Heel Tough Blog: 2026 Official Visit Primer- May 30th

The Tar Heels are getting back to the 2026 official visit schedule on Friday when they will welcome eighteen prospects to Chapel Hill. Here is a look at who will be on campus this weekend and where the Tar Heels stand in these races.

Committed

3✮ QB Travis Burgess- Grayson (Loganville, GA)

@mattvisualss- Instagram

Burgess, who committed to the team last Wednesday, will be on campus this weekend to help with the recruitment of some of the team’s top uncommitted targets. He is not expected to make the visits to Auburn and NC State that he had scheduled for later in the month.

3✮ CB Marcellous Ryan- Junipero Serra (Gardena, CA)

@OT7- Instagram

Ryan is another committed prospect that will be making his way to Chapel Hill this weekend to try to help recruit some of these top uncommitted targets that will be on campus. So far, this is the only official visit that we know he will take, meaning the team should be very secure with where they are with him.

3✮ TE Cooper McCutchan- Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati, OH)

@cooper_mccutchan2026

McCutchan, another recent commit for the team, will be taking his first visit to Chapel Hill this weekend with what will be his one and only official visit. He’ll be helping to recruit the group of fourteen uncommitted prospects that the team will host this weekend.

3✮ WR Kei’Maurii Miles- Carver (Columbus, GA)

@showwtime_kj

Miles is the last of the four committed prospects who will be on campus this weekend for an official visit. Like his other classmates, he’ll be doing his best to try to help the staff add to this class over the weekend.

Uncommitted

4✮ WR Keeyun Red Chapman- Jackson (Jackson, AL)

@li.r3d6- Instagram

Chapman is set to have a full slate of official visits, but he does have a clear leader in the clubhouse. According to On3 Sports’ Recruiting Prediction Machine, the USC Trojans are the team that has a significant lead right now heading into this weekend’s visit to Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels may still have a shot, but they need to blow him away to get back into this one.

4✮ DL Dylan Berymon- Ouachita Parish (Monroe, LA)

@BerymonDylan- Twitter

Berymon enters this weekend in a confusing spot in his recruitment. Prior to his visit to Purdue earlier this month, it felt like Texas was firmly in the driver’s seat, but the Boilermakers seem to have made a significant push here and may have taken over the lead according to predictions from two On3 Sports experts. Regardless, the Tar Heels need a strong showing this weekend to become a serious contender for him.

4✮ EDGE Julian Walker- Dutch Fork (Irmo, SC)

@the_shotsbygrac3- Instagram

Walker’s recruitment is another one that appears to have a clear leader, this time the in-state school. South Carolina may be in the lead here, but UNC, Michigan and NC State all have their opportunities to get themselves back into the race in the next month. The Tar Heels need a strong showing this weekend to have any shot in this race. 

4✮ LB Calvin Thomas- Cy Ranch (Cypress, TX)

@calvinthomas874- Instagram

Thomas comes in with more of an open battle for his services, but it still feels like there is work to do here for the Tar Heels. Right now, it appears that the Texas schools are the teams to beat for him led by SMU, who On3 Sports Recruiting Prediction Machine has as the leader. It’s up to the staff to get themselves back into this recruitment starting on Friday.

4✮ EDGE Zavion Griffin-Haynes- Rolesville (Rolesville, NC)

@9ineem- Instagram

After publicly eliminating the Tar Heels last week, Griffin-Haynes is planning to visit Chapel Hill now over original finalist Clemson. It feels like this might have a lot to do with the fact that his brother is also visiting, but it means that the staff does have some work to do if they want to actually have a legitimate chance to resecure his commitment. The question is how hard is the staff actually going to push this weekend after he seemingly eliminated the team a week ago.

4✮ LB Adam Balogoun-Ali- Cardinal Newman (West Palm Beach, FL)

@naszpr0ductionz- Instagram

Balogoun-Ali is one of the prospects who enters this weekend with a truly wide open race for his services. Auburn already hosted him for an official visit while Kentucky and Oklahoma will get their cracks early next month. The Tar Heels stand a good chance here if they can impress him this weekend.

4✮ S Jamarrion Gordon- Jackson (Jackson, AL)

@courtsidebank- Instagram

Gordon is another prospect whose recruitment is wide open right now. The Tar Heels have done a good job to this point of establishing themselves as a serious contender in this race, so now it is about taking things to the next level. The goal for this weekend should be for the staff to do enough that they take over as the favorite in his recruitment, something that is a very realistic goal.

3✮ WR Zion Crumpton- Carver (Montgomery, AL)

@noshotdez- Instagram

Crumpton is someone whose recruitment has flown under the radar and doesn’t have a lot of information on it right now. It feels like the fact that the Tar Heels are the only team that has an official visit publicly scheduled puts them in a really good spot here. As long as the staff shows him what he needs to see this weekend, they should at least be able to establish themselves as the favorites for him.

3✮ TE KeKua Aumua- IMG Academy (Kahuku, HI)

@rhino.aumua- Instagram

Bill Belichick and Michael Lombardi wanted to hit IMG Academy hard out of the gate and this is one of the only players from the school in this class that they have been able to land an official visit with. Aumua might be taking other visits, but it feels like Florida has a pretty safe lead in this one, meaning that the Tar Heels need to blow him away this weekend to have any shot of changing that.

3✮ LB Jayden Griffin-Haynes- Rolesville (Rolesville, NC)

@jackienatty_- Instagram

Griffin-Haynes seems to be considering the Tar Heels much more seriously than his brother at this point, meaning there is opportunity here for the team heading into this weekend. Florida State and NC State are also firmly in the hunt here, but a strong enough visit this weekend would likely be enough to establish the Tar Heels as a favorite for him. The question would be how influenced will he be by his brother’s decision and can the staff overcome the fact that they might not be being seriously considered by the more highly touted of the two.

3✮ LB Julian Burns- Neville (Monroe, LA)

@lxckdown.juju- Instagram

Burns has just the one official visit scheduled at this point but seems to be establishing a good relationship with his most recent offer, Miami. This weekend is a good chance for the Tar Heels to cement themselves as a leader in this race and put some pressure on the Hurricanes and any other would-be challengers to get an official visit scheduled as soon as possible.

UR OT Tripp Skewes- Kent Denver School (Englewood, CO)

@tripperskewes- Instagram

Skewes is another prospect who enters the weekend with a wide open race for his services. The Tar Heels are joined by Colorado, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt as schools that will get an official visit and there is a huge opportunity here for all of them in the next month. The Tar Heels will be hoping to do enough this weekend to at least take a slight lead in this race and put the pressure on the other finalists, especially in-state Colorado.

UR IOL Eli Rickell- Wesleyan (Norcross, GA)

@elirickell- Instagram

The Tar Heel staff just offered Rickell earlier this week and he is wasting absolutely no time getting on campus. With him officially visiting this quickly, it’s hard not to think that the Tar Heels are already the favorites for him and that he might be on commitment watch this weekend.

UR IOL Mason Wilhelm- St. Edward (Lakewood, OH)

@mason_wilhelm- Instagram

Wilhelm is the other target that enters this weekend on commitment watch. Since he was offered back on April 2nd, he has been very active with any post involving Tar Heel football and the same can’t exactly be said for West Virginia and Maryland, the other two schools that he is currently scheduled to officially visit. A good enough visit to Chapel Hill could be enough to get him to pop this weekend.

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