Let's Talk About the 2018 Recruiting Class

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I notice that 247 has an article saying that UNC is no longer one of the schools recruiting Dotson very hard. Kansas has now pushed into the lead for him. FWIW.

That would be consistent with other indicators we've seen that Roy isn't too worried about PGs at the moment. We may not have a pure PG on our roster in 2018-19, but we will have several guys who can play point - 7th, Jalek, Black and White - so it looks like Roy feels comfortable enough not to focus on that position.

OTOH, we have no new offers to bigs in the 2017 recruiting class, and none at all (yet) for 2018. Of course it's early to get worried about 2018. And Roy is probably keeping his powder dry in 2018 until he has a better feel for who we might get in 2017.

I, on the other hand, look at no bigs (yet) in 2017 and no offers to bigs (yet) in 2018, and get a little nervous.

Looking at 247's "Targets" page, I see 3 bigs listed:

Marvin Bagley
E.J. Montgomery
David McCormack

...plus we have offers out to SFs Williamson and Hamilton.

Some think Tony will be gone by 2018-19. Luke will be a senior.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

We will get some Bigs from 2017. Huffman may be the 1st but not the last.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

We will get some Bigs from 2017. Huffman may be the 1st but not the last.

Not familiar with Huffman. Can you tell us more about him?

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

247 reports 39 commits so far in August. Only 1 of them top 50; 4 others top 100.

Sounds like a pretty slow month to me, but I have never paid attention to those numbers before, so I don't know.

 

[topps coach]

247 reports 39 commits so far in August. Only 1 of them top 50; 4 others top 100.

Sounds like a pretty slow month to me, but I have never paid attention to those numbers before, so I don't know.

Usually not going to see many commitments until late September or early October which makes me go crazy every year trying to wade thru all the rumors about players that We want

 

[DSouthr]

Not familiar with Huffman. Can you tell us more about him?

Huffman is a 2017 kid out of Raleigh area, he is a 6'9" 3 star but looks to me to have a good bit of bounce in him, kinda kid IMO is a high 3 star, raw but I like him as a guy Roy can develop. Kinda of surprised Mikey mentioned him here, may have accidently slipped some premium tid bit in there.

 

[DSouthr]

I notice that 247 has an article saying that UNC is no longer one of the schools recruiting Dotson very hard. Kansas has now pushed into the lead for him. FWIW.

That would be consistent with other indicators we've seen that Roy isn't too worried about PGs at the moment. We may not have a pure PG on our roster in 2018-19, but we will have several guys who can play point - 7th, Jalek, Black and White - so it looks like Roy feels comfortable enough not to focus on that position.

OTOH, we have no new offers to bigs in the 2017 recruiting class, and none at all (yet) for 2018. Of course it's early to get worried about 2018. And Roy is probably keeping his powder dry in 2018 until he has a better feel for who we might get in 2017.

I, on the other hand, look at no bigs (yet) in 2017 and no offers to bigs (yet) in 2018, and get a little nervous.

Looking at 247's "Targets" page, I see 3 bigs listed:

Marvin Bagley
E.J. Montgomery
David McCormack

...plus we have offers out to SFs Williamson and Hamilton.

Some think Tony will be gone by 2018-19. Luke will be a senior.

Bagley, amazing amazing talent, could be the best talent to come down the pike since Anthony Davis and unfortunately I think he ends up playing for the same school Davis played for, Kalipari may need to request a increased salary cap for this one. It seems WWW is already doing a double check on his family tree to find out how he is related to Bagley, rumor is cousins or nephew, WWW doesn't really care as long snags the kid.

McCormack, now that is one big ole youngin, what is he like 6'10 and 290 and not as much needing to lose weight as you may think, I see him playing in college around 270-275lbs. Still raw but not nearly as raw as Joel James was coming to us.

Fun fact, did ya know mountverd has 3 5star FRONT court guys on their roster for next season (EJ Montgomery being just one of them)? I sure wish UNC had a committed player that could play with those 3 5 star front court guys that will be at mountverd this coming season...

 

[Archer2]

Bagley, amazing amazing talent, could be the best talent to come down the pike since Anthony Davis and unfortunately I think he ends up playing for the same school Davis played for, Kalipari may need to request a increased salary cap for this one. It seems WWW is already doing a double check on his family tree to find out how he is related to Bagley, rumor is cousins or nephew, WWW doesn't really care as long snags the kid.

McCormack, now that is one big ole youngin, what is he like 6'10 and 290 and not as much needing to lose weight as you may think, I see him playing in college around 270-275lbs. Still raw but not nearly as raw as Joel James was coming to us.

Fun fact, did ya know mountverd has 3 5star FRONT court guys on their roster for next season (EJ Montgomery being just one of them)? I sure wish UNC had a committed player that could play with those 3 5 star front court guys that will be at mountverd this coming season...

Especially a 6-7 PG/SG who can score as well as drop the dime and who has an infectious personality which might entice others to matriculate to Chapel Hill. If only...

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Fun fact, did ya know mountverd has 3 5star FRONT court guys on their roster for next season (EJ Montgomery being just one of them)? I sure wish UNC had a committed player that could play with those 3 5 star front court guys that will be at mountverd this coming season...

Hmmm. Let's get offers out to those guys. Or some of them, at least.

 

[DSouthr]

Especially a 6-7 PG/SG who can score as well as drop the dime and who has an infectious personality which might entice others to matriculate to Chapel Hill. If only...

Yeah yeah, a guy kinda just like that, maybe he could "leaky" out on fast breaks! LOL

 

[Archer2]

Yeah yeah, a guy kinda just like that, maybe he could "leaky" out on fast breaks! LOL

Yeah, we might just be "back in Black" if that happens.

 

[Ned Cota]

Those 3 bigs should be saying "It don't matter if you're Black or White", I'm coming to Carolina!

 

[Tom79]

Huffman is a 2017 kid out of Raleigh area, he is a 6'9" 3 star but looks to me to have a good bit of bounce in him, kinda kid IMO is a high 3 star, raw but I like him as a guy Roy can develop. Kinda of surprised Mikey mentioned him here, may have accidently slipped some premium tid bit in there.

David, not premium at all, we have been on Huffman for some time. Tough choice, come to Chapel Hill, or go play over in Rawleewood with Gilbert Gottfried's son...tough choice. After all, Sienna is such a powerhouse!

 

[DSouthr]

David, not premium at all, we have been on Huffman for some time. Tough choice, come to Chapel Hill, or go play over in Rawleewood with Gilbert Gottfried's son...tough choice.

Yeah, we have been talking to him for most of the spring & summer, just was not sure if premium had dropped any "official" word of where this is.

 

[Tom79]

Thing I like about him is kinda tough, can do inside work, decent size already, some in our fan base will complain that he is a 3*...one that, IMO, coach can coach up to a 4* very easily, and be a 3-4 year kinda player...let him be a 3* and let others overlook him.

 

[gunslingerdick]

Thing I like about him is kinda tough, can do inside work, decent size already, some in our fan base will complain that he is a 3*...one that, IMO, coach can coach up to a 4* very easily, and be a 3-4 year kinda player...let him be a 3* and let others overlook him.

If he's a 3* player, I couldn't imagine he's an early entry candidate for the NBA. He'll need all 4 years for max development. I don't know how many 3 star guys have ever made the NBA but I can't imagine it's many.

I'm ok with that. Because I don't care all that much about our guys furthering their basketball careers in the NBA. I mean, if that's something they want then I hope they achieve it. But from a fan's standpoint, I care about what they can do for our team/program. Can a 3 star be a good piece of the puzzle? Sure. But Luke was a 4 star, I believe. And look what he was able to produce as a freshman. Not much. So if we bring in a 3 star prospect, we have to know it will be at least 2 years before he offers much at all. I had not heard of him until I saw his name in this thread. I've watched some videos of him and I like his size (seems bigger than 6'9", 230 and he seems nimble enough. I love his aggressive nature too. He doesn't have explosive athleticism. But he's no plodder either.

So my opinion here is that I'd be fine to sign him. But that's still not gonna get it done. we need a high 4 star or a 5 star for 2017 because of our front court depth issues. We need a guy that can play right away.

 

[DSouthr]

If he's a 3* player, I couldn't imagine he's an early entry candidate for the NBA. He'll need all 4 years for max development. I don't know how many 3 star guys have ever made the NBA but I can't imagine it's many.

I'm ok with that. Because I don't care all that much about our guys furthering their basketball careers in the NBA. I mean, if that's something they want then I hope they achieve it. But from a fan's standpoint, I care about what they can do for our team/program. Can a 3 star be a good piece of the puzzle? Sure. But Luke was a 4 star, I believe. And look what he was able to produce as a freshman. Not much. So if we bring in a 3 star prospect, we have to know it will be at least 2 years before he offers much at all. I had not heard of him until I saw his name in this thread. I've watched some videos of him and I like his size (seems bigger than 6'9", 230 and he seems nimble enough. I love his aggressive nature too. He doesn't have explosive athleticism. But he's no plodder either.

So my opinion here is that I'd be fine to sign him. But that's still not gonna get it done. we need a high 4 star or a 5 star for 2017 because of our front court depth issues. We need a guy that can play right away.

Luke Maye was a 3 star when he committed to us but I believe he was considered more on the weaker end of the 3star level. He had some offers, outside of us and I think it was Clemson that also offered his others were not major programs, as best I can recall.

 

[Tom79]

Smaller D1's were on Luke but he wanted to attend UNC for obvious reasons.
We should always have one or two kids that can come in and be solid contributors...in this case it is more urgent, as 'slinger alludes to, we need depth in the front court.
I am hopeful 'ol Roy may just get another or two, '17 is way far from over.

 

[RoseHeel]

We got a commitment from CG Coby White. Along with 6'7 Rechon Black, who may not even be done growing, is also a PG but may be a F by the time he gets to UNC.

Needless to say, I wouldn't worry about Dotson. It was clear he wasn't committing any time soon, and Coby swooped in on the opportunity. For once, we got the sweet end of the deal, seeing that White seems to be the better player of the 2.

We also have offers to SF Jairus Hamilton, SF Zion Willamson, and SG Romeo Langford.

Hamilton looks to be our next best shot as he seems to be a favorite for UNC atm. Very little chance Langford comes to UNC. Not really sure why this offer even came about.

There's far too many bigs in the Top 20 alone for us to not snag at least one. I really hope our next batch of offers go to some big guys.

 

[Tom79]

Rose, we better grab one or two in the '17 class, the bigs in '18 are fewer. I'd take one in each class but honestly, we need two to close out the class of '17...
As to '18 we have a couple of really good kids/players, that you mentioned, in Rechon and Coby. Both can play at least two positions easily, if not more. I'd love to get Hamilton and Zion, good grief the kid is a player and he is showing UNC some love. Those kids with Tony? Could be real nice but again we need at least one more big in '17 if not two. Many of us are in agreement there.

Just, I'll be danged who it will be, hope 'ol Roy can work it.

 

[RoseHeel]

Rose, we better grab one or two in the '17 class, the bigs in '18 are fewer. I'd take one in each class but honestly, we need two to close out the class of '17...
As to '18 we have a couple of really good kids/players, that you mentioned, in Rechon and Coby. Both can play at least two positions easily, if not more. I'd love to get Hamilton and Zion, good grief the kid is a player and he is showing UNC some love. Those kids with Tony? Could be real nice but again we need at least one more big in '17 if not two. Many of us are in agreement there.

Just, I'll be danged who it will be, hope 'ol Roy can work it.

In the ESPN rankings, 10 of the top 20 guys in the 2018 class are listed as PF/C at 6'8 or above. In 2017, there are only 6 of them in the Top 20.

But I definitely agree that we need at least one big in 2017. One would be okay, but two would be better.

If we end up having a hypothetical 5 man class (Fetlon, Platek, Randolph + 2 Bigs), that leaves 1 open spot assuming no one leaves early. However, I think Bradley may only be around for 2 years, which would give us 2 spots in 2018 with White & Black on board. Assuming 1 goes to Hamilton who's favoring us pretty hard, that 2018 class would be golden if we got a top 20 big to finalize it with.

I'd personally rather have a Experienced Bradley and a Top 20 Big Man vs. 2 Raw, Top 20 Big Men.

 

[RobJones__]

All 3 of those front court players for Montverde have recently transferred out of the program.

All 3 heading to different schools.

 

[DSouthr]

All 3 of those front court players for Montverde have recently transferred out of the program.

All 3 heading to different schools.

Oh, OK, thanks, wonder who they will have to replace them with?

 

[DSouthr]

In the ESPN rankings, 10 of the top 20 guys in the 2018 class are listed as PF/C at 6'8 or above. In 2017, there are only 6 of them in the Top 20.

But I definitely agree that we need at least one big in 2017. One would be okay, but two would be better.

If we end up having a hypothetical 5 man class (Fetlon, Platek, Randolph + 2 Bigs), that leaves 1 open spot assuming no one leaves early. However, I think Bradley may only be around for 2 years, which would give us 2 spots in 2018 with White & Black on board. Assuming 1 goes to Hamilton who's favoring us pretty hard, that 2018 class would be golden if we got a top 20 big to finalize it with.

I'd personally rather have a Experienced Bradley and a Top 20 Big Man vs. 2 Raw, Top 20 Big Men.

That is EXACTLY why I do not see the need for Randolph, if he is not in that 6'7" range, some one shared he was actually 6'3.5 or 6'4.5" when recently measured. Sorry but that is another 2 guard, we already are to the brim with 2 guards folks, I just do not see us needing another one. And even if he could play the wing, Hamilton or Zion and especially Zion, I would MUCH MUCH MUCH rather have.

Having said that, I do expect Justin to enter the next draft, right now I do NOT think Joel will as long as he is not considered a 1st round pick and right now he isn't, that could change but as of right now that is the case from the mocks.

As for Tony Bradley, I think we all want to see him play, want to see how he adapts as a freshman but right now I am thinking in terms of 3-4yrs with us. I see him right now as a kid that is on the cusp of being able to be a 1st rounder but maybe falling just a little short, sort of like Justin Jackson, almost but not quite there for his first couple seasons with much higher expectations as a jr.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Oh, OK, thanks, wonder who they will have to replace them with?

I notice they have a guy named Bruno Fernando. 6'10, 225, ranked #66 in the 2017 class. Unless he transferred too.

 

[RobJones__]

I notice they have a guy named Bruno Fernando. 6'10, 225, ranked #66 in the 2017 class. Unless he transferred too.

He's a big bull. Not nearly as skilled as the other three listed but still a decent prospect.

BTW, I think you meant to say he's ranked #94 nationally. We like to use the Rivals rankings around here.

 

[RoseHeel]

That is EXACTLY why I do not see the need for Randolp, w, if he is not in that 6'7" range, some one shared he was actually 6'3.5 or 6'4.5" when recently measured. Sorry but that is another 2 guard, we already are to the brim with 2 guards folks, I just do not see us needing another one. And even if he could play the wing, Hamilton or Zion and especially Zion, I would MUCH MUCH MUCH rather have.

Having said that, I do expect Justin to enter the next draft, right now I do NOT think Joel will as long as he is not considered a 1st round pick and right now he isn't, that could change but as of right now that is the case from the mocks.

As for Tony Bradley, I think we all want to see him play, want to see how he adapts as a freshman but right now I am thinking in terms of 3-4yrs with us. I see him right now as a kid that is on the cusp of being able to be a 1st rounder but maybe falling just a little short, sort of like Justin Jackson, almost but not quite there for his first couple seasons with much higher expectations as a jr.

He's listed at 6'6 on most websites that I've seen, and ESPN recently changed him to SF. If it came to it, I'd imagine Roy could use him as a G/F like Theo. He's not necessarily vital to the recruiting class, but he certainly doesn't hurt it either. And concerning recruiting, Until some changes in momentum, we shouldn't be too keen on turning away good players IMHO.

We'll have Williams, Robinson, and Platek on board so far, as Woods will probably be playing PG. And Platek probably won't be seeing serious minutes at least until his So. season. Plus, by the time Williamson/Hamilton get to College, JJ and Theo will have graduated, giving us room for all of them.

Also, I would not bank on Justin staying for 4 years or Bradley staying 3. As much as I'd want that to be the case, I'm pretty sure Justin wanted to leave last year. And probably would have, had his stock been decent. There's a good chance that Joel and Justin could be gone by next year. And expecting a 5 * C to be here for 3-4 years is not a good bet, unless we're expecting an underachievement, which I'm personally not. Certainly doesn't paint the prettiest picture with recruiting anyway. I'd expect 2 years at the current moment but would gladly take more.