UNC’s been flirting with some major players in both basketball and football in the past week. I have no idea what it might mean, but it’s fun to imagine possibilities. Here’s the latest on what UNC has been doing in the recruiting world:

Football:

• It looks like the UNC coaches might be trying to hit the graduate transfer market again, as Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant will be visiting Chapel Hill this weekend. UNC’s quarterback troubles have been well-documented this season, and Bryant has a record of decent play (certainly much better than the last graduate transfer quarterback UNC brought in) at a top-tier institution.
• Keep an eye on Sam Howell, the FSU-committed quarterback who everybody thinks isn’t very firm with his commitment despite the number of times he’s said otherwise. Larry Fedora flew his patented helicopter to Howell’s game last weekend and reportedly left a positive impression on him. It could turn into something, it could also not.

Basketball

• The list of viable UNC wing targets has dwindled from 3 to 1 in the past week, as Josh Green committed to Arizona and Wendell Moore committed to Duke. That leaves UNC with Keion Brooks as a true wing target, plus Boogie Ellis as a point guard who can play off the ball and Matthew Hurt, who is more of a stretch 4.
• Ellis is visiting this weekend for Late Night With Roy, alongside 2020 commit Day’Ron Sharpe. Moore was supposed to be with them, but with his commitment to Duke, that’s obviously no longer happening. LNWR is a precarious situation to bring a recruit to; some absolutely love it and others don’t care for the intentional cornball-ness of it. We’ll know a bit next week about which side Ellis falls on.
• We don’t know much about Brooks from a UNC perspective because he hasn’t been down here yet. One thing we do know is that he’s mentioned repeatedly that he was very impressed by Roy Williams bringing his entire staff up to Fort Wayne to watch him play, when he could have come by himself or just sent an assistant. It’s this nugget that makes me a little higher on his chances of coming to UNC than many other outlets are, because he hasn’t yet come to campus and has pretty well-established connections with both Michigan State and Indiana. I’m not saying it’s not a long shot, but I think UNC’s recruiting efforts since offering him have made an impact. He is scheduled to visit Chapel Hill in November alongside Vernon Carey.
• Keep an eye on Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, who is likely to commit in the next couple of months. It’s long been thought that his recruitment is a battle between Kansas and UNC; Kansas being his hometown and parents’ alma mater (his father is Lester Earl) and UNC housing the coach his father played for while at Kansas. Arizona and Villanova are legitimate wild cards, though.