UNC Basketball: Tar Heels land five-star center in 2022 class

Hubert Davis and the UNC basketball program are on a roll in terms of recruiting here in the month of July.

After landing two recruits for their 2022 recruiting class in June, the Tar Heels have now added another member. Five-star center Jalen Washington officially pledged his commitment to the Tar Heels, ending his recruitment early in July.

Washington is now the third prospect in UNC’s 2022 class, joining four-star guard Seth Trimble and three-star center Will Shaver. The Gary, Indiana native becomes the highest-ranked recruit to join the 2022 class, ranking No. 21 nationally, the No. 4 center and the No. 1 player in the state of Indiana per the 247Sports recruiting rankings. 

A 6-foot-9-inch, 210-prospect, Washington gives the Tar Heels a legit enter prospect to likely replace Armando Bacot in the post. With Shaver also committed, UNC wants to build their depth in the frontcourt as they are likely to lose Bacot and Brady Manek, potentially Dawson Garcia as well after this upcoming season.

Washington had a total of 13 offers and took two visits. He was in Chapel Hill on June 2nd and then traveled to Stanford on June 12th. The visit helped him decide quicker than many expecting and in the end the recruit opted for the Tar Heels over Stanford, Indiana and Alabama among other programs.

The Tar Heels now have a three-man class for 2022 but are still in pursuit of other recruits moving forward. Ideally, Davis would love to land at least one more player for his first class as head coach of the program and with one five-star committed, another would help keep UNC’s class in the Top 10 for the long run. There’s a long way to go in this cycle but the Tar Heels are certainly off to a good start.

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