Brandon Ingram grew up in Tar Heel country in Kinston, North Carolina about two hours away from Chapel Hill. He played for Jerry Stackhouse’s grassroots program and was often seen at North Carolina basketball games during his high school years. Roy Williams recruited him long and hard, but that didn’t stop the No. 4 overall recruit in the class of 2015 from choosing Duke, UNC’s biggest and most hated rival.
Ingram readily admitted he likely would have gone to North Carolina if not for the academic fraud scandal that seemed to hang over the program for an eternity. On Friday, that scandal finally reached its conclusion. North Carolina basketball will face no real sanctions for academic fraud after the NCAA decided the program’s wrongdoing fell outside of its jurisdiction.
With that, it feels like time to welcome UNC back to the powerbroker group in the increasingly weird world of college basketball recruiting.
North Carolina’s recruiting took a big hit during the NCAA investigation
North Carolina pulled in one of the country’s best recruiting classes in 2014. Justin Jackson, Joel Berry II, and Theo Pinson were each McDonald’s All-Americans, and together they formed the backbone of a team that would reach consecutive national championship games and win it all this past April.
At the time, UNC pulling multiple five-star recruits in one class was par for the course. Then the NCAA investigation gained steam. UNC subsequently finished with the No. 70 ranked recruiting class in 2015 when it missed out on Ingram. The next two years, big man Tony Bradley was the program’s only McDonald’s All-American and top-25 recruit.
Williams didn’t shy away from the impact the investigation had on the program during the Final Four.
And maybe I'm not as good or we're not as good, but in the first 10 years we recruited 26 McDonald's All-Americans in our first 10 years. And the last three I think we got one. I don't think I got that dumb that quickly. So it was the doubt that people could put in -- some of them directly, some of them indirectly. But still bringing up the doubt was something that was hard to deal with.
And I had one dad say, we're just going to wait until the spring and it will be over with by then, and then we'll know exactly what it was. That was two years ago. We still don't know what it is.
North Carolina’s 2016 and 2017 recruiting classes weren’t bad, per se — they finished ranked No. 14 and No. 18 in the country, respectively — but there was also a notable lack of impact talent that had been coming prior to the scandal.
North Carolina should start recruiting with the big boys again
When Nassir Little committed to North Carolina last week, it indicated the changing perception of the program to blue-chip recruits. Only a couple of years ago, recruits avoided Chapel Hill because of the uncertainty around the investigation. Now it feels like North Carolina is a safehouse within the NCAA.
Little, you may remember, is widely believed to be “Player-12” in the FBI’s investigation into widespread corruption throughout college basketball. He’s also a dynamic talent currently projected as the No. 7 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft by ESPN.
It’s easy to think that he chose UNC in part because he’s confident he can become eligible there. If he gets on the court, Little is Carolina’s highest-ranked recruit since Jackson back in 2014. He could have another highly touted friend or two joining him.
UNC is after five-star big man Simi Shittu, the No. 6-ranked player in his class, per ESPN. Shittu is reportedly eying a one-and-done season in college, with the Tar Heels and Vanderbilt as his two main suitors. Carolina is in the running for five-star guard Romeo Langford, too. Langord is the No. 5 ranked player in the class, per ESPN.
If Williams can land either player, it will be a clear signal that UNC’s recruiting prowess is back.
It remains to be seen whether UNC will target more one-and-dones
Williams has long showed a preference for recruits that will be in college more than one year. When Bradley decided to enter the NBA draft this June, he became the program’s first one-and-done since Brandan Wright in 2007.
Will the conclusion of the scandal change that? It’s hard to say. UNC knew Ingram would be a one-and-done and still recruited him as hard as possible. It’s highly likely Little is a one-and-done. Shittu and Langford should be, too.
One thing is for sure: Recruits were paying attention to this investigation. Here’s what Wendell Moore, the No. 25 player in the class of 2019, told Scout at USA Basketball junior minicamp this past weekend:
With the NCAA expected to announce its findings regarding UNC this week, Moore said he is tracking the developments.
“I pay real close attention,” said Moore. “Their main thing (they've told me) is to not worry about it and they said they should come out good and I believe in them so we'll just have to see how things come out.”
All of this is finally over for UNC now, whether the (lack of) punishment was fair or not. Don’t be surprised if blue-chip recruits once again start flocking to Chapel Hill.