I regret to inform you that UNC Football’s class of 2021 has dropped from its erstwhile ranking of #2 in the country. After a few players’ commitments to Tennessee, they now sit at the lowly position of #3 in the nation, behind Ohio State and the Vols in that order. Fortunately, a couple of prospects rumored to be leaning towards the Heels will be committing soon to possibly rectify this grievous fall. On the basketball side, we’ve got some quotes from UNC targets, but it doesn’t look like any decisions will be made any time soon. Let’s dig in:

Football:

• Tennessee has indeed overtaken UNC in the 247 Composite’s recruiting class rankings for the class of 2021, after the commitments of Aaron Willis (a four-star linebacker) and Kaidon Salter (a four-star dual-threat quarterback) last week, and 11 (!) since April 26th. But their class is an even more extreme version of what’s putting UNC near the top; it’s being influenced by quantity more so than quality. Tennessee has 21 commitments to UNC’s 14, easily the most in the country (14 commits is 4th-most). Their average recruit rating is 89.73, which translates to a high three-star and would have placed them somewhere in the 10-20 range depending on class size. UNC’s average rating, meanwhile, is 91.41, translating to a four-star player and a class inside last year’s top 10. Make of all this what you will.
• Two of UNC’s top remaining targets announced commitment dates in the past week: wide receiver J.J. Jones and outside linebacker Zaire Patterson. Jones will commit sometime next week, while Patterson set the date of May 26th: the Tuesday after next. Jones is expected to commit to the Heels; 83% of his Crystal Balls, including a spate submitted in the couple days after his announcements, are pointing to Chapel Hill. Patterson is a little more complex: He has just two Crystal Ball picks, both to Clemson, but Steve Wiltfong of 247 seems to believe the Heels are a legit threat. Overall it seems like people think it’s between the Heels and Clemson, though nobody seems to really know at all, given the lack of predictions.

Basketball

• Mostly just interviews here. First is Chet Holmgren, the 7-foot unicorn who models himself on KD and actually might have the skill level to justify it. He feels like a prime candidate for the G-League route, but had some positive things to say about the job UNC is doing recruiting him in this interview with Evan Daniels. His recruitment is still wide open and he apparently won’t make a decision until late winter/early spring.
• There’s some intriguing stuff in this Instagram interview of Harrison Ingram by Jeremy Shapiro. Ingram mentions that one of his fellow 2021 recruits he talks to fairly often is Hunter Sallis, who’s also been offered by UNC. They’ve apparently talked about teaming up, “mostly” at UNC among all the schools who have offered both of them. Package deals aren’t really something anybody expects to happen, but they’re fun to dream about. Ingram also says in the interview that UNC was his favorite visit he took before the current crisis shut visits down. He came to campus the weekend of February 1st, highlighted by the first Duke game.