Tag: UNC Tar Heels

UNC four-star basketball recruit commits to rival blue-blood

UNC was in the final teams for this four-star forward who ended up committing to another blue blood.

UNC basketball recruiting target Nikolas Khamenia shocked the ACC with his commitment on Tuesday. The four-star power forward from Harvard Westlake had North Carolina, Duke, UCLA, Gonzaga and Arizona in his final five.

That list was reduced to Duke, UCLA and Gonzaga entering this week. That left Arizona and UNC on the outside looking in.

Khamenia was the No. 19 player and the No. 5 power forward nationally, and the No. 4 player in California. Given Khamenia was born in Studio City, California, the front-runner for the Class of 2025 star was presumed to be UCLA, his hometown university.

However, Khamenia gave a hard commitment to Duke even though the Blue Devils already have 6-foot-9 forward Cameron Boozer in their recruiting class. Boozer is the second-ranked player nationally and No. 1 power forward in the 2025 cycle.

With North Carolina already out of the running, the worst thing that could have transpired with this commitment was to see him attend a school where the Tar Heels have to see him twice a year.

This leaves North Carolina and Hubert Davis looking for their second commitment in the Class of 2025. Thus far, the Tar Heels have a commitment only from combo guard Derek Dixon, which came last month.

There are still plenty of players Davis and the staff are hoping to bring to the program, including the No. 1 overall player in the class, AJ Dybantsa, who is rumored to be commanding over $4.5 million in name, image and likeness licensing compensation.

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UNC football loses three-star commit to Big Ten program

Carolina football loses its first Class of 2025 recruit after a flipped commitment.

UNC football has had a rough season in 2024. After a brilliant outlook on this season, the gloom quickly set in as the Tar Heels went into the bye week last week losing four straight games including three conference games.

They gave up 70 points to JMU, lost a 21-point lead to Duke, and allowed Pitt and Georgia Tech to walk all over them. Thus far, the only downside to this wasted season has been upset fans.

Now, the downfall of the UNC program under Mack Brown is hitting recruits. A three-star tight end out of Arlington Heights, Illinois, has decided to rescind his commitment to the Tar Heels program and stay home in Illinois.

The John Hersey High School product committed to Mack Brown and North Carolina in November of 2023 after turning down several other offers including Cincinnati, Duke, Illinois, Kansas, Kansas State, and Missouri.

Now, the No. 36 tight end and No. 17 ranked player in Illinois heads away from his prior commitment to North Carolina.

https://twitter.com/on3recruits/status/1848525172774735961?s=46

Illinois kept recruiting Farrell despite his commitment to North Carolina and it proved valid. They visited him recently at his high school and kept attending his games, while the Tar Heels have continued to plummet in the college football realm.

There is no indication that his flip has anything to do with the Tar Heel’s poor performance as of late, but one can not help but think that this is the first of many dominos to fall.

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UNC basketball visits Class of 2027 No. 1 overall recruit

The top recruit in the Class of 2027 received a visit from North Carolina and Hubert Davis.

The North Carolina Tar Heels will add a focus to their recruiting efforts now eying the No. 1 overall recruit in the Class of 2027, according to the newest Rivals 150 for 2027.

Rosser is a 6-foot-8 forward out of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, playing for ย Northern Nash High School. He currently has five total offers including two from ACC schools Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

Hubert Davis and UNC basketball showed interest in the forward with a recent visit to the in-state recruit. UNC wasn’t the only top interested party as Duke also made the visit to Rosser.

Rosser’s trainer, Darius Spragley, had this to say about the forward’s mentality.

What makes CJ special is his character off the court and how he is molding into a leader. He’s learning and that’s one of the great things about him. He’s always willing to learn, he’s like a sponge who’s willing to absorb knowledge.

Spragley also commented on the No. 1 overall recruit’s skillset.

He’s really improved his handle and shooting. Right now he’s learning how to maneuver around smaller guards. He doesn’t have a problem moving against people his size so he’s learning how to navigate through traffic, and finish. He’s the whole total package we just have some things we need to work on. His defense and motor are the main things we’re working on and that’ll come with time since he’s only a sophomore. It’ll all come with experience.

Rosser still has years left in high school, but as we have seen in recent recruits, showing interest early in recruitment can go a long way with the decision that they will make in a few years.

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UNC basketball recruiting target gives impressions of final five schools

UNC basketball four-star recruit gives impressions of final five schools including what he thought of Chapel Hill and Hubert Davis.

UNC basketball is on the search for more 2025 recruits with Nikolas Khamenia, a 6-foot-8 forward from Studio City, California, set to make his decision this October.

Hubert Davis has just four-star guard Derek Dixon committed in the class. The four-star forward is the No. 5 power forward in the country, the No. 4 player in the state of California, and the No. 19 ranked player in the nation.

He is up to a 97 score and the No. 19 rank on 247sports up two spots in the last month.

Khamenia is down to five schools including North Carolina. The other four include Arizona, Duke, Gonzaga, and UCLA.

Khamenia had this to say about Chapel Hill and North Carolina.

With North Carolina, I have had a good relationship since earlier in my junior year. And thatโ€™s been building on. I took a visit there. It was cool.

You can take that statement how you will, but it doesn’t sound incredibly encouraging heading into his decision later this month. He had more pleasantries in his impressions of Gonzaga, UCLA, and Duke.

The former two left the impression of recruiting him early, and John Scheyer talked about his “versatility and future role” with their team.

Nikolas Khamenia will make his decision in the next 10 days.

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247sports dishes on UNC basketball’s AP Top 25 ranking

UNC came in at No. 9 on the preseason AP Top 25. How does 247sports view that Tar Heels ranking?

North Carolina will open up their basketball season in just a few short weeks, but most recently, the preseason AP Top 25 poll was released. The UNC men’s basketball team ranked No. 9 on that poll.

The promise in the team the Tar Heels and Hubert Davis have is immense. The ceiling is the No. 1 team in the nation and the floor isn’t outside of the top 25. Freshmen Ian Jackson and Drake Powell will boost a revamped frontcourt and one of the best backcourts in the nation with returning stars Elliot Cadeau and former ACC Player of the Year, RJ Davis.

According to 247sports’ Grant Hughes, UNC was ranked too low.

UNC is as well-equipped on the perimeter as any team in college basketball, given its collection of dynamic guards, Elliot Cadeau, RJ Davis, Seth Trimble, Ian Jackson, and capable wings, Cade Tyson and Drake Powell. Davis enters his fifth year of college hoops among the preseason favorites for National Player of the Year. He’ll arguably be the best player on the court in every game he plays this season. The Tar Heels are thinner than usual down low, but senior center Jalen Washington has turned heads this offseason as he replaces Armando Bacot in the starting lineup. UNC is a fringe top-five team.

The teams ranked too high by the same author include the No. 4 Houston Cougars, the No. 3 UConn Huskies, and the No. 16 Arkansas Razorbacks.

The last section was those ranked just right which included the No. 2 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks, and the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils.

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UNC guard poised for breakout season after dominating at Memphis

This UNC guard is poised for a breakout season after dominating in the first live-action of the season at Memphis!

UNC basketball went on the road for the first time this season in an exhibition game to highlight and fund the St. Jude’s Hospital. The Tar Heels’ journey to Memphis was long awaited with the connections between Hubert Davis and Penny Hardaway.

The game started slow for North Carolina, but they eventually picked it up. The Tar Heels won 84-76 after leading by at least 14 at one point in the second half of the game.

The talk of the game, though, was the play from Seth Trimble. The guard who has been a highlight defensive stopper for North Carolina in previous seasons has been seriously working on his offensive game over the offseason.

He even said the same in the interviews at UNC media day, and it was echoed at the ACC Tipoff media event the week after.

Trimble finished the exhibition match after starting the game with a team-high 33 points. Not only did his point numbers dominate, but his efficiency was off the charts. He shot 11-for-17 from the floor and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc on his way to a career-high over three years.

https://twitter.com/UNC_Basketball/status/1846359215108936017

With a facilitator like Elliot Cadeau at the point guard position, shooters like RJ Davis, Cade Tyson, and now the improved Seth Trimble, will open up the floor just that much more. Plus, the dribble-drive ability that Trimble has mimics that of his ACC Player of the Year counterpart.

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UNC guard named preseason ACC Player of the Year

This UNC guard has an opportunity to do something done by only JJ Reddick since 2000 — win back-to-back ACC Player of the Year awards.

RJ Davis and the North Carolina Tar Heels had a tough schedule last season, and even though they played tough teams, Davis continued to shine.

Besides being the ACC Player of the Year last year along with a consensus All-American and an All-ACC first-team member, RJ Davis dominated on the biggest stages against the highest-ranked teams.

In the game against Arkansas, Davis dropped 30 points shooting 7-for-13 from the floor and 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. In the very next game against a top-10 Tennessee team, Davis had 27 points including five threes and four rebounds.

He continued that dominance with 26 points and four rebounds against a ranked UConn and back-to-back 27 points and seven rebounds with four assists against a ranked Kentucky team.

Davis heads into this year with “unfinished business” as he proclaimed at the ACC Tipoff event earlier this month. I expect that he will surpass the numbers he put up last year which were already lofty expectations just to hit the same numbers.

I’m not the only person who thinks that, though, as the Atlantic Coast Conference named him their men’s basketball preseason ACC Player of the Year which would put him in elite company.

Only two people have accomplished that feat since 1990 including Wake Forest’s NBA Hall of Famer Tim Duncan and Duke’s J.J. Reddick. Davis would make the third player in the last 25 years to go back-to-back.

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UNC basketball guard joins preseason All-ACC first-team

This superstar Tar Heels’ guard is a member of the preseason All-ACC first-team.

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that UNC basketball guard, RJ Davis is among the best in the country. Last season, he was the ACC Player of the Year and an All-ACC first-team member.

The fifth-year season was also a consensus All-American and an All-ACC Tournament member. He is expected to at least duplicate if not improve on his already dominant senior season last year.

That was a year in which he averaged 21.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game as a two-guard. He also shot 42.8% from the field, 39.8% from the three-point line, and 87.3% from the free-throw line.

That seems hard to imagine improving on, but this North Carolina team is built to run. Hubert Davis wants them to be the fastest team in the country talking about getting down the court in under three seconds.

RJ Davis is joined by Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis, Duke’s Cooper Flagg, Notre Dame’s Markus Burton, and Miami’s Nijel Pack on the All-ACC first-team.

The second team is loaded with Clemson’s Ian Schieffelin and Chase Hunter, Florida State’s Jamir Watkins, Pitt’s Ishmael Leggett, and Georgia Tech’s Baye Ndongo.

Time will tell how RJ Davis heals up from this current injury and gets ready for the season. The Tar Heels will tip off on November 4th against Elon at home at 9:00 p.m. ET on ACC Network.

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UNC basketball sits atop the ACC in On3’s preseason power rankings

UNC basketball won the regular season title in the ACC last season. Can they come out on top again?

With the 2024-2025 college basketball season on the horizon, the Atlantic Coast Conference is shaping up to be a projected battle between preseason-ranked No. 7 Duke in the AP Poll and No. 9 North Carolina.

Last year, UNC basketball finished 29-8 overall and 17-3 amongst conference teams. They lost only to Georgia Tech 74-73, Clemson 80-76, and Syracuse 86-79. They swept Duke in two games last season.

They won the regular season ACC title but would go on to lose the ACC Tournament championship to North Carolina State.

Heading into this season, the landscape of the two teams is completely different. North Carolina lost rebounding sensation Armando Bacot along with Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan all to the NBA.

However, they also added Ven-Allen Lubin from Vanderbilt and Cade Tyson from Belmont in the transfer portal along with freshmen Ian Jackson and Drake Powell, two of the top freshmen in the class.

Duke added projected starter Maliq Brown from Syracuse and Mason Gillis from Purdue along with the top overall freshman in the class Cooper Flagg, a projected All-American first-team member, and big-man Khaman Maluach.

Jaime Shaw and On3 rank these two teams in the first tier entitled “The Race for First” while saying this about the top-ranked Tar Heels team.

This UNC team will be able to score the basketball. They have a handful of guys able to self-create and get into the teeth of the defense ready to make something happen. Cadeau steadying his play will be a big step for this team to take. UNCโ€™s most talented players are in the backcourt, and perimeter-based so for success this year it will be important for Hubert Davis to find a rotation that works up front while getting his best players on the floor.

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UNC one of just two ACC teams in the AP preseason Top 25

With just two teams in the preseason AP top 25 poll, is the ACC being slept on?

How good is the Atlantic Coast Conference this year?

Widely considered one of the best basketball conferences in the nation, only two teams of the 15-team conference find themselves ranked in the top 25 of the preseason AP Poll. Duke is the highest ranked at No. 7 and North Carolina follows at No. 9.

Neither of the teams received a first-place vote either with five different teams receiving at least one.

The ACC ended last season with four teams being ranking include UNC at No. 7 and Duke at No. 9. Clemson joined the two of them at No. 14 and the reigning ACC Tournament champion, NC State, came in at No. 10.

Is the ACC still the conference to beat in college basketball or has it been usurped?

Looking at the other conferences, the Big 12 has six teams ranked in the top 25 including half (five) of the top 10. The SEC has nine teams ranked in the top 25 including four in the top 15. The Big East and Big Ten are also represented by three ranked teams and four ranked teams respectively.

The only conference with a ranked team less than the ACC is the West Coast which currently houses Gonzaga. Outside of them, the ACC ranks No. 5 of the “Power Five” conferences in total teams ranked in the preseason poll.

Obviously, this will shake up as the season goes on, but the poll voters do not see the ACC as powerful as it once was. Can the conference regain more ranked teams this season and become more reputable?

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