UNC Recruiting: The Heels may be in the lead for 2023 four-star TJ Power

From the outside looking in, things have been pretty quiet for UNC after G.G. Jackson announced that he was taking his talents to South Carolina. However, Hubert Davis has been hard at work recruiting players in the 2023 class, with one of his biggest targets being TJ Power. He received a scholarship offer a month ago, and made an official visit to campus a couple of weeks later. Clearly Davis is being aggressive in his pursuit, but what are his chances of landing Power?

To get an idea of where thing stand, let’s turn to 247Sports National Recruiting Director Eric Bossi. In yesterday’s mailbag post, Bossi discussed the current situation with Power, and gave some thoughts as to which program he felt like had the edge right now. Here’s what he had to say:

I wouldn’t totally rule out one of BC, Iowa or UVA landing Power, but if I were headed to Vegas, I would likely pick either Duke or North Carolina here and from the outside looking in both Hubert Davis and Jon Scheyer have plenty to sell. From what I have heard talking to some coaches at programs that were looking to get involved, they felt that Carolina could hold the slight edge here. But I’ve also spoken to some people who think Duke may be the team to beat. Based on what I’ve personally heard so far, I’m inclined to lean towards UNC but this thing is far from over and is going to be a real battle to the end that doesn’t yet look to be a slam dunk for any involved party.

As we all know by now, the recruiting battle between UNC and Duke is a tale as old as time itself. TJ Power is one of numerous prospects that has held offers from both schools, and the results always varied during Roy Williams and Coach K’s tenures. What’s really interesting in this situation, however, is that while Jon Scheyer hasn’t been the head coach longer than a few months, he has still been able to earn commitments from elite recruits. In fact, that could actually be what wards off Power — current Duke commits Mackenzie Mgbako and Sean Stewart are both power forwards, and are ranked second and eighth in the country, respectively. Even more bizarre is that Power, Mgbako, and Stewart have the same 6’8, 210-lb measurements according to 247Sports. Having two elite power forwards coming in already sounds like a good problem for Scheyer, but acquiring Power could just create a flat-out mess.

It’s hard to say if Power would see things the same way I see them, but if he does that means UNC should currently hold the edge over the other schools. It gets even better, because Bossi believes that Power will make a jump in the 2023 rankings once they are updated next week, so he could be a fine G.G. Jackson replacement if Davis can find a way to lock in a commitment. As it stands now, Power is ranked 50th in the country, and is the 10th-best power forward according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Will we see him get closer to five-star status? We will see how things shake out next week.

While it is tough to see UNC only having one commitment in the 2023 class so far in Simeon Wilcher, there is still a lot of time left on the clock. Adding Power would be great for both parties, as he has went on the record of saying that he feels like he would thrive in Hubert Davis’ system. We’ll have to wait and see how things play out over the coming months, but if I’m Davis, I’m keeping my foot on the gas and not letting up until Power ultimately makes his final decision.