UNC Basketball Recruiting: Tar Heels out of picture for elite five-star?

As the 2021-22 UNC Basketball season continues to roll on with a big matchup against No. 24 Michigan on Wednesday, the focus on recruiting is still there.

Hubert Davis has done a good job early with the 2022 and 2023 classes in his first few months on the job. But one big recruit just might be out of the picture for the Tar Heels.

UNC is one of 12 programs to offer five-star forward Matas Buzelis at this point in his recruitment but they do appear to be fading for him. Buzelis is drawing interest from several big programs and appears to be ready to start cutting down his teams and focus on a handful.

In his latest for Rivals.com, Jamie Shaw caught up with Buzelis as he dished on his recruitment and the teams that are after him the hardest. He mentioned Duke, Florida State, Wake Forest and Kentucky, leaving out UNC.

The prospect also talked about some key things in his recruitment including what he’s looking for:

"“I am hearing from all the schools who have offered,” Buzelis said. “I don’t have just one that sticks out right now. I have taken two official visits so far. One to Wake Forest and one to Florida State.”“I am looking for a program with a coach I can lean on,” Buzelis said. “This decision, this choice is bigger than basketball for me, so just having that connection is very important.”"

UNC not being mentioned is certainly a bad sign for them in this recruitment. While they still have their offer out, UNC does appear to be fading back. Just recently, Kentucky and Duke were in attendance to watch one of Buzelis’ games and it sure as heck sounds like those two are the front runners.

Davis and his staff can now focus on other big recruits moving forward as they look to build in the 2022 and 2023 cycles.

For more on UNC Basketball recruiting, please check back with Keeping It Heel.