Not done yet? Meet 3 recruits UNC football is trying to flip before early signing day
Could UNC football add even more players to the nation’s No. 8 overall recruiting class?
Even though the Division I college football early signing period is just eight days away, recent coaching changes across the ACC have given coach Mack Brown and his staff an outside shot at doing just that.
Five-star defensive lineman Travis Shaw, five-star offensive tackle Zach Rice and nine four-star recruits headline a 16-man class of 2022 that, if results hold, would give Brown his best class since returning to UNC as well as one of the best in school history, per 247Sports’ team composite recruiting rankings.
While those players gear up to sign binding national letters of intent next week, here’s a look at three more 2022 recruits – all of whom are verbally committed to other programs – that UNC could still land.
Of note: the Tar Heels have already lost out one lingering target, as four-star Virginia tight end Benji Gosnell verbally committed to Virginia Tech and newly hired coach Brent Pry on Saturday afternoon.
Gosnell, a dynamic athlete who played his first three seasons in state at Pilot Mountain’s East Surry High School, was being pursued by the Hokies and the Tar Heels after decommitting from Ohio State in July.
Read more: Before joining UNC and N.C. State, can these four-star recruits win state championships?
Four-star IOL Gunner Givens
High school: Lord Botetourt High School (Daleville, Va.)
Rankings: No. 7 in Virginia, No. 12 at position, No. 178 overall (247Sports composite)
The skinny: Givens included UNC among his six finalists before committing to Virginia Tech in July. Once the Hokies fired Justin Fuente in November, though, he started reassessing his options. That process included Givens unofficially visiting Chapel Hill and taking in UNC’s Nov. 20 home win over Wofford.
The Tar Heels ramped up interest during the December contact period by sending Brown to meet with Givens and his high school coaches at Lord Botetourt last week. At 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds, Givens is an intriguing “jumbo athlete” who could play offensive lineman or defensive lineman at a college level.
UNC’s top contender here is, naturally, Virginia Tech, which hired former Penn State defensive coordinator Pry to replace Fuente last week. Pry promised fans that his staff will “work our tails off” to revamp the Hokies’ in-state recruiting efforts, and he’s already delivered on that promise with Gosnell.
Read more: Mack Brown 'can't wait' to finalize UNC football's 2022 recruiting class. Here's why
Three-star ATH Will Hardy
After speaking with @CoachBateman, I am blessed to receive an offer from the University of North Carolina!! pic.twitter.com/ttd1s1dMoe
— Will Hardy (@willhardy_5) August 5, 2021
High school: Greater Atlanta Christian School (Norcross, Ga.)
Rankings: No. 84 in Georgia, No. 59 at position, No. 821 overall (247Sports composite)
The skinny: Hardy has been verbally committed to Virginia since April, but UNC remained in touch over the summer and offered him a scholarship in August. Communication continued through the fall, but Hardy’s November official visit to UVa. solidified his commitment to the Cavaliers, Wahoos247 reported.
But Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall’s unexpected resignation last week changed things for Hardy. The Cavaliers haven’t hired a new coach as of Tuesday, and InsideCarolina reported Monday that Hardy, who was “shocked” by Mendenhall’s stepping down after six seasons, is now “looking to officially visit UNC.”
Hardy is 6-2, 190-pound athlete whose statistics bordered on the absurd this fall. Playing primarily as a wide receiver and safety, Hardy caught 40 passes for 707 yards and seven touchdowns on offense; recorded 133 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, eight interceptions, three blocked field goals, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery on defense; and amassed 1,129 all-purpose yards over 11 games.
Read more: Can UNC football add to its crop of 2 four-star defensive back recruits in its 2022 class?
Three-star WR Wesley Grimes
High school: Millbrook High School (Raleigh)
Rankings: No. 18 in North Carolina, No. 115 at position, No. 774 overall (247Sports composite)
The skinny: Wake Forest’s long-term contract extension with coach Dave Clawson ensured that Grimes and the rest of the Demon Deacons’ 2022 class wouldn’t get caught up in this year’s carousel. Grimes has been committed to the ACC Atlantic Division champion Demon Deacons since early September.
Grimes’ excellent play as a senior, though, has attracted further Power Five attention. Former finalist N.C. State has stayed in touch, and Notre Dame offered him in October. After landing four-star 2022 wide receiver Andre Greene Jr., UNC also jumped into the mix with a scholarship offer on Nov. 29.
The 6-2 receiver is rock solid in his Wake Forest commitment by all indications, but he’s still a name worth monitoring through the early signing period. When you catch 87 passes for 1,594 yards and 26 touchdowns across 13 games in the state’s highest classification, other Power Fives tend to notice.
Read more: Wesley Grimes is one of the state's top senior receivers. Who's making a late recruiting push?
Worth noting
UNC offered defensive backs Sherrod Covil, Daylen Everette and Jeadyn Lukus during the 2022 cycle before ultimately losing out to coach Dabo Swinney’s Clemson staff on all three four-star recruits.
But now, the Tar Heels and other programs are waiting to see if the departure of longtime Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables, introduced as Oklahoma’s new coach on Monday, has any impact on the decisions of Covil, Everette and Lukus. All three have been verbally committed since summer.
Covil, a four-star safety who plays in Virginia’s 757 area, had UNC as one of his top four schools before committing to Clemson in June. Four-star cornerbacks Lukus and Everette – the nation’s No. 35 and No. 36 overall recruits, respectively – both took UNC official visits and had the Tar Heels among their finalists before committing to Clemson in July (the latter after a much-discussed pump faking of a UNC hat).
Given Clemson’s national pedigree, any program flipping any of those three defensive backs before the early signing period seems like a long shot (unless Venables’ Sooners hop into mix). For what it’s worth, Covil and Everette both had interesting Twitter reactions to Venables’ departure over the weekend.
Read more: How Dré Bly, Mack Brown and Tony Grimes re-established UNC football's 757 recruiting pipeline
Chapel Fowler is a recruiting reporter for The Fayetteville Observer and the USA TODAY Network. Reach him by email at cfowler@gannett.com or on Twitter at @chapelfowler.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC football targeting 3 recruits to flip before early signing day
