After the commitment of Malaki Hamrick to the program last week, UNC recruiting got a bit of not-as-good news, with the commitment of quarterback Cade Klubnik to Clemson and linebacker Jalon Wright announcing a commitment date amidst a bunch of Crystal Balls that he’s destined to be a Tiger as well. But it’s early yet, and UNC’s overall recruiting momentum remains strong on the gridiron. On the basketball side of things, there are a couple of things to look for. More details below, so let’s get to it:

Football:

• As well as UNC is recruiting right now, there’s still an obvious gap between the Heels and a program like Clemson, which is pretty much landing every prospect it really wants. Just a week after offering highly-coveted quarterback Cade Klubnik, they got his commitment, and if prognosticators are to be believed, linebacker Jalon Walker (from Salisbury, NC) is soon to follow after announcing a commitment date of March 28th. UNC has pursued both Klubnik and Walker pretty hard, but it seems they’ll end up short of either. Neither was a must-get, and to some extent any recruiting loss to Clemson is acceptable, but it’s still a bummer after the last year of UNC recruiting has essentially consisted of the staff doing whatever it likes within its recruiting footprint. We’ll see if they can pull in Travis Shaw, the crown jewel of this class, and get back to that trend later in this cycle.
• Up next for the Heels, it’s unclear. A couple of Georgia prospects have included UNC in their limited lists: offensive lineman Quaeshon Sapp in his Top 8, and defensive back Jake Pope in his Top 14. But those could mean commitments are months away. It’s just going to be a waiting game for a bit here.

Basketball

• I’m not sure when this happened, but Hunter Sallis has announced a commitment date: March 26th. The combo guard looked at one point like he’d decide between UNC and Kentucky and was waiting for official visits to make his decision, but now that his entire senior year will have passed with the coronavirus stopping official visits from happening, it seems as though he’ll commit to the one place he did complete an official visit before the pandemic: Gonzaga. Their on-court domination this season probably hasn’t hurt, either, but that’s a blow to the Heels, who need more ballhandling on the roster.
• On the brighter side, Crystal Balls for UNC keep rolling in on De’Ante Green’s 247Sports profile. The 2022 stretch four seems super receptive to UNC’s pitches and while he’s got a while to make a commitment, it wouldn’t be a shocker to see it relatively soon. He just dropped a Top 6 of UNC, NC State, Tennessee, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, and Florida State.
• Since we’re still doing 2021 tables until this cycle is over, it’s worth recapping all of UNC’s 2022 offers. Not including the Kentucky-committed Skyy Clark, there’s the aforementioned Green, 5* wing Jarace Walker, 5* stretch-four Mark Mitchell, 5* point guard Jaden Bradley, 4* shooting guard Nick Smith, 4* center Dereck Lively, 4* wing Justin Taylor, and 4* center Dylan Anderson. There isn’t much to update you on any of them, unfortunately.