UNC Basketball: Tar Heels coaches watching promising five-star recruit

Recruiting visits aren’t the only thing that have returned in the world of college sports in the month of June. Coaches are also allowed to evaluate talent in recruiting classes by going to tournaments and already the UNC Basketball program is doing some homework on a top five-star target in the 2022 class.

Hubert Davis and a few assistants are out on the recruiting trail and one player they have their eyes on is five-star center Dereck Lively II.

The Pennsylvania native is becoming a top target for the Tar Heels here in the 2022 class and UNC was out watching him on Saturday. Lively is participating in the Mid-Atlantic Individual School Shootout in Philadelphia with Westtown, and among those in attendance was Davis to see Lively put on a show:

Lively had a monster game in the opener on Friday, finishing with 17 points, 21 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 assists in a win. He’s back on the court again Saturday with UNC in attendance and Lively is hoping to build on his strong performance.

But the Tar Heels weren’t the only ones in attendance watching the recruit.

Notre Dame, Penn State, Duke, Michigan and VCU among others were in attendance with eyes on the talented prospect as his recruitment continues to heat up.  City of Love Basketball caught up with Lively after Friday’s games as he revealed what he’s been working on:

"“Definitely just been working on trying to show off what I can do, really, and really just have fun with the teams I’m playing with, that’s all I’m trying to do,” he said. “All the recognition I’m getting is just hard work paying off.”Lively was fantastic in both of Westtown’s games, though he didn’t need to play much in a 90-66 blowout of Kiski Prep in their second matchup of the afternoon, finishing with 17 points before sitting most of the second half. It was in the opener, against Patrick School (N.J.), where he impressed from start-to-finish, leading Westtown to a 64-53 win and showing just about every aspect of his versatility."

Lively was recently on UNC’s campus for an official visit earlier in June and has also taken a visit to Penn State. He’s set to visit Michigan and Duke in the Fall, a time where he could jump even higher in the recruiting rankings.

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