NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 2020 classes prior to spring

3. North Carolina Tar Heels (5 commits)

Average Class Ranking: 3.0

North Carolina greatly struggled during this past season. There’s no other way to look at it. While losing key pieces to injury was certainly a reason for their disappointing campaign, the Tar Heels weren’t exactly clicking when healthy, either. Still, this is North Carolina we are talking about. The program will not be down for long and head coach Roy Williams is bringing in plenty of talent with his 2020 recruiting class as well.

Two-big lineups have been a staple of North Carolina basketball for the last several years under Coach Williams and that looks likely to continue. This is due to the fact that the Tar Heels’ top two commits both man the center spot in Day’Ron Sharpe (No. 14/12) and Walker Kessler (No. 17/21). It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff manages these two, but they are joining what is likely to be the most talented frontcourt in the entire country.

In the backcourt, North Carolina’s star addition is Caleb Love. A five-star point guard ranked at No. 18/18, Love will be tasked with replacing Cole Anthony in the rotation. Love is out of Saint Louis and is a dynamite two-way guard with the ability to fill it up offensively – he still needs to grow a bit as a playmaker but has substantially improved in that area over the past year. Additionally, R.J. Davis is a solid combo guard commit out of New York that could see time running the offense. He is ranked at No. 54/49.

Puff Johnson, the brother of former star Cam Johnson, is the final piece of this class and he is a four-star prospect in his own right. Johnson is the No. 48/55 recruit in the class and is a dynamic shooter with plenty of size at 6-foot-7. He could be a valuable sniper from Day 1.