By R.L. Bynum
While Drake Powell continues to rise in the ESPN rankings impressively, the other five players committed to Carolina’s men’s and women’s basketball teams all dropped with the latest list.
ESPN has changed Powell from a four-star to a five-star and elevated him from 34th in the Class of 2024 to 12th.
The 6–5, 185-pound senior at Northwood High School in Pittsboro, who ESPN ranks as the No. 3 shooting guard in his class, averaged 16.6 points and 10 rebounds a game at the EYBL Peach Jam to earn second-team honors. At Northwood last season, he averaged 18.6 points, seven rebounds and 3.9 assists in leading the Chargers to a 28–3 record and the state 3-A championship game.
In the new rankings, though, ESPN still classifies Ian Jackson as a five-star but has dropped the 6–4, 180 shooting guard from 12th to 17th. Jackson has transferred from Cardinal Hayes High School in The Bronx, N.Y., to join Overtime Elite and will play his senior season as a member of Our Saviour Lutheran.
ESPN dropped power forward James Brown, a four-star recruit, even further, from 45th to 68th. The Chicago star will play his senior season at Link Academy in Branson, Mo. Last season, playing for St. Rita High School, he averaged 11 points and nine rebounds.
ESPN dropped all three recruits committed to the UNC women’s basketball program in the latest ranking, but none fell by much, not nearly as far as either Jackson or Brown.
Five-star 6–5 center Blanca Thomas, a Charlotte Catholic High School senior, went from 26th to 29th in ESPN’s Class of 2024 rankings. ESPN ranks four-star 5–11 guard Jordan Zubrich, a senior at Mountain Iron-Buhl High School in Minnesota, 68th after having her 65 on the previous rankings.
Five-star Class of 2025 point guard Lanie Grant slipped from 20th to 22nd. She enters her junior season at James River High School in Virginia after playing for the United States’ gold-medal-winning team at the Women’s Americas Championship.
Alyssa Ustby is an excellent example of why you should never view recruiting rankings, particularly for girls players, as a definitive assessment of players since ESPN didn’t rank her in the top 100 of her class.
UNC men’s roster
| No. | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | Returnees | | | |
| 4 | Sr. | RJ Davis | PG | 6–0 | 175 |
| 7 | Soph. | Seth Trimble | PG | 6–3 | 192 |
| 13 | Soph. | Jalen Washington | 4 | 6–10 | 225 |
| 5 | 5th year | Armando Bacot | 5 | 6–11 | 235 |
| Incoming transfers | |||||
| 3 | 5th year | Cormac Ryan (Notre Dame) | 3 | 6–5 | 195 |
| 8 | 5th year | Paxton Wojcik (Brown) | 3 | 6–5 | 200 |
| 55 | Junior | Harrison Ingram (Stanford) | 3 | 6–7 | 230 |
| 32 | Junior | James Okonkwo (West Virginia) | 4 | 6–8 | 240 |
| 24 | Senior | Jae’Lyn Withers (Louisville) | 4 | 6–9 | 220 |
| ESPN rank | Incoming freshmen | ||||
| 2 | 10 (Class of 2024) | Elliot Cadeau (5 star) | PG | 6–0 | 175 |
| 1 | 64 (Class of 2023 | Zayden High (4 star) | 4 | 6–9 | 225 |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 14 | Creighton Lebo | PG | 6–1 | 180 | |
| 22 | Rob Landry | 2 | 6–4 | 190 | |
| 34 | Dewe Farris | 4 | 6–7 | 210 | |
| | | Eligibility over | | | |
| | Leaky Black | 3 | 6–9 | 205 | |
| | Pete Nance | 4 | 6–11 | 230 | |
| Outgoing transfers | |||||
| Caleb Love (Arizona) | 2 | 6–4 | 200 | ||
| D’Marco Dunn (Penn State) | 3 | 6–5 | 190 | ||
| Dontrez Styles (Georgetown) | 4 | 6–6 | 210 | ||
| Tyler Nickel (Va. Tech) | 3 | 6–7 | 220 | ||
| Justin McKoy (Hawaii) | 4 | 6–8 | 220 | ||
| Puff Johnson (Penn State) | 3 | 6–8 | 200 | ||
| Will Shaver (UAB) | 5 | 6–10 | 260 | ||
| ESPN rank | 2024–25 freshman class | ||||
| 12 | Drake Powell (5 star) | 2 | 6–5 | 185 | |
| 17 | Ian Jackson (5 star) | 2 | 6–4 | 180 | |
| 68 | James Brown (4 star) | 5 | 6–8 | 225 |
UNC women’s roster
| Year | No. | Returning players | Pos. | Height | |
| RS Soph. | 11 | Kayla McPherson | PG | 5–8 | |
| Senior | 25 | Deja Kelly | PG | 5–8 | |
| Soph. | 2 | Paulina Paris | PG | 5–9 | |
| Senior | 1 | Alyssa Ustby | F | 6–1 | |
| Senior | 31 | Anya Poole | F | 6–2 | |
| RS Soph. | 13 | Teonni Key | F | 6–4 | |
| Senior | 0 | Alexandra Zelaya | F | 6–4 | |
| Year | No. | Incoming transfers | |||
| Soph. | 24 | Indya Nivar (Stanford) | G | 5–10 | |
| Senior | 20 | Lexi Donarski (Iowa State) | G | 6–0 | |
| Junior | 5 | Maria Gakdeng (Boston College) | C | 6–3 | |
| ESPN rank | No. | Incoming freshmen | Pos. | Height | |
| 15 | Sydney Barker (walk-on) | PG | 5–6 | ||
| 30th | 10 | Reniya Kelly (4 star; Alabama POY) | PG | 5–7 | |
| 4 | Laila Hull (Indiana POY) | W | 6–1 | ||
| 90th | 22 | RyLee Grays (4 star; Texas POY) | F | 6–3 | |
| 4th | 21 | Ciera Toomey (5 star; Pa. POY) | F | 6–4 | |
| ESPN rank | Class of 2024 | ||||
| 29th | Blanca Thomas (5 star) | C | 6–5 | ||
| 68th | Jordan Zubich (4 star) | G | 5–11 | ||
| ESPN rank | Class of 2025 | ||||
| 22nd | Lanie Grant (5 star) | G | 5–9 | ||
| College careers over | Pos. | Height | |||
| Eva Hodgson | PG | 5–10 | |||
| Ariel Young | W | 6–1 | |||
| Malu Tshitenge | F | 6–3 | |||
| Outgoing transfers | |||||
| Kennedy Todd-Williams (Ole Miss) | W | 6–0 | |||
| Destiny Adams (Rutgers) | F | 6–3 |
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