UNC Recruiting Week of 6/14: Hubert Davis offers 2023 four-star PF G.G. Jackson

While it is safe to say that while college sports recruiting was in a bit of a lull for months, things changed quickly at the beginning of June. The dead period finally came to an end for revenue sports, and both coaches hit the ground running in order to build rosters good enough to compete for national championships. For Mack Brown he has already made progress, as he managed to land a four-star commitment just yesterday. Let’s go ahead and dive into this week’s recruiting update.

Football

• As we just mentioned, Mack Brown landed a commitment yesterday from four-star defensive end Beau Atkinson. For a more in-depth discussion on the commitment, our own Jake Lawrence released an announcement article yesterday that you can check out. Atkinson’s commitment now gives Mack Brown his fourth four-star recruit in the 2022 class out of the five total commitments.

For those wondering how many four/five-star recruits are left on Mack Brown’s board, the answer is: a lot. I mean, a lot a lot. It’s clear that Brown is approaching recruiting with the intent of competing for a national championship, and so far he has been extremely successful. His recruiting strategy is working out especially well when it comes to in-state prospects. Atkinson now gives Brown his second in-state commitment in the 2022 class, and if we want to be really messy, he has also stolen a few from the state of Virginia.

• Atkinson wasn’t the only recruit to provide Tar Heel Nation with some good news this week. Five-star defensive lineman Travis Shaw announced his top four schools Tuesday, and UNC has made the cut.

Aside from the Tar Heels, Clemson, NC A&T, and Georgia all managed to make the final list. An important note here is that Shaw currently plays for Grimsley High School in Greensboro, NC. Considering the good fortune Mack Brown has had with in-state prospects, one has to believe that there is a fairly good chance that he will be able to snag yet another elite recruit. Shaw is the fourth-best defensive lineman in the country, and is the ninth-best overall player. Right now Clemson is the overwhelming favorite according to the 247Sports Crystal Ball, but he was also just in Chapel Hill for his second unofficial visit on June 10. It’s hard to ignore the significance of making two unofficial trips to campus, so maybe things are up in the air more than analysts have suggested so far.

Basketball

• Not to be shown up by his football counterpart, Carolina basketball head coach Hubert Davis made an offer to a prospect in the 2023 class. Four-star prospect G.G. Jackson received a scholarship offer Tuesday, which was also the day that coaches were allowed to speak with recruits in that particular class. Jackson is a 6’8, 210 power forward that currently plays for Ridge View High School in Columbus, SC. He is the seventh-best power forward in the country, and is the 30th-best player in the 2023 class according to the 247Sports Composite. He now holds the second UNC scholarship offer along with five-star point guard Robert Dillingham.
• Speaking of Dillingham, 247Sports recruiting expert Jerry Meyer discussed Dillingham’s recruitment in his mailbag piece this week. When asked for an update on Dillingham’s recruitment, he stated that he believes that UNC is the strong favorite to land the floor general. It is pretty early for the junior to make any decisions about where he is going to go, but it’s always good news when Carolina is the frontrunner this early in the game.
• Finally, Hubert Davis is currently in the middle of an official visit marathon, as he has had a number of recruits on campus over the last couple of weeks. Jalen Washington, Justin Taylor, Dereck Lively, and Will Shaver all had official visits earlier this month, with Shaver committing right after his visit was complete. Next up are visits from Jaden Bradley, Seth Trimble, and Isaac Traudt, with Tyler Nickel planning a trip soon and De’Ante Green arriving in August. Insert the meme of Spongebob naked and out of breath here.