Well, that quiet didn’t last long. Armando Bacot’s commitment to Roy Williams and the Tar Heels was an excellent beginning to the academic year. On the football side, the coaching staff seems to be looking to catch a second wind, and it looks like there’s a plan in place...

Football News

• I’ve mentioned here before that 4-star defensive back Tony Davis should be on commitment watch after decommitting from Duke. At the time, Davis said that Duke was still at the top of his list, followed by UNC. Since then, Duke has pulled Davis’ scholarship, and UNC is locked in on securing him. He has set his decision date as September 21st.
• Davis isn’t the only recruit that UNC coaches are looking to flip. 4-star quarterback Sam Howell is committed to Florida State but is rumored to be less than thrilled with his position there after they continued to recruit quarterbacks in his class (particularly Lance Legendre). He was UNC’s top quarterback choice in this class from the start and they continue to stay in touch with him. It’s unlikely anything happens here, and if Howell is dissatisfied he’s not showing it publicly, but it’s worth keeping an eye on. A situation with more promise is that of 3-star wide receiver Marlyn Johnson, who is currently committed to Rutgers but has displayed significant interest in UNC despite that.

Basketball News

• Welcome to the Hill, Armando Bacot! Check out our articles on Bacot’s commitment and what he can bring to UNC.
• One of Bacot’s biggest values, though, is his ability and willingness to recruit. Bacot is very popular in the AAU world, will be teammates with Josh Green and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl next year, and counts Cole Anthony as one of his best friends. And he’s already made it clear that he wants them all, and Tre Mann to boot, to be Heels:

(Ignore that getting all four of them would require one more scholarship than UNC projects to have available in 2019, I’m sure it can be figured out)

• As predicted, Robinson-Earl released a top 5 including UNC. The other four on the list are Kansas, Arizona, Villanova, and Notre Dame. Kansas is the big competitor here, being his home state’s flagship school and his father’s alma mater. UNC has a familial advantage of its own, though, in that when his father Lester Earl played at Kansas, he was coached by none other than Roy Williams.
• UNC also seems to be in a recruiting battle with Kansas for Tre Mann, as he has scheduled an official visit to Lawrence for the week after he is planned to visit UNC.

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)

Will Baker
Center
6’9, 220 lbs
Westlake (Austin, TX)
Five Star (#25 National Ranking)

Keion Brooks
Small Forward
6’8, 185 lbs
North Side (Fort Wayne, IN)
Five Star (#15 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 (#6 National Ranking)

Wendell Moore
Small Forward
6’5, 210 lbs
Cox Mill (Concord, NC)
Five-Star (#21 National Ranking)

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
Power Forward
6’9, 235 lbs
IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL)
Five-Star (#18 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 (#31 National Ranking)

Commitments

2019

Armando Bacot
Center
6’10, 240 lbs
Trinity Episcopal School (Richmond, VA)
Five-Star (#26 National Ranking)

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)