Basketball:

As Jake covered yesterday, Roy Williams handed out his first offer of the 2020 class to local big Day’Ron Sharpe on Monday night. Sharpe, who is from Winterville, NC, is Rivals’ 90th ranked prospect right now. It’s early yet for these rankings to really matter, though. A 6’8’’ big being underranked as a sophomore in high school is nothing new, and his ranking should jump as he continues to grow and feel comfortable in his body.

To go with this, Williams also offered 2019 prospects Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Keion Brown this week. Both are five-star recruits who are among the best at their position in their class, Robinson-Earl at the stretch-4 and Brown on the wing. Brown’s offer is particularly interesting, because UNC’s interest in him was still relatively nascent when he got the offer. This is unusual because Williams usually likes to take his time before offering a player, such as was the case with Robinson-Earl, who has had the eye of the UNC staff for over a year now. The early offer to Brown suggests that Williams sees something he really likes. This recruitment will be interesting to follow, to say the least. Kentucky has already been involved with Brown, as has Michigan State. To read more on this week’s offers, check out Jake’s roundup.

Football

In a move that feels like just a bit of revenge for the Payton Wilson situation, Larry Fedora and his staff secured a commitment from Drew Little, one of the best long snapper recruits in the country. Little, from North Stanly High School in New London, NC, had previously been committed to N.C. State, but flipped after a series of visits to UNC’s campus between his December offer and now. He cites UNC as his “dream school” in this InsideCarolina article and it’s clear that this commitment is for real. In addition to the special teams stability Little is sure to bring, a nice bonus to having him in the Tar Heel family is that four-star defensive tackle C.J. Clark is his teammate. It’s safe to say that Little is going to be in his ear about UNC as much as possible. Additionally, between securing Little and pursuing punter Ben Kiernan, this recruiting cycle is showing Fedora’s commitment to elite special teams, and that is good to see.

More generally, the UNC coaching staff held a family cookout on campus Saturday that doubled as a recruiting event. Early reviews are making it out to have been an incredible success; players such as 4-star defensive back Anthony Harris who had all but written off UNC are now naming the Tar Heels among their leaders. It seems to have been a great event for showing off the family atmosphere that UNC cultivates among its athletic programs, and hopefully proves bountiful alongside the staff’s continued efforts to build off this year’s 23rd-ranked class.