After a few weeks of nothing much happening at all in the recruiting realm for UNC football and men’s basketball, this past week was a relative explosion of news. It started off with the biggest news for the program in a while, Tony Grimes’ commitment to the Tar Heels. But it didn’t stop there, as there was more noise around men’s basketball than there’s been in a while, including a new scholarship offer for the 2022 class. Let’s get into it:

Football:

• I won’t belabor the point because we’ve already got a couple of places to talk about it, but 5-star cornerback Tony Grimes has committed to being a Tar Heel. He’s got a decision to make after that, though, about whether he starts college this fall or the next. With the ability to graduate high school early with one summer class (presumably senior English, based on how these things usually work), Grimes’ only attachment to high school is the football season. If the Virginia High School League decides to either cancel it or postpone it to spring, which seems reasonably likely at this point, Grimes could very well join the 2020 class on campus this fall, jump-starting his eligibility for the NFL by a year. With legit 4.2 speed and excellent technique, it’s not out of the question that Grimes would be a top-4 cornerback on the team even as a 17-year old.
• The next announcement on UNC’s radar is fellow Tidewater-area blue-chip prospect George Wilson, a long pass-rusher who would be an excellent replacement for Tomon Fox, whose senior year would be this year if the season takes place. He will announce his decision on July 12th, and the Heels look pretty good for him as well - 5/5 of 247’s Crystal Ball picks are for the good guys.
• With Grimes’ commitment, UNC now sits 3rd in the Class of 2021 recruiting rankings, and with 17 commitments has a score that would have ranked 11th last year. Things are looking pretty good for a top-10 class when all is said and done.

Basketball:

• Roy Williams has extended his 3rd offer of the 2022 class, this one to five-star point guard Skyy Clark, who plays at Brentwood Academy in Nashville. Clark’s a true combo guard; not just a point-guard sized scorer but somebody who is equally comfortable leading and facilitating an offense and being an off-ball scoring option. He’s familiar with UNC already, as one of his mentors is fellow Brentwood alumnus Brandan Wright.
• Additionally, Sports Illustrated has given Clark a space to publicly blog about his life as a high-level recruit, giving us access to his personality in a way that you don’t often see with recruits - and potentially a balm for those who feel like they don’t get to know one-and-done players well enough. Clark seems like a notably good kid, talking in his first post about his realization of the platform he has to be a “freedom fighter” and organizing a protest cleanup in Nashville that was attended by people like Darius Garland, Alex Poythress, and Robert Covington.
• Roy Williams has also reportedly reached out to 88th-ranked 2022 point guard Mason Manning, which is a departure from the three elite talents in the class that he’s offered so far. It’s not like Williams to move off of the top-25 talent in a class this quickly, because he usually gets to see the lower-ranked prospects while watching the elite ones, but with recruiting right now being what it is right now and in-person evaluation being impossible, I guess strategies have to change.
• There aren’t really any new developments in the 2021 class. UNC’s biggest need will likely be a taller point guard to share the floor with R.J. Davis, which would point to prioritizing a guy like Hunter Sallis, but there isn’t actually news yet and possibly won’t be until players can take visits in the fall. We’ll let you know when that changes.