Heel Tough Blog: UNC Lands 5-Star Combo Guard

On3 Sports

While the Tar Heels will look to earn a big win later tonight on the road at NC State, they secured a win for the future, landing five-star combo guard Dylan Mingo after a long recruiting battle with Penn State, Baylor, Washington, and others. Mingo is ranked as the No. 8 player in the 2026 recruiting class and is considered to be the No. 3 combo-guard and the No. 1 player from the state of New York. He chose Carolina after initially delaying his commitment a few weeks ago, when it looked like Mingo was headed to play for Baylor and Scott Drew. 

When Hubert Davis was hired, he expressed his desire to be able to recruit on the national level, like Carolina has been able to do historically. The commitment of Mingo makes it three straight years that the UNC program has landed a high-profile player, fulfilling the head coach's desire to recruit the best high school talent in the country, in a day and time where you rebuild your roster through the transfer portal. Also, Mingo becomes the second high-profile recruit to commit to UNC out of the state of New York, following the commitment of Ian Jackson two years ago. 

Here is how Adam Finklestein, Director of Scouting for 247Sports, assesses Mingo as a player moving forward: “Mingo is a big guard with length, versatility, natural feel for the game, and an ability to get wherever he wants with the ball in his hands. He has a tight handle, can break his defender down with combo-moves, navigate a crowded lane instinctively, make reads out of ball-screens, utilize both hands, and create for himself and others. He is also a terrific perimeter rebounder (7.6 per game), very disruptive defender (2 steals), and simultaneously capable of guarding multiple positions.

While he has very good size and length at over 6-foot-4 with a better than 6-foot-10 wingspan, he’s a bit bow-legged and thus doesn’t always cover the court with a smooth gate. He can occasionally be nonchalant with the ball, which contributes to a relatively high turnover rate (2.8 assists vs. 2.5 turnovers), but the biggest swing skill is his shooting. He made just 23% of his threes in 13 EYBL games and has somewhat unorthodox mechanics, beginning with his catch and load into the shot. Mingo has been a well-known prospect since he was younger but has continued to ascend with each passing year. That rate of improvement, as well as his young age (he won’t turn 17 until October of his senior year) suggests that there could still be significant untapped potential as he continues to climb the ranks in the national class.”

Mingo joins Maximo Adams as the two commits for Hubert Davis in the 2026 class. More importantly, this gives UNC a second straight recruiting class, with a high-profile five-star prospect, and given the performance of Caleb Wilson before his injury, it had to speak to Mingo that he could play at UNC and be properly developed for the NBA, as he’ll likely be in Chapel Hill for just one season. 

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