With the calendar turning to the month of May, one of the craziest months in the history of the Tar Heel athletic department has officially been put to rest. In the course of that crazy month, we saw hall-of-fame head coach Roy Williams retire, Hubert Davis take over the head coaching job from him, the majority of spring camp take place for the football team ahead of an exciting 2021 season and five former Tar Heels achieve their dreams of getting drafted to the NFL. With all of these events hogging the storylines, we haven’t been able to give you a ton of updates on what has been happening on the Tar Heel football recruiting trail. With things beginning to settle down a little bit, here is an update on the latest from around the trail.
Recently Offered
2023 5✮ S Sonny Styles
2022 3✮ TE Kaden Helms
2023 DT Keith Sampson Jr.
2023 OLB Raylen Wilson
2025 DE Brandon Thomas
2022 3✮ ILB Deuce Caldwell
2023 OT Markee Anderson
2023 SDE Keon Keeley
The Tar Heels have remained aggressive with offers within this past month and a half, handing out seven offers across the next two recruiting cycles and one in the 2025 cycle. The most notable names here are Helms and Caldwell, as the team has become immediate competitors in their recruitments. Sampson Jr. is one of the biggest names in the state of North Carolina in the 2023 class and Thomas is one of the top eighth graders in the country right now and it never hurts to get an early jump on recruitments, especially with a Tidewater prospect like him.
Made the Top Schools List
2022 5✮ CB Daylen Everette (Top 5)
2022 4✮ S Jake Pope (Top 8)
2022 4✮ WDE DJ Wesolak (Top 15)
There haven’t been a ton of guys narrowing down their decisions, but that shouldn’t come as much of a shock with the recruiting dead period ending at the beginning of June. The players that have narrowed down their decisions, though, have been significant ones. Wesolak’s decision to narrow to fifteen doesn’t tell us much, but it is a good sign for the Tar Heels that they made the initial cut if they are going to make a push at some point. Pope is a player that Jay Bateman reportedly is very high on and the Tar Heels making the cut allows him to continue to push for a guy that he feels fits his defense very well. The biggest piece of news here, though, is the fact that the Tar Heels remain alive for Everette, a player that Dre Bly has really turned the heat up for in the last couple of months as he looks to add the next star to that cornerback room after landing Tony Grimes this past year. The Tar Heels have their work cut out for them with the other four schools that landed in Everette’s top five, but this shows that the Tar Heels are solidly in the hunt for one of the best corners in the nation once again.
Scheduled Official Visits
2022 5✮ CB Jeadyn Lukus (June 4)
2022 4✮ S Jake Pope (June 4-6)
2022 4✮ OLB Sebastian Cheeks (June 4-6)
2022 3✮ ILB Deuce Caldwell (June 15-16)
2022 4✮ WR Andre Greene Jr. (June 18)
2022 5✮ CB Daylen Everette (June 25)
2022 3✮ CB Marcus Allen (June 25)
2022 3✮ TE Kaden Helms (June 25-27)
With the recruiting dead period coming to an end to start the month of June, the staff wasted no time getting some of the major targets in the class on campus. Both Everette and Pope, who we talked about above, will be taking official visits to campus during the month, further proof that the Tar Heels are legitimate contenders in their recruitments. Helms, Caldwell and Cheeks are all players who have received offers within the past two months and will all take official visits to Chapel Hill next month. Both Greene Jr. and Allen are longtime targets that the team will also welcome to campus in June in hopes to establish themselves as not only contenders but possibly leaders for their services. The most prestigious of the group, however, is Jeadyn Lukus, who will take his official visit to Carolina early in the month as the Tar Heels are hoping to continue the momentum that they have built with him as they look to establish their position as one of the favorites for him.
Out of the Running For
2022 4✮ WR Dakota Twitty
2022 4✮ OT Dayne Shor
2022 3✮ PRO Braedyn Locke
2022 3✮ WDE Joshua Josephs
It hasn’t been all positive news for the Tar Heels on the recruiting trail and while none of these come as a major shock, they are worth noting. The most notable miss of this group is Locke, who committed to Mississippi State last Monday, meaning that all of the Tar Heels’ quarterback offers in the 2022 class are now committed elsewhere. Twitty is noteworthy as an in-state prospect, but the Tar Heels still have plenty of targets that they are in good shape with at the wide receiver position. The same is true at tackle where the team missed on Shor and Malaki Hamrick’s commitment makes the Josephs miss rather minuscule.
Walk-On Commitments
2021 PRO Russell Tabor
2021 ILB Gibson Macrae
The Tar Heels have landed two preferred walk-on commitments in the past month, both from within the state of North Carolina. Tabor will give the Tar Heels some added depth at quarterback while Macrae will give the Tar Heels another body in the middle of the Tar Heel defense.