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Recruiting for week of 3/9: UNC Football lands massive recruiting haul

Looking back at a huge recruiting week for football, while basketball sees a premier high school event canceled.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: OCT 27 North Carolina at Virginia Photo by Lee Coleman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Now that the majority of American sporting events have been postponed or canceled due to the coronavirus (hang tough NASCAR!), most fans are trying to figure out what to do with themselves. With the NCAA Tournament, NBA, MLB, PGA Tour, and INSERT YOUR PREFERRED SPORTS LEAGUE HERE either canceling or suspending their events, the sports schedule is looking pretty bleak. This will bleed over to recruiting activities, as most schools and/or conferences are limiting the contact their coaching staffs have with outside entities.

For UNC and ACC, that is exactly what happened. Per a release from the school, all athletics events, recruiting visits, formal and informal practices, have been put on hold. That may make recruiting round-ups a little bleak over the next few weeks. Luckily, enough happened last weekend to provide some good info heading into this suddenly desolate weekend.

Football

  • The big news, obviously, was the trio of four-star recruits that committed to the Tar Heels last weekend. Drake Maye got the party started last Friday, when he flipped his pledge from Alabama to UNC. Maye, a four-star in-state QB is the brother of former Tar Heel basketball national champion Luke Maye and the son of former UNC starting QB, Mark Maye.
  • That was followed on Saturday by in-state wide receiver, Kobe Paysour. The four-star recruit from Kings Mountain, NC became the Heels’ second WR to commit for 2021, joining Gavin Blackwell. Both Maye and Paysour are listed as ESPN30 recruits, giving UNC six such recruits for this cycle. That matches the program record they set in 2020.
  • Finally, they were joined by UNC’s first out-of-state recruit on Sunday afternoon. Eli Sutton, a four-star OL out of Tennessee, became the Heels’ first offensive lineman of this cycle. Sutton is considered a top-5 player in the Volunteer state by Rivals and 247Sports, proving once again that Mack Brown plans to raid neighboring states for top-level talent.
  • Those commits helped push North Carolina’s class into the top-5 in both Rivals and 247Sports team rankings. Rivals now slots the Heels at #5 and 247Sports puts them at #4. Those rankings are buoyed by the fact that eight of UNC’s nine commitments currently hold a four-star ranking from at least one of ESPN, Rivals, or 247Sports. Folks, it’s only March.
  • Below are UNC’s current verbal commitments. The rating and positional rankings are from the 247Sports Composite evaluations.

UNC Football 2021 Commitments

Name Position Height Weight Rating Positional Rank School Location Status
Name Position Height Weight Rating Positional Rank School Location Status
Drake Maye QB 6'5 210 4-star 6 Myers Park Charlotte, NC Verbal
DeAndre Boykins S 5'11 200 4-star 6 Central Cabarrus Concord, NC Verbal
Keeshawn Silver DE 6'5 236 4-star 7 Rocky Mount Rocky Mount, NC Verbal
Power Echols ILB 6'1 206 4-star 9 Vance Charlotte, NC Verbal
Gabe Stephens DB/LB 6'3 205 4-star 10 Mountain Charter Mt. Holly, NC Verbal
Raneiria Dillworth DB/LB 6'2 185 4-star 12 Glenn Kernersville, NC Verbal
Dontavius Nash S 6'2 170 4-star 14 Hunter Huss Gastonia, NC Verbal
Kamarro Edmonds RB 5'11 200 4-star 15 Havelock Havelock, NC Verbal
Gavin Blackwell WR 6'0 164 4-star 21 Sun Valley Monroe, NC Verbal
Eli Sutton OT 6'7 285 4-star 22 Brentwood Academy Brentwood, TN Verbal
Kobe Paysour WR 6'1 175 4-star 60 Kings Mountain Kings Mountain, NC Verbal
Jared Wilson OG 6'4 325 3-star 19 West Forsyth Clemmons, NC Verbal
Tymir Brown ATH 5'10 166 3-star 28 Jacksonville Jacksonville, NC Verbal
Caleb Hood ATH 5'11 212 3-star 58 Richmond Rockingham, NC Verbal
J.J. Jones WR 6'3 195 3-star 77 Myrtle Beach Myrtle Beach, SC Verbal

Basketball

  • Perhaps the biggest news in the recruiting world is the cancelation of the McDonald’s All-American Game. North Carolina had four selectees slated to play. Caleb Love, R.J. Davis, Day’Ron Sharpe, and Walker Kessler were all named to the squad back in January. UNC’s four representatives led all schools for the most signees on this year’s team. The game was to be played on April 1.
  • Speaking of incoming recruits, Kessler’s team played for the Georgia state title last weekend. They took home the trophy, thanks to Kessler’s 17 point, 8 rebound, 3 assists, 5 block performance. Those efforts heled lead Woodward Academy to a 30-2 record on the way to their first state title. Kessler eclipsed the 2,000 point mark for his career in his final high school game.
  • It’s unknown if UNC will have any additional scholarships open up this spring. All five known or expected departures are accounted for in a five-man recruiting class. However, longtime (one-time?) target Ziaire Williams is still uncommitted. The top-10 player from California hit a game-winning jump shot to send Sierra Canyon to their state title game. Unfortunately, that championship game has also been canceled. Regardless, enjoy this sequence.

UNC Basketball 2021 Offers

Name Position Height Weight Rating National Ranking School Location
Name Position Height Weight Rating National Ranking School Location
Chet Holmgren C 7'0 190 5-Star 2 Minnehaha Academy Minneapolis, MN
Patrick Baldwin Jr. SF 6'8 190 5-Star 3 Hamilton Sussex, WI
Kennedy Chandler PG 6'1 160 5-Star 15 Briarcrest Christian Memphis, TN
Harrison Ingram SF 6'7 200 5-Star 17 St Marks Dallas, TX
Trevor Keels SG 6'5 210 5-Star 18 Paul VI Catholic Fairfax, VA
Hunter Sallis CG 6'3 165 4-Star 30 Millard North Omaha, NE