UNC Basketball loses another big recruiting battle against Blueblood

The UNC basketball team's 2025 recruiting class is still empty following the announcement of Jasper Johnson, the five-star guard from Overtime Elite (Ga.), on Thursday afternoon.

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Johnson, a 6-foot-4, 175-pound left-hander ranked No. 10 in the 247Sports 2025 Composite, is committed to recruiting players from Kentucky. The Lexington, Kentucky native chose the Wildcats over the Tar Heels and three other finalists: Alabama, Louisville and Arkansas.

He has been at the top of UNC's basketball wish list since receiving an offer from Chapel Hill last September. Jasper Johnson visited the Tar Heels in early February on an official visit that coincided with their home win over archrival Duke at the Dean E. Smith Center. He returned for an unofficial visit the last weekend in June.

Although fourth-year head coach Hubert Davis and his Tar Heels have brought in several quality additions through the transfer portal this year, they have not been able to prevail in the race for the best players since Ian Jackson, who is currently preparing for his freshman campaign, crowned the program's class of 2024 with his Pledge of Allegiance in January 2023.

However, Davis and Co. still have enough time to put together a considerable haul in 2025.

Only four of the cycle's top 50 young players have announced their decision. But now two of those awards belong to the Wildcats, because Malachi Moreno, the center from Great Crossing High School (Kentucky), chose new Kentucky head coach Mark Pope over UNC and others three weeks ago.

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