UNC Basketball: Top recruit being targeted by nation’s best programs

Hubert Davis and the UNC basketball program have their work cut out for them in the Matas Buzelis recruitment.

Matas Buzelis is one of the hottest names in the country among coaches and scouts, and that’s why he’s getting so much attention from a number of college basketball’s top programs.

A 6-foot-10, 175-pound small forward in the class of 2023, Buzelis is holding nearly two-dozen scholarship offers, including ones from Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Syracuse, UCLA and Wisconsin. North Carolina joined that list in early August, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see Duke and Kentucky extend an offer to Buzelis in the coming weeks.

Both Jon Scheyer and John Calipari visited Buzelis last week, as did assistants from North Carolina and Illinois. That’ll be a common trend throughout the four-star wing’s senior season at Brewster Academy, as he’s considered not only one of the best prospects in the nation at his position, but overall, too. He’s currently ranked 23rd in the 247Sports Composite, sixth among wings and No. 2 in the state of New Hampshire. He’s ranked similarly in the Rivals150 at 27th overall.

At this point, there’s simply no telling where Buzelis will end up, but it’s clear that he’ll pretty much have his pick of the litter when the time comes. Don’t expect a commitment from the talented wing for another year or so, as he’ll likely look to take visits to a number of the programs on his offer sheet, and whittle down the amount of schools to a more workable list of finalists at some point.

We’ll continue to follow the Tar Heels’ pursuit of Matas Buzelis in the coming months, and keep you apprised of all the latest on that, and everything UNC basketball.