Monday evening, one of the Tar Heels final uncommitted targets in the 2022 class, will announce his commitment to kick off an exciting recruiting week for Tar Heel football fans. 2022 3✮ S Jake Pope announced via social media on Thursday that he was making his decision after some thought that there was a chance that his recruit could go into his senior season. Instead, that decision will now be made at 6:45 EST.
The Tar Heels were one of four teams that hosted Pope for an official visit back in the month of June, leading off the month with a strong visit back on the first weekend. Following that weekend, the Tar Heels actually picked up a crystal ball prediction on 247Sports from Steve Wiltfong, but that was quickly rescinded the following weekend when he took his official visit to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish appeared to be in a good spot for him following that visit and into the month of July, but Alabama, which hosted him at the end month for an official, seems to have made an impression that lasted for him, as well.
Since those visits, the Tar Heels have appeared to have fallen out of the running here, while the Crimson Tide look to have taken over as the leaders. Heading into the commitment, the expert predictions support that thinking, with the Crimson Tide now holding all nine of those cast between the two major sites.
For the Tar Heels, it doesn’t appear as if this is something unexpected, though, as they offered 3✮ S Will Hardy back on August 5th, signaling to many that the staff knew they were already out of this race. As for where the bulk of the attention is right now, though, that lies with 5✮ DT Travis Shaw, who will announce his highly anticipated decision on Saturday, which we’ll have you covered on right here on the Heel Tough Blog.
Prediction: Alabama