A new 2027 recruiting target has emerged on Michael Malone and UNC's radar

Just when one recruiting target came off the board, another emerged for Michael Malone and North Carolina.

At this stage in the recruiting process for the Class of 2027, most senior high school standouts already have an idea of a handful of programs that make the most sense for them when they take their talents to the collegiate level. Most recruits are already narrowing down their recruitment at this point, focusing on those schools that have been heavily involved throughout the process.

However, there's always room for a surprise contender to enter the equation, which is exactly what has happened for top-20 ranked recruit Jalen Davis.

Michael Malone and UNC emerge in the Jalen Davis sweepstakes

Davis, a high four-star point guard from Bremerton High School in Washington (the alma mater of former Tar Heel Marvin Williams), originally narrowed his recruitment to 10 schools.

While BYU, Gonzaga, Iowa, Ole Miss, Stanford, TCU, Texas Tech, UCLA, USC, and Washington all made their push, North Carolina joined the party late and built momentum right away, earning an official visit from the soon to be five-star ranked guard.

The 6-foot-3 guard revealed to Joe Tipton of On3 that not only has UNC emerged in his recruitment, but that he has also scheduled an official visit to Chapel Hill on October 3.

In addition to his visit to North Carolina, Davis is scheduled to visit Stanford (September 26-27), Iowa (October 5-6), UCLA (October 16-17), and Gonzaga (November 7-8).

Malone and his staff got a close look at Davis when he squared off against Adan Diggs (another UNC recruiting target) at Section 8. He's coming off a summer in which he averaged 24.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists playing on the adidas 3SSB Circuit.

This recruitment goes to show that even though coaches may be in attendance for a certain player (or players), there's always room for someone to emerge on a program's recruiting radar, essentially what Davis did when competing against Diggs.

Rivals National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw gave the following assessment of Davis' game, giving Tar Heel a good glimpse of what he's capable of doing on the basketball court.

“Davis has positional size, but he is also comfortable on or off the ball. With his length, he has some sneaky speed with the ball in hs hands and can really put pressure on the defense in the open floor. He is also a quality shooter from three-point range. As he cleans up his footwork and continues to work on his reads, there is real upside here with his natural abilities and physical gifts.”

It's been a very busy few days on the recruiting trail for Malone and the Tar Heels, as UNC seems to be in on every big-time recruit the 2027 class has to offer. Yes, we know they aren't involved with every top-10 ranked player, but they are included in the conversation for a good amount of them, showing just how active the Tar Heels have been on the recruiting trail.

Being in the mix is fun, but landing top-tier talents is even better. While the work is being put in, the Tar Heels still haven't secured any commitments, as the job is simply far from done.

However, the Tar Heels are making positive noise on the recruiting trail, which could lead to some commitments in the near future.

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