UNC Basketball: Breaking down the Tar Heels’ 2020 recruiting class

Caleb Love — Saint Louis, MO

PG | 6-foot-3 | 170 lbs | No. 12 overall

Another year, another recruiting class that features one of the best point guards in the nation.

Ranked No. 2 among lead guards, Caleb Love becomes the next prolific scoring guard to grace the Carolina hardwood, following in the steps of Coby White (2018-19) and Cole Anthony (2019-20) — and, like his two predecessors, he becomes the next prospect with NBA lottery aspirations thanks to an abundance of athleticism and scoring talent.

A score-first guard in every sense, Love tears up opposing defenders with a crafty dribble-drive game and otherworldly pull-up game that extends to 30 feet. With an advanced handle, Love excels in isolation and already flashes the ability to toy with his defenders by setting up screens in the pick-and-roll. His efficiency at the basket needs to improve, but he has no problem knifing his way through defenses by utilizing great burst and crafty footwork. He’s not only an on-ball player, either, as he can run off screens and shoot off the catch, making him a clean fit in UNC’s system.

Creating scoring opportunities for his teammates is admittedly a work in progress. Similarly to Cole Anthony, Love can struggle to alternate between looking to score and looking to pass, as he can miss reads when driving to the basket and is prone to fall in love with his jumper. With that said, the 6’3” guard made strides as a facilitator in the past year, and the lethality of his pull-up and downhill game will force defenses to key in on him, thus creating easier looks for his teammates.

Where Love needs the most work at the moment is on the defensive end, where he is, in a word, unpolished. A 6’9” wingspan and positive athleticism do afford him some leeway, but his apathetic tendencies (i.e., mindless roaming and apathetic off-ball defense) and awareness on that end leave much to be desired. He’s a fiery competitor who can really lock in on occasion, but he’ll need to show that he can maintain that effort consistently.

Caleb Love’s ascension in the past few months has seen the guard vault up in both the recruiting rankings and mock drafts, with the incoming freshman looking like a surefire one-and-done who has a real shot at going in the top 10 of the 2021 NBA Draft. Dynamic ball handlers with pull-up shooting and downhill capabilities carry significant value, and if Love can reach a modicum of consistency on both ends as a freshman, his stock will only rise.