Tag: UNC Tar Heels

UNC baseball gets committment from in-state recruit

UNC baseball adds Tuscola pitcher to Class of 2026 commitments.

The North Carolina Tar Heels add another pitcher and outfielder to their roster in the future with Class of 2026 standout Amos Rich announcing his verbal commitment to the program today.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound North Carolina native, has been currently playing club ball in-state at the Charlotte Academy. He is playing high school ball at Tuscola High School in North Carolina as well.

The right-handed pitcher has a 92-mile-per-hour (mph) exit velocity on his fastball as well as a 76 mph exit velocity on his curveball. The 17-year-old will feel perfectly at home as he looks to continue college in his home state.

Rich becomes just the third pitcher in the Class of 2026 to commit to the Tar Heels joining Caden Glauber from Fort Mill, South Carolina, and Kerrick Shannon from Yardley, Pennsylvania.

Carson Michael, catcher, and Sawyer Smith, shortstop, round out the only five recruits that have committed to UNC in the class. He should be able to make an immediate impact as he enters the program in the coming years.

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UNC soccer coaching legend announces retirement

Thank you, Anson Dorrance, for all you did for the UNC and the game of soccer.

The North Carolina Tar Heels family sees a legend of the game walk away today as Anson Dorrance, the head coach of the women’s soccer program, announced his retirement from coaching.

Over the past 47 seasons at UNC, Dorrance has set the standard in all of collegiate soccer. Players wanted to play for him, coaches wanted to be him, and soccer longed for him.

In almost five decades, the gold standard coach has won 22 national championships including a period of winning nine-straight NCAA National Championships from 1986 to 1994.

Overall in his career, he has 1,106 wins with only 152 losses. He averaged 3.23 losses per season for almost 50 years. He also had 75 ties.

He was a seven-time national coach of the year, a twelve-time ACC coach of the year, and a member of the UNC Sports Hall of Fame, UNC Soccer Hall of Fame, National Soccer Hall of Fame, and US Coaching Hall of Fame.

Anson Dorrance also helped the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) win a Women’s World Cup in 1991. He will go down in history as the most decorated head coach in women’s coaching history, not only at the collegiate level but also among all.

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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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Tez Walker gets one target in preseason debut

Devontez Walker didn’t have the debut we hoped, but there is light at the end of the tunnel!

The Baltimore Ravens took on the Philadelphia Eagles in the first week of the preseason for the NFL. A highly anticipated game for North Carolina Tar Heel fans with receiver Devontez Walker getting his first action after all the drama that happened last season.

Well, the debut was not like we had hoped. We were anticipating getting a wide range of Walker usage, and it took a painfully long time just for Walker to make his way out onto the field for his first drive. On top of that, Walker received just one target over the course of the little time he did see in action.

His minimal impact was not all on little playing time. In one of the plays he was involved in, he was streaking free on a breakaway one step ahead of his defender and Josh Johnson didn’t have the time in the pocket to get the ball out to him.

Regardless, Walker’s involvement was questionable.

That could lead us to believe in two different ways. Firstly, Walker’s chances of being the WR3 are not as high as we thought they were. Secondly, and most likely, he is solidified in the first-team offense that didn’t see much work at all.

Receivers Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, and Nelson Agholor weren’t heavily involved if at all either. It is likely that as the preseason goes on, we will see more of the Tar Heel product.

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On3 predicts the winner of the UNC football QB battle

With three quarterbacks battling for the starting role, On3 predicts this QB to come out on top.

Last season’s North Carolina Tar Heels team was highlighted by superstar quarterback Drake Maye. Maye eventually went on to have a great season and was selected as a top-three draft pick in the 2024 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.

With Maye in the NFL, the Tar Heels are forced to find a new signal caller behind center. There are three guys currently in the mix for that position.

Conner Harrell, one of the three players vying for the starting quarterback role, was the only player left on the team that was on the depth chart last season. As a freshman last year, Harrell completed 22 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions as the main backup to Maye.

Jacolby Criswell has an interesting story leading up to his fight for this spot. He spent the first three years of his collegiate career with the Tar Heels before transferring his junior year to Arkansas. He had very minimal stats in those first three years. His first sophomore year was his most productive with 179 passing yards and a touchdown.

Last season, he had 143 yards and three touchdowns on 17 completed passes. He has thrown just one interception in his entire career.

The last member of the battle is another graduate transfer, Max Johnson.

Johnson spent the first two years of his career with LSU where he threw 474 completions for 3,883 yards and 35 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He transferred to Texas A&M where he also spent two years. He completed 161 passes for 1,969 yards and 12 touchdowns with five interceptions before making the move in his last year of eligibility to North Carolina.

On3 predicts that Max Johnson will get the start in Week 1 against Minnesota, but that the leash will be tight, and multiple quarterbacks might be involved early and often.

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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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Top 2025 basketball recruit cuts list down to 7

The UNC basketball program made the cut for the top overall recruit in the 2025 class.

The No. 1 ranked player in the nation coming out of the basketball recruiting class of 2025 has announced his final seven teams in his decision and the North Carolina Tar Heels are one of those teams.

AJ Dybantsa is a 6-foot-9 small forward who will play this season at Utah Prep in Hurricane, Utah, after playing for Prolific Prep in California last year. North Carolina was among 30+ teams to offer Dybantsa a scholarship and has made it to the final listing. The official offer from Hubert Davis and company came back in October of 2023.

In addition to UNC, Dybantsa has also included Baylor, Alabama, BYU, Auburn, Kansas State, and Kansas.

Adam Finkelstein of 247Sports had this to say about Dybantsa projecting him to be a future top pick:

“Dybantsa possesses a lethal pull-up game with a high release and a smooth ball rotation. He was the leading scorer in the 2023 Peach Jam as an underclassman and shows flashes of untapped potential on defense thanks to his size and movement skills.”

Dybantsa was the former Gatorade Player of the Year in Massachusetts after averaging 19.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.6 blocks per game for St. Sebastian’s school as a freshman.

A visit from the five-star to Chapel Hill is highly likely in the future now with the acknowledgment of his desire.

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Duke basketball offers four-star 2026 forward Miikka Muurinen

Duke basketball extended an offer to fast-rising 2026 prospect Miikka Muurinen.

2026 feels like the distant future, but considering that it’ll be 2025 on the calendar once Duke basketball reaches the ACC portion of its schedule this season, the future will be here before we know it.

That said, Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils will likely focus considerable recruiting resources on the Class of 2026, and there are some terrific prospects for them to choose from. One of them, power forward Miikka Muurinen, received an offer from Duke over the weekend, according to 247Sports’ Travis Branham.

Muurinen, who plays for Compass Prep in Arizona, is originally from Finland. He stands 6-foot-10 and currently ranks as 247Sports’ 44th-ranked player in the Class of 2026, but many recruiting insiders expect him to receive a boost on all recruiting services. Branham named Muurinen the ‘biggest riser’ from Peach Jam, where he averaged 18 points and four rebounds per game for Bradley Beal’s Elite 16U squad.

He shot 62 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range (14-for-28 over six games) as he helped his team win an EYBL championship.

“Muurinen was oozing with talent and upside and looked every bit like a top-10 recruit in the 2026 class,” Branham wrote.

With his stock rising, expect Muurinen’s recruitment to reach astronomical heights in the coming months. Kentucky has also offered him thanks to his Peach Jam performance. His mother played college basketball for the University of North Carolina, so it shouldn’t come as a shock if UNC is a significant factor in this recruitment in the future.

Duke basketball offers 2025 shooting guard Braylon Mullins

Braylon Mullins is the latest 2025 player to receive an offer from Duke.

Duke’s 2025 high school recruiting board keeps taking shape as the Blue Devils extended another offer on Sunday, this time to shooting guard Braylon Mullins.

The newest recruiting target hails from Greenfield, Indiana, and plays his high school ball for Greenfield-Central High School. He stands 6-foot-5 and weighs in at 180 pounds, and a terrific spring and summer have vaulted his stock through the roof. He started this offseason as the No. 94 prospect on 247Sports’ rankings, but offensive strides as a scorer (25.0 points per game last season) and a playmaker (3.2 assists) helped him rise all the way to No. 23 in the updated rankings.

His skill set at such a young age is worthy of praise and definitely contributed to his rise. He’s dominated the Adidas 3SSB Circuit and has seen the offers flood in from the nation’s best basketball programs, including Connecticut, North Carolina, and Indiana.

In an interview with Steve Clark of 247Sports, Mullins revealed that he already has eight official visits lined up. The list includes the Huskies, the Tar Heels, the Hoosiers, Michigan State, Purdue, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee, all of whom will eagerly await his arrival. These visits are not just a testament to Mullins’ talent but also a source of excitement for the basketball community, as they eagerly await his potential choices.

Duke’s interest in Mullins has been palpable this summer, with the Blue Devils watching him play on numerous occasions. While they hadn’t made an offer yet, it was clear that they were familiar with his game and were admirers of his skills. After another impressive weekend on the circuit, the Blue Devils finally made their move and offered Mullins on Sunday, adding to the anticipation of his potential recruitment.

Will Duke’s offer change things and have Mullins push the Blue Devils into the mix? We have no clue, but it should certainly give Mullins something to think about as he attempts to narrow down his recruitment ahead of his final year of high school.

Duke offers 2025 CG Acaden Lewis

Duke offers 2025 CG Acaden Lewis.

2025 will be a massive year for Jon Scheyer, no matter what happens for him and his program in 2024. The hope is that, by this time next year, the Blue Devils will be figuring out how to repeat as national champions if we work under the assumption that their efforts to surround generational prospect Cooper Flagg with a championship-caliber team were indeed successful.

Even without that assumption, we know a few almost undoubtedly true things. Duke will lose at least four players from this year’s roster. Five, considering this will likely be junior Tyrese Proctor’s last year as a Duke Blue Devil.

With the departure of key players, Duke will again face a significant challenge in rebuilding the team to maintain its competitive edge next year.

Assuming Proctor leaves alongside Sion James, who only has one year of eligibility remaining, Duke will need actual ball handlers on next year’s team. It’s too far out to know who will be available via the transfer portal, so it makes sense why Duke recently offered 2025 combo guard Acaden Lewis.

Lewis is ranked as the 34th-best prospect in 247Sports player rankings for the class of 2025. He’s ranked nationally as the sixth-best combo guard and the number-one player from Washington, D.C.

 

In the film, you see a 6-foot-3 guard who thrives on using ball screens to get downhill, where he can finish with either hand. He is quite proficient in using mid-range jump shots or floaters to score. He uses pace to make defenders uneasy.

He has an effortless release and range. He also showcased the ability to be a proficient spot-up shooter. He has the versatility that Scheyer covets and could be a fit either playing on or off the ball in Durham.

He is being recruited heavily by UNC, Maryland, Georgetown, Kentucky, and Virginia Tech.