Great post ...and congratulations on the name change. Not an easy feat.
2025 recruiting....
- Thread starter Ozheelfan
- Start date
If $$ are the most important factor in a recruit's life I am not interested in the least! If the recruit is interested in maximizing his potential and cares about winning AND wants to make money, I say welcome to the Family! I have never cared one bit about any particular recruit because I know UNC will win with them OR without them! (I believe history has proven this) I think it is the best system to build with multi-year players sprinkled with 5* HS studs and developed portal transfers!
Unfortunately the list of schools willing to bid more than UNC just keeps growing. We only have like 6 alums under contract in the NBA. There is a very real chance the '25-'26 Tar Heels will be the first UNC roster since the 1970s with zero 5-stars or McDonald's All Americans.
UNC is a blueblood specifically because we've had the talent to compete for championships decade after decade after decade. If our NIL can't deliver UNC level talent, then our NIL leadership needs to change.
Hubert clearly believes all these talented recruits and transfers fit the Carolina family. He vets them, he offers them, he recruits them (in several cases he recruits them for more than a year.) So what changes need to happen so we can start landing them again?
This 25 class is not looking good…After last year landing Drake and Ian…I thought Coach Davis was really taking off in recruiting and then being in on a ton of guys early in 25 and now can’t even get a visit from some…Is something going on inside the program turning kids off of UNC or is it just the money…
You sir, are the one that is the nightmare.
I agree 100% with this except for the "frustrating" part. I a not frustrated in the least because, like I expect, I am cheering for a contender! UNC is back on top of the ACC and NCAA so I see nothing to be upset about! For every so called "miss" I see a 2 deep roster of absolute dogs!
I'm not frustrated as much as I'm sad that all this money being passed around and the bidding for players has caused me to start losing interest in the game and team I have loved for a very long time. I'm fairly confident I'm not the only one with such feelings.
Preach. IMO college basketball has lost its luster. I don’t even scream at the tv anymore lol. Well, not much
What has me very concerned is that coming off what I have to consider a disaster of a portal season, our high school recruiting for this extremely talented 25 class has flown off the rails, zero commits and the 3 front court guys we had a shot with (Moreno, Peat, and Reibe off the board for us)?
I wouldn't say I have lost interest, not sure I can lose interest in UNC sports but I am extremely disappointed in the way this sport has evolved over the last 3-5yrs. It is as if the NCAA has committed suicide and no one is willing to call 911?
Money sir. We can dislike it until the cows come home. A school in your top 3-5 offers more money in NIL very few will go for lesser. An NBA career is not guaranteed or even a full college career for that matter. Injuries happen etc. They are maximizing the opportunity while its presented to them. UNC needs to step up there NIL Collective or it will be this way every year.
Why didnt money stop Ian or Powell from committing? I know we jumped on Powell before he became who he is, but someone could have easily bought him from us.. But Ian, how did we keep him??
Can't tell me a former BYU coach in his first year at Kentucky and basically rebuilding from scratch and no track record of success in Lexington is more attractive than Chapel Hill or Alabama unless the Kentucky NIL collective dug deep for the kid.
Which by most accounts appears to be a complete waste of time at this stage in Caleb's recruitment.
The NIL at UK did in fact dig deep to make sure Jasper Johnson didn't choose Alabama (which was offering a significant payday.)
That's where recruiting is. Jasper Johnson's dad was a UK football player, his grandpa was UK's associate AD, his whole family are UK fans, he grew up 20 minutes from Rupp Arena... and he was Alabama bound until UK upped their offer.
If we want to stay a Blue Blood, consistently competing for titles, we'll have to pay for the talent. Jordan, Worthy, Ford, The Jet, Reid, Montross, Daugherty, Stackhouse, Wallace, McInnis, Jamison, Carter, Cota, Haywood, Felton, May, Marvin, Wright, Lawson, Ellington, Green, Hansbrough, Davis, Zeller, Marshall, Barnes, Bullock, Paige, Berry, Pinson, Jackson, Hicks... recruits of this caliber will no longer be committing to UNC until we fix our NIL problem.
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Agree with this totally.
If we want to stay a Blue Blood, consistently competing for titles, we'll have to pay for the talent. Jordan, Worthy, Ford, The Jet, Reid, Montrose, Daugherty, Stackhouse, Wallace, McInnis, Jamison, Carter, Cota, Haywood, Felton, May, Marvin, Wright, Lawson, Ellington, Green, Hansbrough, Davis, Zeller, Marshall, Barnes, Bullock, Paige, Berry, Pinson, Jackson, Hicks... recruits of this caliber will no longer be committing to UNC until we fix our NIL problem.
If we want to stay a Blue Blood, consistently competing for titles, we'll have to pay for the talent. Jordan, Worthy, Ford, The Jet, Reid, Montrose, Daugherty, Stackhouse, Wallace, McInnis, Jamison, Carter, Cota, Haywood, Felton, May, Marvin, Wright, Lawson, Ellington, Green, Hansbrough, Davis, Zeller, Marshall, Barnes, Bullock, Paige, Berry, Pinson, Jackson, Hicks... recruits of this caliber will no longer be committing to UNC until we fix our NIL problem.
Hate it but lost out on two more possible recruits this week I guess really nothing new.
So I guess every possible HS recruit and all portal guys are out of the question for 1 year from now??? There is no possible way someone will blow up like a Drake or choose the Family like an Ian I guess!! I would never throw in the towel this early but that is only me! I also can't seem to summon angst when I know we have a contender NOW!
So, if these players were being recruited now how munch NLI money would it take to sign Stackhouse, Barnes, Felton, Lawson, etc.?
Beginning to find myself in agreement with those that argue we must find a way to give top dollar to select players if we want to compete.
Not sure which is worse. Paying top dollar for top recruits or bowing out of the tournament early in March. Both leave me with nausea.
According to Rivals, here are Hubert’s high school class rankings:
2022: 14
2023: 48
2024: 7
2025: TBD (currently zero commits)
If 2025 ends up being like it has been trending, this will show a 4 year picture where our high school recruiting overall hasn’t been good enough. As others have pointed out, Dean and Roy won a ton of games with top talent, all-American type kids. Carolina should have a top high school class every year but in this new era they won’t if they refuse to monetarily compete with the other blue bloods.
2022: 14
2023: 48
2024: 7
2025: TBD (currently zero commits)
If 2025 ends up being like it has been trending, this will show a 4 year picture where our high school recruiting overall hasn’t been good enough. As others have pointed out, Dean and Roy won a ton of games with top talent, all-American type kids. Carolina should have a top high school class every year but in this new era they won’t if they refuse to monetarily compete with the other blue bloods.
AAU basketball is what we have entered!
Rerecruiting EC to stay with us his JR year, and Powell sophomore year is the key to what will happen in the 25' transfer portal.
The guys we missed on this year, are right back in play after the season ends, plus you will have RJ's and Jackson's shots per game available (showcase positions).
Rerecruiting EC to stay with us his JR year, and Powell sophomore year is the key to what will happen in the 25' transfer portal.
The guys we missed on this year, are right back in play after the season ends, plus you will have RJ's and Jackson's shots per game available (showcase positions).
Instant roster correction is now available through the portal. Recruiting has a third leg now that didn't exist before. (HS, Portal, Own team) Hubs has mined the portal really well and is still pretty good at discovering the diamonds in the rough in HS recruiting, (This was genius level under Roy) I don't for 1 second think we have to cave in and become like the rest! UNC is thriving right now and I don't see why it can't continue.
The guys we "missed on" will lose to us and then watch us play on in Tourneys like they always do!
The guys we "missed on" will lose to us and then watch us play on in Tourneys like they always do!
Meaning guys who will be playing as freshman at other programs, and should be sophomores next year looking for a new home.
If Ian Jackson is not one and done, I will bet 100 bucks he transfers, and there will be guys like that available for 25-26 season that I hope we get.
You are delusional.
What "diamonds in the rough" has Hubert discovered in high school recruiting? Will Shaver?
And you honestly believe our 2024 portal efforts went "really well."
I
The 2025 recruits we missed on will be in the NBA draft.
And it should be obvious by now that "shots per game" don't matter. We had Ingram and Bacot's shots to offer every big man we pursued in the portal, and they all chose to go for the paycheck instead.
Adapt or parish. College basketball was monetized for every nickle for a long time. Since the Bird/Magic Final those that could, squeezed every red cent from every angle available. Now the talent gets a share at market value. I have a hard time lamenting the "change from it's about the game" to knowing the monetary worth of the product other's have shoveled in for years. Adapt or parish.
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We had similar hand-wringing about 10yrs ago when Roy had some down years in recruiting.
It’s true, College Ball has changed and other schools are playing a different game in the pursuit of talent, but there is no evidence to say their methods will pay off.
Hubert has his strategy - it seems to be to go after top talent but to not get into a grubby bidding war for that top talent…. Will it work? I guess we will have to wait and see.
It’s true, College Ball has changed and other schools are playing a different game in the pursuit of talent, but there is no evidence to say their methods will pay off.
Hubert has his strategy - it seems to be to go after top talent but to not get into a grubby bidding war for that top talent…. Will it work? I guess we will have to wait and see.
Roy had a NCAA investigation causing his recruiting woes during that time. Opposing coaches were openly telling recruits that UNC was going to get hammered.
We don't have to wait and see. Our 2024 portal recruiting and our recruiting of the 2025 high school class has already shown us what happens if you don't pay players.
I agree that if you don’t pay certain players they don’t commit.
I am now waiting to see the strategies used to recruit and build the North Carolina team moving forward.
Just like in 2015 I watched to see how Roy assembled his teams with all the negative recruiting going on.
I’m also waiting to see how sustainable the current bidding wars for players is…. How many schools will get the results to justify the massive player payments - in recent times one-and-done superstar players have not been the winning formula for championship teams.
That’s what I’m waiting to see.
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