Wednesday's Leftovers: UNC, Pitt, Nimari Burnett update

Nick Lucero/Rivals.com

Several pressing recruiting questions have spilled over into this week’s Wednesday’s Leftovers. Analyst Corey Evans addresses North Carolina’s potential star-studded class, the leaders for Javonte Brown-Ferguson and Nimari Burnett and Pitt’s lead guard recruitment.

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2020 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position

2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Position

It looks as if North Carolina will want to add two more players before they move on to the 2021 class. Caleb Love and RJ Davis create a dynamic backcourt, and Walker Kessler and Day’Ron Sharpe will be one of the best frontline tandems in the sport next season. Where the Tar Heels go next should supply even greater offensive firepower to their backcourt with a scoring guard and a bigger wing.

Bryce Thompson and Kerwin Walton could potentially be fighting over the same scholarship. Walton just visited Chapel Hill over the weekend and will head to Miami and Cal the next two weeks before deciding. Thompson is done with his visits, and while UNC has remained strong in its pursuit, Kansas and Oklahoma may be difficult to beat.

On the wing, Ziaire Williams does not seem to be in much of a rush to make his college decision. North Carolina is the lone program not on the West Coast that is involved with him. Stanford and USC are among his other top suitors. Puff Johnson fits the mold of what the Tar Heels are searching for, too, and his visit to UNC this weekend could steer him away from Arizona. The Wildcats are the leader, but Johnson has always been intrigued by following in his brother’s footsteps and playing for Roy Williams.

Thompson and Williams would be the dream scenario for how the Heels fill out their 2020 class, but Walton and Johnson would also do.

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If things ended right now, it would be UConn. Javonte Brown-Ferguson, a high-end four-star prospect in the 2021 class, has taken official visits to Kansas, Texas A&M and UConn. KU’s chances are very, very slim, which brings us to the Aggies and the Huskies.

He is very good friends with Texas A&M freshmen Cashius McNeilly and Emanuel Miller, thanks to their Canadian basketball upbringing, but UConn’s proximity to his home might separate the Huskies. Each program has a major need in the frontcourt and, at one point in time, the Aggies had the large lead. That seems to have dissipated, with momentum on the side of UConn.

Expect a college commitment from Brown-Ferguson within the next week and for the Canadian to reclassify into the 2020 class, which would put him on a college campus next fall.

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