Michael Malone and UNC's recruiting momentum continues with a spot in AJ Williams’ top 10

Let's take a look at Rivals' updated Class of 2027 rankings and where UNC stands with the top available prospects in this graduating class.

No. 1: CJ Rosser- Fresh off an official visit to UNC. North Carolina is said to be the current "frontrunner" in his recruitment.

No 2: DeMarcus Henry- UNC has been heavily tied to the in-state product, making his list of finalists. UNC will have competition here with the likes of Louisville, Duke, Ohio State and UConn lurking.

No 3: Asa Montgomery: UNC jumped in the mix late but already secured an official visit from him.

No. 4: Beckham Black: Scheduled to visit Chapel Hill this weekend.

That brings us to No. 5 on the list: AJ Williams. The reclassified senior has narrowed his recruitment down to 10, and, to no surprise to anyone following UNC basketball recruiting, the Tar Heels are still among those in the mix.

UNC cracks the list of finalsts for another five-star talent

Michael Malone and the Tar Heels are once again heavily involved in the recruitment of a five-star Class of 2027 talent, consider us shocked!

Williams, a 6-foot-7 forward, is now considering the following programs as he narrows his recruitment down:

Arkansas, Auburn, BYU, Duke, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and North Carolina.

At the moment, Williams has made official visits to three of his finalists: Auburn, Duke, and Georgia Tech. He is expected to schedule more visits to his remaining finalists before he comes to a final decision on his future.

Now, we could be wrong, but...

When's the last time we could say that UNC is so heavily involved with essentially every top 10 to 15 ranked prospect in a particular recruiting class?

The Tar Heels are legitimately in the mix for at least six of the top-10 ranked players in this class and have also been linked to a handful of prospects that rank among the top 15 overall. Malone and the UNC basketball program aren't just trying to add talent to its future roster, but they are shooting for the stars, looking to make Chapel Hill the cool spot for elite recruits to end up.

So far, they are putting in a ton of work on the recruiting trail and, based on the latest updates, have put themselves in a pretty good position to make a strong case to land a few of these prized targets.

In Williams' case, he might be the guy who UNC has to put the most work in for if they want to bring him to Chapel Hill. With Rosser and Page high on their wish list, Williams might end up being a fallback plan for North Carolina, one that would've likely been more of a priority target had he not reclassifed up a year.

However, don't downplay it one bit: UNC would love to bring a player of Williams' talent to Chapel Hill.

You have to give credit to the work Malone and his staff have put in. However, the results haven't been there just yet, as we need to wait and see if the Tar Heels actually land some of these top available talents when its all said and done.

For now, the Tar Heels staff continues to work toward making that happen.

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