Tag: basketball recruiting

UNC basketball has just two Class of 2025 targets left after AJ Dybantsa’s BYU commitment

AJ Dybantsa’s commitment leaves the UNC basketball 2025 recruiting class ultra-thin.

The North Carolina Tar Heels only have two basketball stars locked up in their 2025 recruiting class – and just two targets remaining.

UNC lost its greatest target on Tuesday, Dec. 10, when the Class of 2025’s top-ranked player in AJ Dybantsa chose BYU.

Dybantsa currently plays his high school ball at Utah Prep, so I can understand his choice if location was a factor, but there are rumors Dybantsa also chose a $7 million NIL bag.

With Dybantsa now gone, North Carolina now needs to focus all its 2025 recruiting attention on Caleb Wilson, a 5-star power forward from Atlanta, Ga.

Wilson, who plays his high school ball at Holy Innocents Episcopal School, is the Class of 2025’s fifth-ranked player. Wilson is the nation’s third-ranked power forward, plus Georgia’s top overall player.

The Tar Heels already have commitments from 4-star combo guards Isaiah Denis and Derek Dixon, but they have yet to land a 5-star.

UNC hasn’t totally bombed in Class of 2025 recruiting, but it has lost out on two of its greatest targets. In addition to losing out on Dybantsa, North Carolina previously watched Jasper Johnson commit to Kentucky.

If the Tar Heels’ original 2025 class was based on offers alone, they’d have one of the nation’s best, but sadly, we are in a recruiting era where kids are choosing money over tradition.

I can’t blame recruits for chasing a bag, as they’ll be setting themselves (and their families) up for a better future. NIL is helping less-established programs lure in top-recruits, such as BYU with Dybantsa, but it’s also turning college sports more professional.

If UNC lands Wilson and Nate Ament, UNC’s other Class of 2025 target, its Dybantsa miss matters a lot less. If Wilson – and/or Ament – choose elsewhere, Hubert Davis will have to seriously reconsider his recruiting efforts.

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UNC basketball program chasing a top guard in 2026 recruiting class

Deron Rippey Jr. is a Class of 2026 basketball recruit to keep your eye on. Why should UNC send an offer his way?

The North Carolina Tar Heels are going to have a guard-heavy basketball team this year.

Reigning ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis returns to lead the deep guard group. Joining Davis will be sophomore Elliot Cadeau, defensive stalwart Seth Trimble and 5-star freshman Ian Jackson. If you look at UNC’s official roster, there’s nine players with guard eligibility.

With North Carolina expected to depart most of its guard core after the coming season, it needs to start preparing for the following two college basketball season.

That preparation includes the Tar Heels looking at Class of 2026 5-star point guard Deron Rippey Jr., the 247Sports Composite’s 21st-ranked player nationally, 4th-ranked point guard and top-ranked New Jersey recruit.

Check out Phenom Hoops’ extensive write-up on Rippey, who is also getting looks from – amongst others – Washington, Rutgers, Texas A&M and Michigan.

“When talking about his game, Rippey is one that immediately grabs your attention,” Phenom Hoops’ Patrick O’Brien wrote. “The 6’2 point guard knows how to run the show and do so effectively, displaying an excellent feel, court awareness, and playmaking with the ball in his hands. Rippey is so shifty yet strong on the court, to go along with impressive athleticism as a guard. He creates well with the ball in his hands, and excels in transition, but also shows poise within the halfcourt offense. Rippey thrived as a scorer on several occasions, finishing strong through and around defenders, getting paint touches consistently, but also doing a great job in being a 3-level scorer.  Rippey is someone you simply want to have the ball in his hands, and he will make things happen no matter what is needed.  And though he is already regarded as a top guard in his class, he backed that up on the national stage and showed why he is one of the elite guards in the country no matter what class.”

If UNC decides to offer Rippey, he’d be the program’s eighth Class of 2026 offer. North Carolina has yet to offer a 2026 point guard, so why not make a player of Rippey’s caliber its first?

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Class of 2025’s top-ranked player highlights recent visit to Chapel Hill

The AJ Dybantsa sweepstakes are on, but the Class of 2025’s top-ranked prospect’s recent visit to Chapel Hill could end that chase.

The North Carolina Tar Heels have shown the ability to land plenty of high-profile basketball recruits in the past, but none with the hype that AJ Dybantsa has.

Dybantsa, the Class of 2025’s top-ranked player, has UNC in his Final 7. He is a 6’9″ forward at Utah Prep who, with his length and size, has the flexibility to play 1-5. With RJ Davis running out of eligibility after this season, plus the possibility of Ian Jackson and Drake Powell leaving too, the need to land Dybantsa is even more crucial.

Good news, Tar Heel Nation: Dybantsa visited Chapel Hill over the weekend – and he had a good time.

“It was great,” Dybantsa told InsideCarolina’s Eric Bossi. “I mean, most of these towns are good college towns, but coach Hubert Davis and the whole staff was very family-oriented. It was more of the same with them talking about how they want a relationship and (bond with me). We could have a sit-down talk about what he thinks I bring to the table and what could happen if come (to North Carolina). He was going down the history of the school and he was saying that he hopes to carry that same legacy of the legendary coaches that came before. Since he was an assistant for those coaches, he thinks he’s going to do a pretty good job of getting the guys ready.”

North Carolina is competing for Dybantsa’s attention with BYU, Baylor, Alabama, Kansas, Kansas State and Auburn.

Will last weekend’s visit be enough to convince Dybantsa he should don the Carolina Blue?

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Four-star UNC basketball recruit reveals list of upcoming visits

This four-star center has set his official visits and UNC basketball made the list.

UNC basketball recruiting has been a buzz around the internet recently. Malachi Moreno announced a date to make his decision, the Tar Heels are in the running for the No. 1 overall player of the class, and the future is bright.

Another bright light put on the recruiting list is Eric Reibe, a 7-foot-0 center from Potomac, Maryland, who released his official visit schedule and UNC basketball made the cut among five other schools.

According to 247sports, Reibe is “warm” with 11 different schools including his current crystal ball location, Creighton. Reibe’s visit tour starts with Kansas before heading to UConn and Kentucky ahead of North Carolina.

After Carolina, he will round it out with Indiana and Oregon.

Depending on the outcome of Moreno’s decision within a short time, Reibe might be a bigger target for UNC needing a center.

Reibe’s ranking has skyrocketed in recent months on Rivals. He wasn’t a top recruit his sophomore year off everyone’s radar. After rising as far as No. 94 in his sophomore season, he ended that year at 109.

Heading into his senior year, he has since risen to his highest rank overall of his life at No. 66. The senior has a plethora of schools to choose from; hopefully, he will become a Tar Heel.

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Kentucky trending as leader for UNC Basketball recruiting target

Five-star center, Malachi Moreno, was dubbed with new crystal ball predictions on 247sports.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are watching another four-star recruit that they were “warm” with on 247sports fall out of their grasp. Great Crossing’s Malachi Moreno is the No. 26 ranked player on their composite rankings.

He also is the No. 2 ranked center in the Class of 2025 and the best player coming out of Indiana in the class native to Georgetown, Indiana.

Currently, North Carolina has just four-star James Brown on the roster heading into that season at the center position and no committed center recruits in the class.

Moreno is set to “warm” with seven other programs on 247sports, but there is only one other blue blood on the list. Kentucky is currently the school selected by the crystal ball with a 100% chance of landing Moreno in the coming months.

Moreno is set to visit with all six of the eight “warm” programs in the next two months. He will be in Chapel Hill on September 13th and round out his tour visits with Kentucky on October 11th.

The crystal ball is not a hard commitment so there is still an opportunity for UNC to come back with a great visit. The Tar Heels could use a rim-protecting center like Moreno.

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Four-star UNC target adds visit to rival

This four-star is set to visit Duke shortly after his trip to Chapel Hill and UNC.

Class of 2025 four-star shooting guard Braylon Mullins is set to visit the North Carolina Tar Heels in just over a month from now. The No. 23-ranked recruit overall in the class and the No. 5-ranked shooting guard is not the only player on the Tar Heels watch list nor is UNC the only one on his.

He has already visited UConn and is slated to visit Michigan before Chapel Hill and Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky in the month after UNC. With only one blue blood in the mix before today, Duke has risen on the list on 247sports of “warm” with a scheduled visit.

Mullins is a 6-foot-5 dominant presence who is lethal from behind the arc. The Greenfield, Indiana, native averaged 25.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game for Greenfield-Central. He shot 56% from the field and 43% from behind the arc.

North Carolina will have only Class of 2024’s Ian Jackson on the roster for the 2025 season should he stay for his sophomore year. That should not only encourage him to Chapel Hill but should also push North Carolina to pursue him even more.

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Four-star daughter of Joe Girardi lists UNC in her final five

Joe Girardi’s daughter includes UNC women’s basketball in her final five schools!

After ending the 2024 season as the No. 5 team in the ACC, the North Carolina Tar Heels women’s basketball team quickly lost in the conference tournament by one point to Miami (FL).

They drew a No. 8 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament set to play Michigan State in the first round. After a three-point win over the Spartans, they fell by 47 points in the second round to the NCAA Champion South Carolina Gamecocks.

The future may be getting a little brighter for women’s basketball fans as Class of 2025, four-star guard Lena Girardi keeps UNC in the running as she cuts her list down to the final five teams.

The other four schools include Virginia Tech, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, and Arizona. The Hokies are the only other school that would be an inner conference battle.

The 6-foot-0 guard from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been playing at IMG Academy. According to 247sports, “[she] is regarded as one of the premier off-the-ball guards in her class nationwide.”

North Carolina doesn’t currently have any commits for the Class of 2025 in the ESPNW Top 100. If Girardi were to decide on UNC, it could be a huge bolster for Courtney Banghart going forward.

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Blue-blood rival takes top spot in Jasper Johnson predictions

Jasper Johnson, a five-star recruit in the class of 2025, is predicted to commit to this North Carolina rival.

The Class of 2025 has been a hot topic for the North Carolina Tar Heels recruiting reporters. With the Heels in the running for the No. 1 and No. 5 overall prospects, AJ Dybantsa and Koa Peat respectively, it is easy to overlook players beyond the top 10.

Star guard, Jasper Johnson, is the 12th-ranked player in the class, the No. 2 player at his position and the No. 3 prospect out of Georgia. He is also the teammate of No. 9 prospect Meleek Thomas. No. 6 Caleb Wilson is the top player out of the state.

This summer, Johnson signed with Overtime Elite forgoing his last year of high school basketball. He spent his sophomore year at Woodford County in Kentucky before playing his junior year at Link Academy in Missouri.

247Sports lists Johnson’s top five choices as Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Louisville and Alabama in no particular order. However, On3 has more light to shed on the recruiting news. Its prediction meter is up to 75.5% in favor of Tar Heel rival Kentucky.

Despite the news the five-star recruit was favoring Kentucky, there were some things that he admired. However, he has yet to commit, so North Carolina isn’t out of the race despite its current 3.2% chance of landing the guard.

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2024 National Recruiting Rankings: Updated top 25 basketball teams

See which NCAA men’s basketball teams lead the 2024 recruitment battle.

Here are the complete updated top 25 teams as we move along in June 2024, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

Duke leads the way in the rankings, with the rest of the pack shifting again this week. Texas joins the top 25, jumping up multiple spots to No. 14.

No. 1 basketball recruit A.J. Dybantsa set to change schools

A.J. Dybantsa makes a high school change.

A.J. Dybantsa, the No. 1 basketball recruit in the class of 2025, is set to make a high school switch for his senior season.

According to reports, Dybantsa will be attending Utah Prep (Hurricane, Utah) for his final year of high school basketball. The five-star forward will play for L.J. Yamzon, the head coach at Utah Prep.

He had previously been at Prolific Prep (Napa, California). Dybantsa is the top-ranked player in the ESPN 100. This month in the Nike EYBL, Dybantsa is backing up all the hype, averaging 23.7 points along with 5.7 rebounds per game.

A 6-foot-7 forward, Dybantsa holds offers from Alabama, Baylor, UConn, Duke, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Providence and USC among others. He is being talked about as a potential No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.

 

The academic dean at Utah Prep is Sam Gibbs, who comes to the school following his time spent with MLS club Real Salt Lake. Gibbs was in charge of the academics for Real Salt Lake’s academy, a developmental system that is considered one of the best in the United States and pioneered the residency academy set-up in MLS.

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