Announcement Watch: What's To Know About D'Marco Dunn
Roy Williams has been watching D'Marco Dunn for months. We will find out Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 P.M. EST if the North Carolina Head Coach will get his wish, and Dunn will join Dontrez Styles as the second commit of the 2021 class.
Williams extended an offer to Dunn on May 17, and in just over four months has put in enough work to be considered the leader in the clubhouse by many. Carolina owns all five FutureCasts on the 6-foot-3 guard out of Fayetteville.
Dunn has narrowed his list to seven schools. If the Tar Heels do get their man they will have to beat out Arizona, Clemson, Georgia, Louisville, Texas, and Vanderbilt.
Dunn was a relative unknown until this past winter in which he had a huge junior season at Westover Senior High School. His squad was 30-0, and headed to the State 3A Championship Game before the season was cancelled because of COVID-19.
That pain was soothed somewhat for Dunn when word began to spread about the high scoring guard, and his recruitment subsequently took off. His offer sheet maxed out at more than 30 schools. Of the seven schools that remain, the Commodores were the first to offer in February. The rest issued invites in May except for Georgia who stepped up to the plate in July.
There are some interesting relationships involved in this cycle. Dunn is originally from Arizona. He began his high career in that state and still has numerous family members who live there. Vanderbilt is coached by Jerry Stackhouse and Dunn's high school coach is George Stackhouse, who's cousins with Vandy's head man.
Rivals' National Analyst Eric Bossi understands the dynamics at play. He has already written about Dunn twice this week. He had this to say about him in his "Twitter Tuesday" piece.
"Before moving to Fayetteville (N.C.) Westover for his junior year of high school, the 6-foot-4 senior attended school in Tucson so he’s got ties from coast to coast. As I wrote during Monday’s Starting Five, I really see this one coming down to North Carolina, Arizona and Vanderbilt as the primary contenders. My pick to win is the Tar Heels," Bossi wrote.
Just as Dunn's recruitment went up the charts, so did his place among the elite of the 2021 group. Dunn went from an unranked player in the spring to a current four-star prospect. Dunn just didn't slide into Rivals Top 150, he entered with a bang and jumped straight into the top one-hundred. Bossi says whoever gets him will be adding a valuable offensive piece.
"As a prospect, the thought is that Dunn will be a floor-stretching wing and a potential three-point sniper in college," he wrote. "He’s got solid size, isn’t a bad athlete and has shown the ability to make some things happen off the dribble. Primarily, though, it’s that jump shot that I would expect to be his calling card. When he’s on with that, he opens up the floor for big men and drivers and can really help an offense be more efficient."
If the Tar Heels do indeed add Dunn to go along with Styles, it would give Williams the two-highest ranked players in the state, and a pair of top one-hundred talents. Sytles comes in at No. 58.
Stay tuned to Tar Heel Illustrated as we cover Dunn's announcement and the aftermath, as well as what else could be in store in this recruiting class.