In a shocking decision, Carolina has been informed that 2023 five-star prospect Simeon Wilcher, will not enroll at UNC, and has asked the University to release him from his letter of intent. Wilcher told Inside Carolina “After careful consideration, I’ve decided to ask North Carolina for a release from my national letter of intent. We will not be commenting further and thank UNC for the opportunity to play in the ACC.” This news comes a week after the 2024 five-star commit, Elliot Cadeau decided to reclassify and join the team for the upcoming 2023-24 season. With Cadeau on the roster, he was going to join Wilcher, as guys looking to help restore the Carolina Basketball program to among the nation’s elite, after a disappointing 2022-23 campaign. Instead, Cadeau, and four-star power forward, Zayden High will arrive as the only freshmen on the roster, and with High being seen more as a developmental player, it only raises the pressure on Cadeau to be the player everyone expects him to be.
Wilcher has been committed to Carolina since October of 2021 when he committed during Hubert Davis’s first festivities to kick off the season. With Wilcher staying committed during a trying second year for the head coach, which saw a complete roster overhaul, it’s hard not to imagine that Cadeau’s decision to reclassify played a role in this decision.
Furthermore, this opens up another scholarship on the roster for next season, meaning Hubert Davis still has three positions to fill out for 2023-24. Right now, he currently has R.J. Davis, Cormac Ryan, Paxson Wojcik, Seth Trimble, and the aforementioned Cadeau as backcourt players for next year. UNC hasn’t really shown any interest in any players remaining in the transfer portal, but given this news, you would expect that to change, almost immediately.
Wilcher’s decision to back out of his commitment to play at North Carolina is only going to raise concerns for Tar Heel fans about the direction of the program, which was fairly brought into question after the failure in 2022-23. There aren’t many times you see a five-star prospect seek to back out of his commitment, let alone one that is committed to a school like North Carolina. This move, only adds pressure to Hubert Davis to fill out the roster correctly, and in the process, have the Tar Heels competing for ACC and national championships.
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