We’re nearing the end of July, when a lot of football recruiting news happens as it’s the last few weeks before high school seasons across the country get started. To that end, several of Mack Brown’s targets have either recently announced commitments or commitment dates, giving fans a lot of spots on their calendars to fill. Some of them have broken the Heels’ way, and one particularly notable one didn’t. On the basketball side, grassroots events are taking place and media people are finally getting some clues as to who’s leaning where. Let’s dive in:

Football:

• Daylen Everette, the blue-chip defensive back prospect from Virginia who plays at IMG Academy, had been thought to be leaning towards UNC but ended up picking Clemson, and has now gotten a little infamous for tossing away the UNC hat on his selection table. Right now, UNC’s still clearly in a position where picking fights with Clemson means you’ll lose most of the time, but this one seems to have been closer than most and current players are a little heated, if the reaction of people like Ja’Qurious Conley is any indication.
• On the bright side, two high-level UNC targets are committing soon, and both have had credible Crystal Ball picks for the good guys: 4-star running back Omarion Hampton from Clayton announces in about 2 hours, and 4-star linebacker Sebastian Cheeks from Evanston, IL announces on July 28th. Neither pick seems to have been made with the kind of confidence that accompanies most close-to-the-date Crystal Balls, but that’s been more the norm recently thanks to limited contact between media and prospects. Hopefully, by this time next week, UNC is two blue chips more loaded in the Class of 2022.
• And, of course, there was Bryson Jennings’ commitment to UNC over Virginia Tech, where his dad played. With Jennings, UNC now has 3 edge rusher commitments in a class of 10. You can’t have too many pass rushers, and last year’s Heels had a pretty lacking edge rush, so that’s pretty heartening to see.

Basketball:

• There isn’t a commitment push now like there is for football, thanks to basketball being a winter sport, but we did have the EYBL Peach Jam this past weekend, where a lot of news personalities were able to connect with players, their families and their various connections in that kind of setting for among the first times, so there’s a fair bit more that we know about the recruiting scene than we did a couple weeks ago. For UNC’s purposes, the main attraction was probably Cam Whitmore, the 6’6 wing/hybrid forward, whose recruitment has blown up in the past month. Once, he was thought to be a lock for nearby Maryland, and then, once he started getting more attention, people assumed not-too-far Villanova was in the lead. Now, says Eric Bossi of 247Sports, opinions vary wildly, but people are starting to assume a top 4 (out of an announced top 10) of UNC, Villanova, Maryland, and Georgetown. We’ll know more while he’s taking fall official visits, a schedule that UNC should be on.
• UNC’s latest offer went out to Kyle Flipowski, a stretch forward from Massachusetts, who’s also been a big riser recently. Flipowski’s recruitment, if Hubert Davis seriously pursues it, would likely be the first time the new head coach has clashed with college basketball recruiting’s other heavyweights, as Duke and Kentucky have also recently gotten involved with Flipowski. Syracuse also holds some weight here, as a presumptive favorite before all this new attention. Unfortunately, he plays for New York Renaissance on the EYBL circuit, which is something of a Duke farm program — their director is Andy Borman, who walked on for Duke in the early 2000’s and is Mike Krzyzewski’s nephew. That didn’t stop R.J. Davis from committing to UNC from the same program, though, so there’s still hope. Flipowski was also, by many accounts, one of the top performers at Peach Jam, scoring in every way thinkable and showing off his mobility to great effect.