One of the biggest tournaments of the holiday season is ongoing in Raleigh, North Carolina, as high school standouts from across the country are competing in the annual John Wall Holiday Invitational.
Given its proximity to Chapel Hill, of course the UNC basketball program has representation at the event. This tournament gives the Tar Heels (along with plenty of other college coaches) the opportunity to see some of the best talent around, especially those players that are already on a given program's radar.
On Saturday night, head coach Hubert Davis stopped by to check out a player that the UNC basketball program has had their eye on for quite some time.
2026 4⭐️ Cole Cloer
— Jamie Shaw (@JamieShaw5) December 29, 2024
UNC head coach Hubert Davis, NC State head coach Kevin Keatts, and Duke head coach Jon Scheyer are courtside at the @JohnWallHoliday watching.https://t.co/cyO8Lj0fXm https://t.co/hKOb9hojcV pic.twitter.com/5cWWCzh5SF
Jamie Shaw of On3 shared the above photo of Davis sitting courtside to watch Cloer compete. Davis wasn't the only ACC coach there for Cloer, as Duke's Jon Scheyer and NC State's Kevin Keatts were also front and center.
The UNC basketball program officially jumped into the mix for Cloer when they extended an offer his way on May 21. In fact, Cloer was the first player from the Class of 2026 that Hubert Davis and the UNC basketball program extended an offer to.
That goes to show you how interested they are in him.
A few months later, Cloer made some strong comments about the Tar Heels, ones that indicate that North Carolina could be a favorite in this recruiting battle.
While the competition will be steep, especially from programs within the state of North Carolina, the UNC basketball program hopes to keep the top in-state product from the Class of 2026 within the state. They seem to be putting on a full-court press to lure Cloer to Chapel Hill, as they're making every effort to show just how much they want him to end up being a Tar Heel.