Tag: unc basketball recruiting

UNC basketball named a ‘big player’ in recruitment for five-star prospect

Five-star forward Koa Peat’s recruitment reportedly has some favorites including the UNC basketball program.

Hubert Davis and North Carolina are still navigating the transfer portal to build the roster for the 2024-25 season. They are also keeping tabs on recruits in the 2025 recruiting class as well.

UNC doesn’t have a single commit yet in the 2025 class but it’s still very early in the cycle for the class. They do have offers out to several prospects, including some of the best in the class. And one of those prospects is five-star power forward Koa Peat.

The Arizona native is a top 5 prospect and the Tar Heels are reportedly a ‘big player’ in his recruitment. Here is what Eric Bossi wrote on Peat’s recruitment during the USA Basketball Final Four minicamp:

Easily the most physically imposing member of the bunch and also the highest ranked at No. 5 overall in 2025, Peat was outstanding from beginning to end. While his strength and broad shoulders are certainly beneficial, Peat has off-the-charts instincts as a passer, defender and rebounder. He’s got as strong of hands as any player in the class, always competes and just finds ways to get a lot of things done. The biggest key with Peat remains developing the jump shot. If he gets that straightened out, the dimension added would make a dude who is already a tough matchup virtually impossible to stop. Arizona, North Carolina, Texas and UCLA feel like the biggest players in his recruitment at this juncture.

The Tar Heels being this involved is no surprise as they have been in pursuit of Peat for a while now. The recruit continues to elevate his game and with a need on the wing,  he’s become a priority for them.

Let’s see how deep they get into this recruitment.

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UNC football program makes cut for a top player in 2026 class

Class of 2026 recruit Kendre Harrison included the UNC football program in his top 15 list.

The North Carolina Tar Heels football program took a step forward in the recruitment of a top player in the 2026 recruiting class. And it’s a prospect that could play for the basketball team as well.

Reidsville, North Carolina native Kendre Harrison is one of the best players in the 2026 football recruiting class and is a top 30 player in basketball recruiting rankings as well. Last week, Harrison made an update to his recruitment, cutting his list of 25 offers down to the top 15.

He told Hayes Fawcett of On3 that he will focus on North Carolina, Georgia, Oregon, Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Florida State, Tennessee,  USC, Notre Dame, Florida, Penn State, and Ole Miss.

The 6-foot-7, 235-pound tight end is listed as an athlete on 247Sports and is ranked No. 6 nationally, the No. 1 tight end, and No. 1 player in the state of North Carolina per the composite rankings.

Harrison has been to North Carolina a few different times for visits and likely will be back in the future. If UNC could land him as a football recruit, it would also benefit the basketball program as well as Harrison would like to play two sports at the next level.

But the Tar Heels will have to beat some big programs including a few top SEC schools.

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UNC basketball reaches out to a top player in transfer portal

North Carolina is showing significant interest in transfer wing Cade Tyson per a report.

The transfer portal is always an adventure in college sports and this year will be no different for college basketball. And the North Carolina Tar Heels are already getting involved with one of the top players available in the portal.

Just under a week since the team saw their season end in the Sweet 16 to Alabama, North Carolina has reached out to Belmont wing Cade Tyson per Inside Carolina. The site is reporting that UNC contacted Tyson on Wednesday afternoon.

Tyson is a Monroe, North Carolina native who is known for his shooting abilities and is one of the best shooters in the transfer portal. The wing was the 2022-23 MVC freshman of the year after averaging 13.6 points per game and then followed it up with a 2023-24 season where he averaged 16.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

Tyson shot 46.5 percent from the three-point line last season.

Per Inside Carolina’s Sherrell McMillan, Tyson has received a lot of interest in the portal already:

In the immediate days following his portal announcement, Tyson received interest from a bevy of high major schools including Arkansas, Auburn, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Stanford, South Carolina, Texas, Vanderbilt, VCU, Villanova, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wisconsin, Xavier, among others.

With Harrison Ingram likely testing the NBA draft process, the Tar Heels could look to Tyson to solve a big need on the perimeter. He would fit the mold as well even if Ingram returns.

After seeing what Cormac Ryan gave UNC in terms of a perimeter shooter last season, landing a player like Tyson would be a huge boost for this lineup going into next season.

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Five-star UNC basketball target sets first official visit to Blue Blood program

A five-star UNC basketball recruiting target has set his first official visit and will head to Kentucky first.

The recruitment for five-star guard Darryn Peterson is starting to pick up as his junior season of high school basketball is wrapping up. The Huntington Prep product is among the top players in the country and is ready for visits.

With 20 offers in his recruitment so far, Peterson has top programs after him and he’s ready to visit one of those Blue Blood programs. Per Eric Bossi of 247Sports, Peterson has set his first official visit and is heading to Kentucky on March 6th to see the Wildcats.  He’s expected to take more visits in his recruitment and North Carolina should be a school he at least visits.

The 6-foot-5, 195-pound Peterson is ranked No. 3 overall, the No. 1 shooting guard and No. 1 player in the 247Sports recruiting rankings. Peterson’s recruitment has been quiet of late, although he did cut his list of offers down to a top 8 which included North Carolina, Arkansas, Baylor, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio State, and Michigan.

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UNC basketball 2025 recruiting class big board

We take a look at the big board for the UNC basketball program and the 2025 recruiting class it stands now.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are set to welcome a top-10 recruiting class for the 2024 cycle with three commitments. Five-star recruits Ian Jackson and Drake Powell headline the class with four-star center James Brown.

With the success UNC is having on the court this year and the strength of the 2024 class, the future is bright. Now the Tar Heels’ staff shifts its focus to the 2025 class.

UNC has nine active offers out to prospects in the 2025 class and has shown interest in several others. The Tar Heels have not yet landed a commitment, but they are in the race for many of these prospects. They also have been able to get the prospects on campus for official or unofficial visits.

There’s still significant time left in the 2025 recruiting cycle, so there’s no need to panic about landing a commitment. If UNC can put together a nice class in 2025 to complement the 2024 cycle, it would set up Davis and his staff for the future.

Let’s look at the Tar Heels’ recruiting board for 2025 as it stands in early February with more updates coming.

UNC basketball is a ‘serious threat’ to land five-star recruit

The UNC basketball program was named a ‘serious threat’ for a 5-star shooting guard in the 2025 class.

Hubert Davis and the North Carolina Tar Heels are still building their 2025 recruiting board but have their top targets set. Among the top targets is five-star shooting guard Isiah Harwell.

The Utah native is among the top players in the 2025 recruiting class and has a total of 21 offers in his recruitment. Harwell’s recruitment has been quiet for the most part but one recruiting analyst believes there is a leader that has emerged.

Rob Cassidy of Rivals.com wrote on Harwell’s recruitment, naming Gonzaga as the favorite. But the key part in the article is that he labels the Tar Heels as a ‘serious threat’ to land him in this recruitment:

Harwell has called North Carolina a “dream school” and says he began rooting for the Tar Heels as a child in a contrarian effort to spite his older brothers, who supported Duke. Whatever the reason, his UNC fanhood formed a stranglehold, as the Tar Heels shot to the top of the five-star’s list as soon as they began to show interest.

Harwell has already been on campus in Chapel Hill for a multi-day unofficial visit and is expected to return for an official at yet-to-be-determined date. If such a trip takes place, it seems possible that North Carolina will pull even with the Bulldogs at the top of Harwell’s recruitment. There isn’t much to separate the two programs, so listing Gonzaga as the slight favorite is simply a product of the blue chip prospect’s upcoming official to Spokane.

Harwell has rescheduled an official visit to Gonzaga for later in February and does have another scheduled for Cal too. He has taken an unofficial visit to UNC back in 2023.

The 6-foot-6, 200-pound Harwell is ranked No. 7 overall, the No. 2 shooting guard and No. 1 player in the state of Utah per the 247Sports recruiting rankings.

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Five-star UNC basketball recruiting target set to visit Blue Blood program

A five-star UNC basketball recruiting target is visiting a blue blood program this weekend as Jasper Johnson is in Kentucky.

North Carolina has yet to land a prospect in the 2025 recruiting class but do have their eyes on a few big-name recruits. And two of them were recently on campus.

During Saturday’s win over Duke in Chapel Hill, the North Carolina Tar Heels hosted a few big recruiting targets. With five-star recruits Caleb Wilson and Jasper Johnson on campus for official visits, UNC did their best to try and impress the recruits.

Now, one of those recruits is heading to visit another Blue Blood program.

Johnson’s next stop is to Kentucky as he is visiting the Wildcats this weekend for an official. He’s one of the top shooting guards in the country and a top 10 player overall in the 2025 class, picking up 20 offers so far

As for his visits, Johnson has been on three visits so far adding Missouri and West Virginia along with North Carolina.

Following his visit to Kentucky, Johnson will then take a visit to Auburn the following week.

It’s tough to tell where things stand in Johnson’s recruitment as of now but it’s hard to see a scenario where Johnson wasn’t impressed with North Carolina’s visit that included him seeing them beat a rival in Duke.

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UNC basketball showing interest in four-star center

The UNC basketball program is showing interest in a four-star center in the 2025 recruiting class.

North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis and his staff are still putting together their 2025 recruiting board, hoping to land another big class to build on the 2024 class.

The program has been in contact with a few prospects so far and now we can add another one to the list.

Per Joe Tipton of On3, the Tar Heels have reached out to four-star center Malachi Moreno this past week. The recruit told Tipton that he’s hearing from six schools the most frequently: Iowa, Kentucky, Indiana, Baylor, Notre Dame, and Arkansas. But as of recent, both UNC and Kansas are getting involved as well.

The 6-foot-11, 210-pound center is a native of Georgetown, Kentucky and plays at Great Crossing. He has a total of 23 offers in his recruitment and has taken an official visit to Iowa with unofficial visits elsewhere.

He’s ranked No. 28 nationally, the No. 3 center and No. 1 player in the state of Kentucky per the 247Sports recruiting rankings.

Five-star guard lists North Carolina in top 10

The UNC basketball program made the top 10 for this five-star combo guard in the 2025 recruiting class.

The North Carolina Tar Heels took a step forward in the pursuit of a five-star combo guard in the 2025 recruiting class.

Link Academy product Jasper Johnson made a big update to his recruitment on Thursday afternoon. With 20 offers so far in his recruitment the five-star prospect officially cut his list down to 10. And included among the 10 teams were North Carolina.

The Tar Heels made the list along with Kentucky, Kansas, Missouri, Louisville, Alabama, Auburn, USC, Baylor and West Virginia. Here is the message he posted on X Thursday afternoon.

Johnson is one of the top prospects that UNC is recruiting in the 2025 class, hoping to build on a good 2024 class.  The prospect does play with UNC commit James Brown at Link Academy and the Tar Heels have seen him play a few different times.

Johnson is ranked No.10 nationally, the No. 2 combo guard and No. 1 player in the state of Missouri per the 247Sports recruiting rankings.

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UNC basketball keeping tabs on 2025 prospect

The UNC basketball program is in pursuit of a four-star forward in the 2025 recruiting class, reaching out to him recently.

Hubert Davis and the North Carolina Tar Heels are currently on top of the Atlantic Coast Conference here in January with a 16-3 start to the year and 8-0 record in conference play. UNC holds a two-game lead going into a matchup against Florida State on Saturday, as they look to keep on winning.

But in between the games and practices, recruiting is still on the forefront of the program. And the Tar Heels are starting to show interest in another 2025 recruit.

Per 24/7 High School Hoops, the Tar Heels are one of the programs reaching out to four-star wing Nikolas Khamenia. The 2025 product out of California told the account that he’s hearing from UNC, Illinois, Gonzaga, USC, Kansas, Oklahoma, UCLA, Virginia, and Cal the most:

The 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward has a total of 12 offers and has taken one visit so far, that being to Gonzaga. He’s ranked No. 40 nationally, No. 11 at his position, and No. 5 in the state of California per the 247Sports recruiting rankings. 

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