UNC and Michael Malone's recruitment of 5-star AJ Williams takes interesting turn

For the 2027 class alone, we've seen UNC and Michael Malone be quite aggressive with 5-star prospects, as the new Carolina coach wants to make some noise with high school recruiting. There's now another top target for Carolina fans to focus on a bit, though it's not a new name: AJ Williams.

Ranked the No. 1 player in the county for the '28 group, news has just broken that Williams will be moving up a year and reclassifying to the 2027 class. This is of course major news, and it will certainly add urgency for the schools who have put an offer on the table for the talented small forward. North Carolina is of course on that list.

AJ Williams reclassifying to 2027 changes UNC's recruiting efforts for the 5-star

Malone and his staff have been in steady contact with Williams, including watching him put on a show at the Peach Jam earlier this summer. North Carolina offered the elite standout in mid June, with Malone making it clear that he'd love to see Williams make the move to Chapel Hill once he's ready to make the jump to the college game.

Again, we now know said jump will take place a year earlier than expected. While that's exciting news, it sure looks like the Tar Heels are facing a bit of an uphill climb here. For a little while now, Duke has been the presumed favorite, though Arkansas and BYU seem to be upping their recruiting efforts of late.

This could complicate the recruiting push for Malone, but obviously the next step here would be to work to get Williams on campus for an official visit at some point this season. We all know the difference a visit can make for a UNC hoops prospect, especially if they're able to watch the Tar Heels ball out against a big-time rival at the Dean Dome.

According to the 247Sports Composite, Williams, a 6-8, 210-pounder from Georgia, is ranked five stars and the No. 2 SF in the country now that he's a '27 target. Throughout his recruitment, he has picked up offers from 27 schools, which is pretty eye-opening since he originally wasn't supposed to graduate for another two years.

Now that he has moved things up a bit, it is going to make the race to land him even more intriguing. North Carolina has some catching up to do, but as we all know, nothing is ever finalized with a prospect until he makes things official and signs with the program of his choice. Until that happens, the door is open for Malone to make a run at Williams, and he needs to do so fast following this breaking news.

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