UNC Basketball program in the coming weeks.

Last week we wrote on two players in the 2021 recruiting class sticking with the program for now amidst the latest news. But future recruits in the 2022 class will also be ones to keep an eye on as this search continues.

One big target for UNC, four-star shooting guard Nick Smith, has already made a small update to his top teams list. However, it’s not bad news for the Tar Heels as another team was replaced instead due to a coaching change.

Per Tipton Edits, Smith has now included Texas and removed Texas Tech from his top teams list after Chris Beard took the job for the Longhorns.

Smith’s list now includes UNC, Kentucky, Texas, Baylor, Ole Miss, Oral Roberts, Georgetown, Florida, Auburn and Arkansas as his recruitment goes on.

The shooting guard is ranked as the No. 29 overall recruit, No. 2 shooting guard and No. 1 player in the state of Arkansas per the 247Sports recruiting rankings. He’s a prospect that has seen his stock rise a bit over the past few months and has offers from big programs.

At one point, the Tar Heels were considered an early favorite to land Smith in the 2022 class but since then there hasn’t been much on his recruitment. However, Kentucky does hold the only crystal ball prediction for the recruit on 247Sports placed by insider Travis Branham back in February with a confidence of five.

Now, what UNC does with their new head coach does play a big role in this recruitment and others so that will be a huge decision coming hopefully within the next two weeks. After that, some more recruiting news should begin to clear up.

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