UNC Football fans are waiting tentatively for the decisions of about three players, with the 2022 class getting off to an expectedly late start thanks to the COVID-19 crisis. Meanwhile, activity for basketball is probably on the rise, because players are going to want to commit before their seasons start. What does that mean for UNC? Well, let’s find out:

Football:

• There isn’t much (or any) new news about UNC’s football recruiting this week, so let’s look instead at the 2022 in-state class for a second: While the 2021 class was record-setting for North Carolina in a good way, with 15 players from the state in 247’s top 250 players, the 2022 class is significantly below average, with just 7. The crown jewel among them, and possibly of the two classes put together, is defensive tackle Travis Shaw, from Greensboro. Shaw put together a top 13 last week featuring UNC, Clemson, NC A&T, and about half the SEC, so it’s early yet and UNC will have a tough battle ahead.
• Another of the class’ top in-state players is wide receiver Shaleak Knotts, who has a slightly more modest offer list and no cut-down as of yet. UNC’s had success recruiting the position all the way back to the Fedora era, so odds look better here. Getting the elite in-state players is going to be crucial in this class after the success that Mack Brown and staff had with recruiting almost exclusively the in-state players of the ‘21 class. They can’t do that again, and their offerings in the other states in UNC’s footprint necessarily won’t be as high-yield as the ‘21 in-state class, so getting the elite players to come to Chapel Hill will be essential.

Basketball:

• Skyy Clark’s Top 3 that he told us he’d announce last week ended up being a kind of unofficial Top 4 announcement, with jersey mockups on his Twitter timeline with UNC, Kentucky, Memphis, and UCLA jerseys. His status regarding reclassification is still unclear, but it seems UNC is right in the thick of this one regardless.
• Speaking of Friday announcements, Harrison Ingram is set to announce his college decision later today, specifically at 5:00 PM Eastern Time (he lives in Texas). Stanford has long been thought to be Ingram’s eventual destination, which would be awesome for Jerod Haase, but this camp has played its cards very close to its chest, so to speak, so we’re getting some genuine mystery here with UNC involved. It’s unlikely, but stranger things have happened.