I dont know about basketball, but for football it is definitely a factor... My son is a junior 6-2 225lb LB All Conference and for 7 weeks last year he lead all of 4a in tackles. went to a few camps and during the camp a coach said that they would offer a preferred walk-on status for him, but they would rather take a kid from a high major Div 1 team that never gets to play, but has 3 years in the system hitting the weight room and learning than a raw high school player. PWO means we get no scholarship until we earn it at practice. but that means we pay for what we would normally get with a scholarship. Div 2 school now have 100-125 kids on the team and only 42 full scholarships available and they will half the scholarships to give 84 kids half scholarships and then try to "find" money from other avenues to help the kids pay.
With all that being said, I can only imagine that Basketball is even more convoluted. Less scholarships and NIL money. Potential incoming freshmen unless top 10, are probably not as good as middle of the road juniors and seniors looking to transfer. 3-4 years in a collegiate system and in the weight room and coached by college coaches trumps a lot of skinny freshmen that are big fish in small fishbowls, but when arriving in a major basketball mecca like UNC will struggle initially.
northcarolina.rivals.com
