Bad Sign for UNC Basketball in Two High-Profile Recruiting Races
The UNC basketball staff has already fallen short to fellow blueblood Kentucky in a pair of 2025 battles.
Last season, the UNC basketball program welcomed forward Caleb Wilson from Holy Innocents Episcopal School (Ga.) and secured a spot in the five-star senior’s top 12 lists in late July. Additionally, in the 2025 recruiting scene, four-star guard Acaden Lewis from Sidwell Friends School (D.C.) named the Tar Heels among his top four schools, alongside Duke, UConn, and Kentucky, which he shared over the weekend.
Regarding Kentucky, it seems that Mark Pope and his team are gaining momentum with both Wilson and Lewis. Notably, the Wildcats recently outperformed the Tar Heels and others to secure two five-star recruits: center Malachi Moreno from Great Crossing High School (Ky.) and guard Jasper Johnson from Overtime Elite (Ga.).
With this in mind, Johnson could play a significant role in helping Kentucky potentially recruit both Wilson and Lewis, adding to the only 2025 class that currently includes multiple composite five-star players.
On Tuesday evening, following Wilson’s weekend visit to the Wildcats and recent social media activity suggesting a potential package deal involving Johnson, Moreno, Wilson, and Lewis, GREENLIGHT MEDIA provided an update on the situation. This post featured a photo of Lewis and Johnson wearing Kentucky basketball jerseys during their visit to Lexington earlier this summer.
A recent tweet has sent SHOCKWAVES out to the CBB recruiting landscape as Kentucky is rumored to combine the forces of Jasper Johnson, Acaden Lewis & Caleb Wilson 🤯🔥
Having the No. 1 player in D.C, GA & KY would be quite the feat for HC Mark Pope’s first crack at the… pic.twitter.com/0LMINqHffA
— GREENLIGHT MEDIA (@atlgreenlight) September 17, 2024
Johnson reposted GREENLIGHT MEDIA’s summary, adding the following public message to Wilson specifically:
Come on @CalebWilson2025 . We missed in AAU. Let’s go crazy in front of the best fans in the country. BBN. “ KY til I Die”💙💙 https://t.co/Hip4IUqw3N
— Jasper Johnson (@BruhJasperJ) September 18, 2024
Wilson then chimed in with blue and white heart emojis, not to mention the following “my guy” response with a “100” emoji:
My guy💯 https://t.co/mlK2cAoroN
— Caleb Wilson (@CalebWilson2025) September 18, 2024
Moreover, Caleb Wilson tagged Acaden Lewis with an eyeball emoji, to which Lewis responded with this post:
— Acaden Lewis (@AcadenLewis) September 18, 2024
There are currently no 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions for either Wilson or Lewis, and neither has announced a decision date.
However, it appears that the likelihood of UNC basketball landing either of these highly regarded prospects diminishes with each new update from Johnson, Wilson, and Lewis.