The UNC men’s basketball program knows how to recruit top-end talent. Just look at what new head coach Michael Malone is doing before coaching his first official game.
The Tar Heels already have 12 targets on their class of 2027 recruiting board, highlighted by eight different 5-star recruits. C.J. Rosser, Beckham Black and Nasir Anderson already visited Chapel Hill, while more are certain to follow.
On Sunday, North Carolina lost out on one of its top recruits. 5-star small forward Jordan Page, ranked 10th overall in the 2027 class (247Sports), chose Uconn over UNC.
Page had 24 different offers, but only visited the Tar Heels (September 12) and Huskies (Sept. 18). Instead of joining Malone’s vision at North Carolina, Page will play for arguably college basketball’s best coach in Dan Hurley, who has the top-ranked class. Even with Page’s commitment to another Blue Blood, UNC still has three wings in its next recruiting class with Demarcus Henry, AJ Williams and Asa Montgomery.
Small forward will also be a younger position on the Tar Heels’ 2026-27 roster, including freshmen Kevin Thomas and Maximo Adams. Jarin Stevenson and Neoklis Avdalas could also see time at the 3, along with Matt Able.
North Carolina will play its first unofficial game on Friday night, facing the USC Trojans for an exhibition game inside the old Greensboro Coliseum. After two more exhibitions against Indiana and Charlotte, UNC officially opens its season on Monday, November 2 vs. Western Carolina.
Getting Page would be a massive recruiting win for UNC, but losing out on him isn’t the biggest deal. Now, Malone can continue focusing on his already-expansive list of targets.
