Welcome to this week’s recruiting update! Last week was explosive, with both UNC and the recruiting world at large featuring in national headlines. Now that we’ve settled down a bit, it’s back to peering through the weeds for any hints of information we can get about the next generations of Tar Heels. Let’s get into it:

Football News

• One 2021 prospect with UNC interest has a familiar name: Myers Park High (Charlotte, NC) quarterback Drake Maye. Maye was a backup at Hough High School in Cornelius, his older brother’s alma mater, though that’s not an indication of any of his limitations: Hough’s senior quarterback is a Temple-committed dual-threat quarterback who has absolutely wreaked havoc for the Huskies throughout his career. Maye will start at Myers Park and have the opportunity to play with one of the best receiver tandems in the country, including 4-star Moose Muhammad, son of former NFL receiver Muhsin and a UNC target in his own right for the 2020 class. Maye does not yet hold a UNC offer due to lack of college film, but has camped at UNC several times and could easily earn one with good play this year.
• As my colleague Jake Lawrence wrote when it happened, 2018 four-star defensive tackle Brant Lawless has cleared UNC admissions and is able to join the team. This is welcome news after UNC missed on several defensive tackle prospects in the 2019 class, as Lawless will almost certainly redshirt and essentially join the 2019 class without having had the time this offseason to learn UNC’s playbook.

Basketball News

• It’s list-releasing time! Josh Green released his top 6, Armando Bacot has a top 5, Matt Hurt has a top 8, and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is expected to release a shortened list sometime this week. UNC has featured in the first two and is expected to feature in the third.
• Green’s recruitment will be interesting: Kansas always ends up recruiting well but has such a low hit rate that they can rarely be considered favorites for an out-of-state prospect, Arizona is usually a recruiting force but is dealing with FBI issues, Villanova has an argument for best program in the country but their 2018 class is their first top-10 class in a long time, UNLV isn’t an elite recruiting school but has a family advantage with Green’s brother playing there, and USC is one of the hottest recruiting teams in the country when it comes to west coast prospects. The signs have been good for UNC in this recruitment, but it will be a tough battle to close.
• C.J. Walker, who we mentioned last week as potentially earning a UNC offer, has also released a list, a top 12 that notably does not contain UNC or Kentucky. It seems those two bluebloods have moved on from the wing.
• 247Sports’ National Recruiting Director, Evan Daniels, has just put in a “Crystal Ball” prediction for Armando Bacot to UNC. Daniels is batting 100% on the 2019 class so far and has a 95% hit rate overall since joining 247; he’s extremely well-sourced. We wouldn’t normally highlight an individual Crystal Ball prediction, but this one is worth mentioning. It’s not confirmation of anything, but it’s a very good sign, particularly after Bacot’s overall Crystal Ball outlook had been trending away from UNC and towards Duke. Soon after this, Bacot announced that he will be revealing his commitment tomorrow at 5:00 PM. We’ll let you know how it goes.

• Point guard Tre Mann is also gaining momentum for UNC. The childhood UNC fan re-opened his recruitment just before receiving a Carolina offer, and many in the industry believe he’ll end up fulfilling his childhood dream.

Football Recruiting Board

Commitments

2019

Raekwon Anderson
Wide Receiver
5’9, 167 lbs
Charlton County (Folkston, GA)
Three-Star (#1,172 National Ranking)

Giovanni Biggers
Safety
6’1, 180 lbs
The Boys Latin School (Baltimore, MD)
Three-Star (#591 National Ranking, #43 Positional)

Storm Duck
Cornerback
6’1, 180 lbs
Boiling Springs (Boiling Springs, SC)
Three-Star (#1,272 National Ranking, #132 Positional)

Brendon Harrington
Linebacker/Safety
6’1, 192 lbs
Northwood (Pittsboro, NC)
Three-Star (#1,417 National Ranking, #111 Positional)

Josh Henderson
Running Back
6’0, 200 lbs
Hun School (Princeton, NJ)
Three-Star (#484 National Ranking, #28 Positional)

Kenan Johnson
Defensive Back
5’11, 162 lbs
Lake Minneola (Lake Minneola, FL)
Three-Star (#874 National Ranking, #80 Positional)

Drew Little
Long Snapper
5’11, 230 lbs
North Stanly (New London, NC)
Two-Star (#2,061 National Ranking, #2 Positional)

Kamari Morales
Tight End
6’3, 232 lbs
Lincoln (Tallahassee, FL)
Three-Star (#900 National Ranking, #32 Positional)

Coleman Reich
Safety
6’0, 185 lbs
Ledford (Thomasville, NC)
Three-Star (#1,269 National Ranking, #100 Positional)

Allen Smith
Linebacker
6’3, 205 lbs
Grayson (Loganville, GA)
Three-Star (#1,237 National Ranking, #102 Positional)

Welton Spottsville
Wide Receiver
6’0, 195 lbs
Havelock (Havelock, NC)
Three-Star (#1,106 National Ranking, #131 Positional)

Basketball Recruiting Board

Offers

2019

Cole Anthony
Combo Guard
6’3, 184 lbs
Archbishop Molloy (New York, NY)
Five-Star (#3 National Ranking)

Armando Bacot
Center
6’10, 240 lbs
Trinity Episcopal School (Richmond, VA)
Five-Star (#21 National Ranking)

Will Baker
Center
6’9, 220 lbs
Westlake (Austin, TX)
Five Star (#17 National Ranking)

Keion Brooks
Small Forward
6’8, 185 lbs
North Side (Fort Wayne, IN)
Five Star (#27 National Ranking)

Vernon Carey Jr.
Power Forward
6’9, 245 lbs
University School (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Five-Star (#2 National Ranking)

Matthew Hurt
Power Forward
6’9, 199 lbs
John Marshall Senior (Rochester, MN)
Five-Star (#4 National Ranking)

Wendell Moore
Small Forward
6’5, 210 lbs
Cox Mill (Concord, NC)
Five-Star (#24 National Ranking)

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
Power Forward
6’9, 235 lbs
IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL)
Five-Star (#26 National Ranking)

Josh Green
Small Forward
6’6 190 lbs
IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL)
Five-Star (#11 National Ranking)

Tre Mann
6’1 150 lbs
Villages Charter School (The Villages, FL)
Four-Star (#33 National Ranking)

Commitments

2019

Jeremiah Francis
Point Guard
6’3, 190 lbs
Pickerington Central (Pickerington, OH)
Four-Star (#51 National Ranking)

2020

Day’Ron Sharpe
Power Forward
6’8 220 lbs
South Central (Winterville, NC)
Four-Star (#70 National Ranking)

(recruits listed in bold are recently commited/offered, while those in italics are somewhat recently committed/offered)