Breaking: Five-Star UNC Basketball Target Makes Cuts, Sets Official Visits

The UNC basketball recruiting team is in the top eight for longtime Tar Heel fan Niko Bundalo.

On Monday, Niko Bundalo, a forward from Western Reserve Academy (Ohio), announced the eight finalists in his recruitment, narrowing it down from nearly three dozen interested programs. Among the finalists are UNC basketball head coach Hubert Davis and his staff, as well as UConn, Kentucky, Michigan State, Ohio State, Pitt, Texas, and Xavier.

Bundalo, currently ranked 23rd overall in the 247Sports 2025 Composite, received an offer from the UNC basketball staff in June. Having been a lifelong fan of the Tar Heels, he has scheduled official visits with half of the remaining schools on his list.

2025 4⭐️ Niko Bundalo announced he’s down to eight schools:

UConn
Texas
Kentucky
Michigan State
Xavier
Ohio State
Pitt
North Carolina

Bundalo has taken unofficial visits to Michigan State, Ohio State and Pitt thus far. #24 in the ESPN100. pic.twitter.com/zvPDFgcnwP

— 24/7 High School Hoops (@247HSHoops) August 5, 2024

The 6-foot-11, 215-pound five-star recruit will visit the reigning back-to-back national champion UConn starting on August 31. He plans to visit Michigan State the following weekend and Ohio State two weeks after that. UNC will have the final visit—for now—as Bundalo is scheduled to be in Chapel Hill on the first weekend of October.

Shortly after he revealed his top eight schools on social media, HS Top Recruits reported that Bundalo “will also be visiting Kentucky,” noting that the Wildcats “have requested to be the last visit.”

Niko Bundalo has only visited Pitt, Michigan State, and Ohio State so far, and all of these visits were unofficial. He aims to finalize his recruitment ahead of the early signing period in November.