When the recruiting dead period officially came to a close as of midnight on June 1st, it ushered in a very important recruiting season for Carolina Basketball in recent memory. Since the season finished up, UNC has lost four players to the transfer portal, and one to the NBA, all while their Hall of Fame head coach announced his retirement. That left new head coach Hubert Davis with a rather depleted front court entering next season, where expectations are still high in Chapel Hill, and around the country. After taking over, Davis attacked the transfer portal, landing Brady Manek from Oklahoma, and Justin McKoy from Virginia. While both of those transfers add some talent and depth to the roster, they don’t provide roster stability for the foreseeable future. Knowing that Davis was busy while finalizing his new staff offering players that fit his vision of Carolina Basketball moving forward. The offers ranged from potential one and done players, to guys that will most likely be in college for four seasons. With the dead period officially coming to a close, it allows the new head coach the ability to sell potential prospects on the University of North Carolina and his program.
There are several players scheduled to visit campus this month, and in the first week of June, three players visited Chapel Hill. The first was Will Shaver, a three star big man from Alabama, that has the size and strength to hold his own on the interior while possessing the ability to step out behind the three point line and help stretch the floor. Hubert Davis is in the process of evolving Armando Bacot’s game as a stretch five player, which is what Shaver is going to be at UNC, as he announced his commitment before even leaving campus while on his official visit. He joined Donovan “Puff” Johnson, the last recruit to visit Carolina before the pandemic, to not only visit but commit on his visit. As mentioned above, Davis has been aggressive offering guys that can be gone after one season or stick around and provide roster stability in the years to come. Shaver is the ladder, unless his development really takes off, Shaver figures to be a fixture in the UNC program for a long time.
Jalen Washington also made his official visit to UNC but didn’t commit to the Tar Heels. Washington is a five star forward from Gary, Indiana, and whoever wins his recruitment battle will have definitely earned it. Like Shaver is going to be a stretch five for UNC, if Washington comes to Chapel Hill, he’s going to be a stretch four for Hubert Davis. His length at 6-9 is very appealing on both ends of the floor, as UNC figures to be more committed and better coached on the defensive end. With Washington being from Indiana, you already know that the homestate Indiana Hoosiers are heavily involved in his recruitment and many other Big 10 schools.
The last player to make his way to Chapel Hill was Justin Taylor, a highly coveted four star guard from Charlottesville, Virginia. One of the things this program has lacked the last couple of seasons has been an elite wing player, and Taylor appears to be the perfect fit for what Carolina is looking for. He is ranked as the number 86 overall player in the country while being ranked the number 21 small forward, and the fifth best player from his state. The lack of perimeter shooting has really hurt this team since Cam Johnson graduated back in 2019, and that’s the biggest area Taylor can contribute immediately. His recruitment has changed since the retirement of Roy Williams, but he’s still been a priority for the new head coach and his staff. Taylor made it known on social media that he enjoyed his visit, but wasn’t committing to the Tar Heels, as he still has visits to ACC schools Syracuse, Virginia Tech, and of course Virginia scheduled.
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