The scandal is an issue. The perception is also an issue. UNC is also just not really the it school right now with the bigger recruits. It happens. It will come back around eventually. On the perception front, we need a couple of big recruits to come in and leave after one year to be honest. That would help. Roy's record with putting top recruits into the first round is pretty great tbh. I've seen the breakdown before and it is almost unmatched. Cal coming in hurt us as well. He is taking some recruits that would probably have come here.
Also, Roy resonates well with a lot of guys. However, I do think that for whatever reason some of whatever he is selling (which is basically what all coaches do) is not resonating with many of the young guys today. Some of this could be staff related as well. I certainly do not know. Obviously, the NCAA stuff is a pretty big factor though. That and the perception that UNC doesn't put guys into the pros (whether true or not) are the two biggest obstacles right now.
OTOH, UNC is still UNC. Plenty of great players still would love to end up here and that isn't changing. What has to change is those players wanting to come here over the other elite programs. Players are not fans like us. They like multiple schools most of the time. Then they pick one.