The final week of May may not have been the most active around Tar Heel football, but it did set the stage for a full month of headlines surrounding the team’s 2024 recruiting class. Here is a look at the biggest storylines around the team from this past week.
Tar Heels One of Four Remaining for 2024 3✮ Cornerback
Greco is one of the team’s biggest remaining targets in the defensive backfield on the 2024 trail so Sunday’s news was very encouraging. The Tar Heels have to be pleased with where they sit with him right now after a strong visit to Chapel Hill back in March. That visit appears to have established them as the clear favorites and there doesn’t seem to be a clear threat at this point. If they can lock up that official visit for the month of June, it should be too long before the staff has added him to this 2024 class.
4✮ DL Amaris Williams Eliminates Tar Heels From Recruitment
Greco is pretty much where the good news stops, though. The staff suffered another tough blow to their in-state recruiting last Thursday when Williams announced his top five with the team absent. This was something that felt inevitable with the lack of traction that the team had in this recruitment. While this may not have been the most shocking result, this is just another symbol of the issues that are plaguing the team in-state in this class. As of right now, the team lacks a commitment from any of the top 20 players in the state according to 247Sports Composite rankings and there is a chance that they could exit the month in that same position.
Clemson Enters the Pursuit of 4✮ S Malcolm Ziglar
One of those highly-rated in-state players that the Tar Heels might miss on is Ziglar, whose recruitment took a major turn on Wednesday. Entering the day, the Tar Heels were felt to have had a pretty nice lead in the race, but an offer from Clemson while on an unofficial visit there could completely swing things in their favor. The Tar Heels are still slated to get the final say in the month of June, which is an encouraging sign, but it’s hard to see Clemson not at least being a major threat in this one.
3✮ WR Keenan Jackson Confirms Official Visit Schedule & Sets Commitment Date
One guy in the state that the Tar Heels are probably feeling pretty confident with at this point is Jackson and he now has his official timeline set for the month of June. The Tar Heels are one of four schools that will receive an official visit from him this month joining Virginia Tech, NC State and Duke who will all get their shot to host him before he heads to Chapel Hill to close out the month. Appalachian State and Maryland, the other two schools in his top six, are not scheduled to receive official visits at this time. Once he concludes his visits, he will take a few days to ponder his choices and make his decision on June 29th.
Tar Heels Out of the Running for 3✮ ATH Mekhai White
Amaris Williams wasn’t the only target in the 2024 class that eliminated the Tar Heels from his recruitment last week. White was one of the Tar Heels' earliest offers in the 2024 class, but things have certainly cooled off after some nice momentum heading into his junior season. His connection with Dré Bly was a strong one and that has likely played a big role in why the Tar Heels have been phased out here. White revealed his final eight schools on Thursday which consists of Arkansas, LSU, Maryland, Michigan, Penn State, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.
2025 5✮ OT David Sanders Lands “Dream” Offer from Clemson
It wasn’t just the 2024 class where Clemson extended an impactful offer to a big-time in-state target. Sanders is ranked as the No. 2 overall player in the 2025 class and is clearly the top rated player in the state according to 247Sports. In his Instagram story, the Providence Day rising junior called the offer a “dream come true”, which would seem to indicate this one is an important one to him. With the issues that the team has had recruiting the home state this year, the Tar Heels were hoping to at least establish themselves as legit contenders for Sanders. Right now, it’s hard to say they are doing so against big time programs that have offered him.
2025 4✮ EDGE London Merritt Puts Tar Heels in Top 12
It wasn’t just the 2024 class that produced some news for the Tar Heels in the last week. On Tuesday afternoon, one of the top edge rushers in the 2025 class announced his top twelve and that list included the Tar Heels along with some of the nation’s best. While this is still an early step in his recruitment, just being in the conversation is noteworthy and continues to show the waves the team is having in the state of Georgia.