UNC Basketball makes top 7 for five-star 2022 center

Hubert Davis and the UNC Basketball staff currently have two commitments in the 2022 recruiting class after landing four-star guard Seth Trimble on Wednesday. The commitment of Trimble comes a few weeks after they pulled in three-star center Will Shaver as Davis is off to a good start in his first true class as head coach of the Tar Heels.

But Davis is hoping that his class grows and UNC can turn in a top 10 class for the 2022 circuit, getting them off to a great start. And on Thursday, he took a small step forward in doing so.

Five-star center Dereck Lively II made an update to his recruitment, officially trimming his list of 23 offers down to just 7 teams. The recruit posted on Twitter that he is down to UNC, Duke, Kentucky, Michigan, USC, Florida State and Penn State:

The 7-foot-1, 220-pound Lively is a five-star recruit that is ranked No. 20 overall, No. 3 at the center position and the No. 1 player in the state of Pennsylvania per the 247Sports recruiting rankings. He hails out of Bellefonte and plays his high school ball at Westtown.

Lively has become a top target for the Tar Heels and visited Chapel Hill on June 8th. But lately, his recruitment has picked up and he’s drawn interest from both Kentucky and Duke as well.

Davis and his staff did travel to the East Coast over the weekend to watch Lively compete, evaluating the recruit and hoping to extend the relationship some more. With two recruits already committed, Davis would love to land that big five-star to put his class in a good position. And that’s where Lively could come in as a priority recruit for the Tar Heels in the 2022 class.

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