UNC Basketball Bizarrely Cited Duke, Zion Williamson While Recruiting No. 1 Prospect

An embarrassing detail of North Carolina's recruitment of the nation's top prospect is making the rounds.

Utah Prep's AJ Dybantsa drives to the basket on Highland's Jemal Smith, left, and Josh Hamilton during a game at Emmanuel College in Boston on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. / Marc Vasconcellos/The Enterprise / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

North Carolina was one of the various college basketball powers spurned by No. 1 recruit AJ Dybantsa this week when the Massachusetts native committed to play at BYU. CBS Sports' Matt Norlander detailed how the nation's top prospect came to this surprising decision, including one detail sure to drive Tar Heels fans crazy.

In a pitch outlining the impact of playing for a blue-blood program like North Carolina, Hubert Davis's staff compared Dybantsa not only to program greats like guards Michael Jordan and Vince Carter, but also to forward Zion Williamson—whose one-and-done stint at Duke helped vault him into a national superstar.

"North Carolina pitched him a vision of being the next all-time scoring superstar to wear Tar Heel blue, following in the footsteps of Michael Jordan, Vince Carter and Jerry Stackhouse," Norlander writes. "They referenced how Zion Williamson's net worth skyrocketed by choosing to play at Duke instead of Clemson, laying out what one season at a blue blood did for his career in advance of being drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans, including a shoe deal worth upward of $50 million before ever playing an NBA game."

Ultimately, that pitch fell short. While Alabama and the Tar Heels were reportedly willing to meet Dybantsa's $5 million NIL asking price, he opted to play for former Phoenix Suns assistant Kevin Young—a coach who has worked with Dybantsa's basketball idol, Suns forward Kevin Durant—at the next level.

And for North Carolina—well, they made a questionable recruiting pitch highlighting their biggest rival's success in producing star players and have nothing to show for it. That likely won't show up anywhere in new football coach Bill Belichick's 400-page coaching bible.

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