With the season underway and the Tar Heels having only one home game in the four weeks of the 2022 college football season, the recruiting trail, primarily in the 2023 cycle. With eighteen players already committed to the class, the Tar Heels are adding the finishing touches to the class to round out what it appears will be yet another top 20 class under Mack Brown. Here are the latest updates on the team’s two recent offers and two committed players who are taking visits elsewhere.
4✮ LB Kaveion Keys
When Keys committed back on August 29th, it was expected that he would taking an official visit to an SEC school during the season to Texas A&M. That visit to College Station still appears to be one right now for early October, however, they don’t appear to be the only SEC school that is making a serious push to flip him. Christian Clemente of Auburn Undercover, the 247Sports site for the Tigers, listed Keys as one of the visitors that was on campus for the team’s game with Penn State this weekend. This is definitely something noteworthy, especially with the opponent being Penn State, the team that was a favorite for him for the majority of the summer. The Tar Heel staff knew when Keys committed that this was far from a done deal after the two late offers from SEC schools gave him enough to think about to delay his commitment by a few days. Getting him back on campus at some point this fall will be important for the Tar Heels, who will need to continue recruiting as hard as any of the uncommitted prospects in this cycle.
3✮ DL Joshua Horton
Keys wasn’t the only current commit who was in Auburn over the weekend. Horton revealed that he would be heading to the Plains early in the morning on Friday and all indications are that he did make the visit. The good news is that this was a part of a team visit with his high school, but it is noteworthy as a committed prospect. This was a guy who the Tar Heels made a major push for starting with his official visit to campus which turned everything in their favor prior to his commitment. Before that visit, though, Auburn was the team best positioned to land him, which is why this visit is something to be a bit concerned about. It looks like this is one commit that the Tar Heels will have to continue to recruit hard in order to hold off an Auburn team that recruits the state of Georgia very well.
3✮ S Ayden Duncanson
Duncanson is one of two East Carolina commits that the Tar Heel staff recently extended an offer to. The staff wasted no time getting him on campus, doing so in Week 0 for the game against Florida A&M. The visit seemed to have a significant impact on his recruitment and it appears that the Tar Heels definitely have a shot to flip him. Getting him back on campus, especially for an official visit, would be huge and the fact that he is high school teammate with current Tar Heel commit Caleb LaVallee certainly helps the cause.
3✮ CB Ty Adams
Adams is the other East Carolina commit that the Tar Heels have put themselves in a strong position for following that recent offer. He was on campus for that Florida A&M game and it seems like the trip left a very positive impression on him. This is another guy that the team would love to be able to get back on campus, especially for an official visit, to put more pressure on the Pirates and potentially complete the flip.