UNC Recruiting week of 8/26: Basketball schedules three more official visits

Football kicks off tomorrow, so recruiting probably isn’t at the top of your priority list. For football, with the majority of the 2020 class wrapped up, it’s been a slow couple of weeks. Basketball, however, got hot and heavy this week with a slew of official visits announced for the fall. Let’s get to it.

Football

• ESPN’s #3 overall player in the nation, Desmond Evans, released his top-5 last Friday. North Carolina made the list, as well as South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Florida, and Tennessee. North Carolina State was not listed. There has been no timetable for his decision, but Deana King of Tar Heel Illustrated confirmed that Evans will attend tomorrow’s game.

• Most recruits began their season last weekend and most of UNC’s commitments were in action. We won’t make it a habit of bringing you regular updates of recruiting stats or performances, but every now and then social media makes it easy to show off a few highlights. Enjoy 4-star safety Cameron Rose-Sinclair in this pick-6 from last weekend.

Basketball

Last week, Brandon mentioned 2020 point guards Caleb Love and R.J. Davis and 2021 power forward Paolo Banchero all scheduled official visits for this fall. This past week, more visits were announced.

• Five-star recruits PG Cade Cunningham and SG/SF Jaden Springer will officially visit from September 27-29. That’s a packed weekend in Chapel Hill. Football will host the defending national champions Clemson Tigers, and then the basketball program will host Late Night With Roy. North Carolina is also hosting at least two other prospective recruits that weekend. (See below).

• Five-star 2020 forward Greg Brown will also visit for Late Night With Roy. Interestingly, it will NOT be an official visit. Instead, Brown will take his second unofficial visit to Chapel Hill. and use his official visit during basketball season. All signs indicate Brown, who lives in Texas, will wait until the spring to make a decision. Getting him to travel across the country for the second time this season, on his own dime, is an interesting plot twist to this recruitment.

• Last night, 5-star shooting guard Bryce Thompson released his top-7 list. North Carolina made the cut, along with Oklahoma State, Kansas, Michigan State, Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. It was also reported by Rivals’ Corey Evans that Thompson will take an official visit to Chapel Hill on the weekend of September 6th. North Carolina hosts Miami in football that Saturday night. Thompson won’t take in the scenery with fellow recruits, but he’ll be the program’s sole focus in what should be an electric atmosphere.

• Having trouble following all the action? Don’t fret. Here’s the breakdown of publicly reported visits. This list will continue to grow as recruits finalize their fall visits before the first signing period. Players who know they will commit in the spring will likely save their OV’s until the basketball season begins.

Sept. 6-8 (Miami football game):
SG Bryce Thompson (OV)

Sept. 20-22 (Appalachian State football game):
PG Caleb Love (OV)
PF/C Walker Kessler (OV)

Sept. 27-29 (Clemson football game, Late Night With Roy)
PG Cade Cunningham (OV)
SG/SF Jaden Springer (OV)
SF/PF Greg Brown (UOV)
Paolo Ranchero (OV, 2021)

Oct. 11-13 (No football game)
PG R.J. Davis (OV)