2025 recruiting....
- Thread starter Ozheelfan
- Start date
AJ Dybantsa will be in town for his official visit starting Tomorrow…
1.5 mil seems low based on the numbers I’ve heard for the top recruits lately. If we want him, we should easily be able to match or surpass that. Correct me if I’m wrong.
It’s just ridiculous that your first sentence is remotely true. What a time we live in.
I'd say 1.5 for a 5* to sit on the bench at dook .. 2 mil plus to start & be a projected lottery pick
Rumors are the full court press is on for AJ on his visit. He is meeting with a lot of alum. Him and his family are so impressed that we just need to be in the ball park money wise...
Don't like rumors? Don't read it or pay attention to them. Go on campus and ask AJ where he is going while he is on his visit.
I LOVE Rumors, one of the best albums of all time!
Put me down for $5. (Hey, inflation is killing me).
I would have to strongly consider giving Mullins $1.5mil, I do think that is a bit steep but the kid may be the best jump shooter in this class and Hubert's offense relies on jump shooting. Whispers are that Dybantsa is looking for $4.5mil for his 1 and only season in college ball? I am frankly disappointed that we even brought him in for a visit with that kind of insane asking price. Why not let some other program blow their NIL budget for 1 guy and not be able to put guys around him for that 1 season so they can discover that the ROI was just not worth it.
Just think if we paid him 4 million & let's say he's a top 5 pick nba draft ... he could pay a it back plus interest .. then next season you buy 2 top 5 picks ... before you know it you have bought a starting line up yr after yr ..
Carolina needs NBA stars, preferably all-star caliber guys. It’s been so long since we’ve had alums at that level. It’s not my money, but if there was someone to go all out on financially I think it’d be AJ. I think it’s highly likely he’s an NBA star that could pay dividends for years to come.
I wish it were just limited to college sports. Lots of obscenities becoming "normal" these days.
It’s why I don’t even care enough to watch college sports anymore. Love of money ruined pro sports years ago, it’s now ruined college sports. I don’t care a whit about playing the bidding war game, even if it means the only sports at UNC are intramural. UNC has become a money whore, just like all the football/basketball factories we used to malign for buying players. It makes me feel dirty and ashamed for the university.
Very few freshmen can lead a team to a title. Melo is the only guy that was the leader of a team I saw do it.
I'll give a guy 3-4 million, but I want a signed contract of staying 2 years!
I'll give a guy 3-4 million, but I want a signed contract of staying 2 years!
Here is what @heels05champs posted in a different thread about AJD:
NIL just keeps getting uglier to me. Without controls, college athletics will never have the same draw to me again. I thought NIL was all about opportunities, not guarantees.
I'm sorry but why are we taking both sides of this issue and using both to condemn the Heels? On one hand, peeps cry about us not stepping up and paying for the mercenary talents others get BUT at the same time we accuse UNC of being a "money whore" who bows down to peer pressure and is trying to buy talent!
To me it doesn't really matter what UNC does; many are working hard to find the cloud surrounding every silver lining! UNC has a coach who is actually a fine enough man to be compared to Roy and DES. UNC has returned to the top of the conference and NCAA. Recruits are coming back to our campus and talent is joining our team. I'm expecting to be a real contender THIS season and to enjoy one of the best recruiting classes in recent history! I love the fact that UNC simply backs out of bidding wars and then finds diamonds in the rough or portal replacements!
To me it doesn't really matter what UNC does; many are working hard to find the cloud surrounding every silver lining! UNC has a coach who is actually a fine enough man to be compared to Roy and DES. UNC has returned to the top of the conference and NCAA. Recruits are coming back to our campus and talent is joining our team. I'm expecting to be a real contender THIS season and to enjoy one of the best recruiting classes in recent history! I love the fact that UNC simply backs out of bidding wars and then finds diamonds in the rough or portal replacements!
Most of your NBA stars now days were bought and paid for by a college program to play just 1 season of college ball. Vast majority were bought and paid for BEFORE NIL. 2 programs specialized in "getting" the 1 and done star players that go on to become NBA all stars, duke and Kentucky. BOTH of those programs specialized in getting multiple 1 and done 5 star talents. Duke won it's one and only natty with freshmen leading the way for them 9 seasons ago. Have ya noticed the top shelf talent that has gone thru that program since, how many NBA all stars, odd isn't it that they only have 1 natty lead by freshmen? Ky much the same, NBA all stars left and right and their last natty, the only natty they have freshman 5 start led was with Anthony Davis?
I am a little funny, I actually do not care at all about who does what in the NBA, I care about UNC winning FULL STOP! And winning at UNC has not stopped, more nattys than either duke or Ky's freshman led bally hood teams, I will take UNC nattys over NBA all stars.
Take some time to go look in the rafters of the Smith Center. All those banners came from talented players. If we stop landing elite recruits, we stop hanging banners. Our last national championship winning team had FIVE 5-star recruits/SIX McDonald's All Americans on the roster. If something doesn't change quickly with our NIL, there is a very real chance the '25-'26 Tar Heels will have ZERO 5 star recruits or McDonald's All Americans on the roster. The last time that happened was before the McDonald's All American game existed.
Let's examine UNC the last 10 years.
"2013" 24-10 (2nd round loss)
"2014" 26-12 (Sweet 16)
"2015" 33-7 (Loss Championship) game)
"2016" 33-7 (National Champs)
"2017" 26-11 (2nd round loss)
"2018" 29-7 (2nd round loss)
"2019" 14-19
"2020" 18-11 (1st round loss)
"2021" 29-10 (loss Championship)
"2022" 20-13
"2023" 29-8 (Sweet 16)
Why do we need to pay one and done stars again!
3 final appearances and 1 national championship. Multiple ACC titles.
"2013" 24-10 (2nd round loss)
"2014" 26-12 (Sweet 16)
"2015" 33-7 (Loss Championship) game)
"2016" 33-7 (National Champs)
"2017" 26-11 (2nd round loss)
"2018" 29-7 (2nd round loss)
"2019" 14-19
"2020" 18-11 (1st round loss)
"2021" 29-10 (loss Championship)
"2022" 20-13
"2023" 29-8 (Sweet 16)
Why do we need to pay one and done stars again!
3 final appearances and 1 national championship. Multiple ACC titles.
The 2025 class looks bleak at best. You have to pay to play and Carolina refuses to bid. I don’t like the system but Carolina is failing miserably since the season ended in buying players.
Failing miserably, but will probably win 25 games this year, and still field another good team in 2025. Why overpay for one player who probably will not help us win?
Why do you intentionally ignore the fact that 5-star recruits/McDonald's All Americans have carried EVERY SINGLE SUCCESSFUL UNC TEAM for the past 40+ years? The last time a UNC team didn't have a 5-star recruit or McDonald's All American was before the McDonald's All American game existed.
We have been struggling on the recruiting trail. No matter how much you try to gaslight people, everyone can see it. It's been 18 months since we got a 5-star recruit to commit. We aren't expected to land a single 5-star recruit in the 2025 class. Heck we might not land a top 40 recruit in the 2025 class.
Something needs to change very soon.
Winning 25 games isn't a sign of success in modern college basketball schedules that can play as many 40 games in a season.
And how the heck do you figure we'll field "another good team in 2025" when there is a significant chance the '25-'26 Tar Heels will be the first UNC team in over 40 years with zero 5-stars and zero McDonald's All Americans on it?
25 wins is solid, without a proven big man or men, we could take some definite losses to teams that will simply out rebound us.
I figure 2025 good because our history says we prolly will be! We haven't been getting the stars in bunches for awhile now, and we still field some darn good teams.
I'm inclined to agree.
The other side of NIL is that we keep some fine players longer. Maybe not the future NBA stars, but excellent collage players like Armando and RJ. Without NIL some of these guys would enter the draft and, if not drafted, would be playing overseas.
Most top NIL players are still going OAD if they can, I assume, but the pressure to move on is lower knowing they can earn a whole lot if they stick around. A decade ago, sticking around got them an education. Today it can get them 5 figures, maybe more.
Roy often seemed to land high-rated players who needed development. Whereas coaches like K and Cal often ended up with players who were only in college because the NBA wasn't drafting straight from HS. So top UK and Duke players were soon in the NBA, while our top guys would join them a couple of years later.
I think that distinction still exists. There are the top players who are NBA-ready and top players who need development. The NBA read ones are the ones getting the obscene NIL deals.
If Roy could win with unpaid guys who stuck around for a few years, surely Hubert can win with well-paid guys who stick around for a few years.
Which is to say that I don't think we need the players who command these absurd NIL payoffs.
The big difference from the Roy era is that Roy would sometimes get the OAD. Because why not? If the guy wanted to play here, absolutely welcome him on board. But these days even if the guy wants to play here, if he can get double the money elsewhere he's unlikely to pick us.
WWJD, this is the best post I’ve ever seen from you and one of the best on the entire topic.
I admit I severely dislike the current player bidding wars, and do not see how it is sustainable… but time will tell on that.
You’ve hit the nail on the head suggesting UNC might be better off targeting non-NBA ready players because these players have been the best for UNC over the last 25 yrs: May, Felton, McCants, Hansborough, Lawson, Ellington, Berry, Jackson, Hicks, Meeks, Bacot, RJ were all highly rated high schoolers but had flaws which kept them from being OAD.
The truth is, talent is needed…. But more necessary, is talent that sticks around.
Except for the past 18 months we are losing every recruitment we've been in for the 5-stars that fit the Felton, May, McCants, Hansbrough, Lawson, Ellington, Berry, Jackson, Hicks, Bacot mold.
