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UNC Recruiting: Week of 9/19

A couple of big events are coming up in both marquee sports

Syndication: The Greenville News Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK

Since Drake Powell became UNC’s first men’s basketball commitment in the 2024 class, things have been pretty quiet on all fronts for UNC’s recruiting. It makes sense; football players aren’t usually going to commit during their seasons, and basketball players usually wait until a little bit closer to theirs. In the meantime, coaches are traveling and maintaining contact, players are going on visits, and we’ve got plenty of stuff to track, with all of that coming to a head in the next couple of weekends: first for football, which hosts national brand Notre Dame in a season where they look plenty beatable, and then next week for basketball, whose Live Action introduction event will take place next Friday. Let’s take a dive in:

Football:

  • I don’t have a list, but Mack Brown is going to be hosting a ton of high schoolers at Kenan Stadium as his Heels take on Notre Dame. Notably missing, though, will be 2023 defensive lineman Daevin Hobbs, a four-star prospect from Concord. He’ll be in Tennessee instead, watching their SEC opener against Florida. Hobbs’ recruitment involves some heavy hitters, including the Vols, Alabama, and Georgia, the latter two of whom he’s got official visits scheduled with later this fall. UNC needs to get him back on campus at some point this season; his commitment is the kind that’s been missing from this class compared to Brown’s last two. The Heels will probably need to get back to winning and shed the image of last year completely if they’re to have a chance.
  • That’s not to say recruiting’s in the toilet, though. Even if they add nobody else to the 2023 class, UNC’s got 18 players, which is in line with the class sizes they’ve had the past couple of years, which ranks 21st in the country right now and has points commensurate with the 20-25 range most years. It’s a step back from the excellence of the past couple, but that’s the result of a year on the field like 2021.

UNC Football 2023 Commitments

Name Position Height Weight Rating Positional Rank School Location Status
Name Position Height Weight Rating Positional Rank School Location Status
Tad Hudson QB 6'3 220 4-Star 22 William Amos Hough Cornelius, NC Committed
Jaybron Harvey DE/OLB 6'3 215 4-Star 22 Southern Durham, NC Committed
Kaveion Keys LB 6'3 205 4-Star 24 Varina Richmond, VA Committed
Rico Walker DE 6'3 233 4-Star 25 Hickory Hickory, NC Committed
Christian Hamilton WR 6'0 175 4-Star 26 Hickory Ridge Harrisburg, NC Committed
Chris Culliver WR 6'3 174 4-Star 41 Maiden Maiden, NC Committed
Joel Starlings DL 6'5 310 4-Star 45 Benedictine Richmond, VA Committed
Julien Randolph TE 6'5 210 3-Star 41 Independence Ashburn, VA Committed
Nolan McConnell OT 6'6 280 3-Star 41 Colonial Forge Stafford, VA Committed
Tyler Thompson DE/OLB 6'5 205 3-Star 44 Panther Creek Cary, NC Committed
Tre Miller CB 5'9 165 3-Star 49 Deer Creek Edmond, OK Committed
Kaleb Cost CB 5'11 180 3-Star 56 Sandy Creek Tyrone, GA Committed
Robert Grisby iOL 6'4 310 3-Star 57 North Cobb Kennesaw, GA Committed
Caleb LaVallee LB 6'1 215 3-Star 68 Whitefield Academy Mableton, GA Committed
DJ Geth iOL 6'4 300 3-Star 73 Dorman Roebuck, SC Committed
Paul Billups WR 6'2 185 3-Star 84 Western Branch Chesapeake, VA Committed
Joshua Horton DL 6'5 290 3-Star 99 Langston Hughes Fairburn, GA Committed
Amare Campbell LB 6'0 215 3-Star 113 Unity Reed Manassas, VA Committed

Basketball:

  • Since GG Jackson’s reclassification to the 2022 class and subsequent flip to South Carolina, Hubert Davis has been looking among the few uncommitted 2023 players who could replace him as a skilled stretch 4/big wing. He chased T.J. Power for a while before his commitment to Duke, and now seems all in on Zayden High, whom the staff had an eye on for a while before offering a scholarship earlier this month. High’s now scheduled to come to campus for an official visit the weekend of Live Action with Carolina Basketball, which is a pretty quick turnaround and signals serious interest. Further, according to Eric Bossi of 247Sports, even though UNC offered later than the other schools targeting High, they’ve got a really legitimate shot at getting the Texas product.
  • He’ll be joined by 2024 prospect Boogie Fland, who will also take an official visit that weekend. Fland is a combo guard out of Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, NY, better known among UNC fans as R.J. Davis’ alma mater. Fland is built a bit more like Caleb Love than Davis, and he’s rated as a near-top 10 player in his class thanks to his shooting skills and burgeoning ability as a playmaker and ballhandler.
  • InsideCarolina also has an article saying Isiah Harwell, an early standout in the 2025 class, has a visit scheduled in Chapel Hill despite not yet having an offer — I don’t think anybody in the 2025 class does from UNC. Harwell’s dad retweeted @UNCBBRecruits saying that visit will be this weekend, for the Notre Dame game, so I think that’s enough confirmation of that. I assume this is an unofficial visit, because official ones have to be reported and there doesn’t seem to be any external confirmations of this happening. In that case, it’s no small thing for a kid or family from Idaho to spend their own money to get to Chapel Hill. It’s intriguing, at least.
  • While the Offers table might show a few players with 2023 offers from UNC, I think it’s safe to assume High is the only one worth keeping an eye on. I won’t remove the others because it’s not like they’re unavailable, but I don’t think Hubert wants more from the class than somebody to replace Jackson.

UNC Basketball 2023 Commitments

Name Position Height Weight Rating National Ranking School Location Status
Name Position Height Weight Rating National Ranking School Location Status
Simeon Wilcher CG 6'4 185 5-Star 19 Roselle Catholic Roselle, NJ Committed

UNC Basketball 2023 Offers

Name Position Height Weight Rating National Ranking School Location
Name Position Height Weight Rating National Ranking School Location
Isaiah Collier PG 6'3 190 5-star 4 Wheeler Marietta, GA
JJ Taylor SF 6'8 185 5-star 13 Donda Academy Simi Valley, CA
London Johnson PG 6'4 165 4-star 37 Norcross Norcross, GA
Zayden High PF 6'9 225 4-Star 48 Compass Prep Chandler, AZ