Carolina Basketball Extends Offers to Trio of 2025 Prospects

North Carolina offered Indiana Elite duo, Malachi Moreno and Braylon Mullins, Monday afternoon, along with Team Takeover shooting guard, Derek Dixon. The invites came one day after the conclusion of the live period that occurred over the weekend.

Hubert Davis and Sean May were in attendance in Bryan, Texas to watch Indiana Elite at the Adidas 3SSB event in Bryan, Texas. They went undefeated over the weekend, and closed out the spring sessions with a perfect 13-0 record. They along with Team Loaded out of Virginia had the only perfect record on the Adidas circuit.

Davis also was in Indianapolis for the EYBL. Takeover won three of four, and also finish the spring with the best record on their circuit at 9-1.

The offers also makes sense when one takes into account that this was the only live period of the spring. In the past there have normally been two weeks in which coaches could evaluate grassroots talent.

This makes 12 total offers in the 2025 Class for North Carolina, but don't be surprised if there are more before shoe circuit championships in July.

The offer to Malachi Moreno was certainly expected. The UNC coaching staff has been kicking the tires on Moreno since the winter, and has been in contact ever since. When we spoke with him earlier in the month at the Adidas event in Birmingham, Moreno stated North Carolina had been in contact, and he was hoping to get to get to Chapel Hill.

When asked about future visits Moreno answered, "I’ll probably go back to Kentucky, Arkansas. I’ll probably make another trip back to Indiana, Notre Dame, Iowa. I’ll probably get down to Baylor. Kansas and North Carolina are reaching out over the spring ball season, so hopefully when it’s over I can get to those campuses.”

Rob Cassidy was also in Alabama. When he asked about the Tar Heels Moreno responded, "They have a rule that Hubert Davis has a rule that he has to see you in person before they get you down there for visits, so I’m waiting for that.”

Davis and Sean May saw him in Texas, and an offer came within 72 hours. The bottom line is that Moreno has impressed just about everybody who has watched him. Cassidy awarded him as one of the top players in Birmingham.

"There were few bigs more productive than Moreno over the weekend, and the 7-footer’s masterpiece came on Sunday in a game against ASAK that saw him rack up 29 points and 12 rebounds. Moreno is as athletic as 7-footers come, a fact that manifests itself all over the floor but particularly on the glass, where his agility allows him to grab tough rebounds and contests shots at the rim.

On offense, Moreno showed a knack for playing above the rim and threw down at least two putback dunks over the course of the weekend. Moreno isn’t much of a threat from deep, but has a number of post moves in his bag as well as a solid face-up game out to 10 feet or so. He has no delusions about where his bread is buttered and functions as an unmistakable paint presence on both ends."

Jeff Lebo and Brad Frederick stayed staked out in Indianapolis throughout the weekend. Hubert Davis arrived on Saturday after leaving the Lone Star State. The trio of coaches were perched above the court that afternoon to see Team Takeover and CP3. They may have been intending to watch some of the in-state talent, but walked away impressed with the squad out of Washington D.C, and particularly Derek Dixon.

Team Takeover won 93-77, and Dixon had 18 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard went 6 for 8 from the field, and knocked down all four of his three-point tries.

Dixon opened the weekend going a perfect 7 for 7, and 3 for 3 from deep in a narrow win over Team Herro. For the weekend he hit 11 of 21 three-point attempts. and averaged 14 points per game. Dixon averaged 16 points for the spring.

Dixon is ranked No. 64 in the 2025 class. Ron Bailey of the Hoya Report is one of the top scouts in the Washington D.C. area. He was watched Dixon on numerous occasions. He says Dixon, "has the ability to pull up, blow by defenders on change of pace and run a team, Dixon is trending bullishly."

He now has offers from Iowa, Kansas State, Maryland, Miami, North Carolina, Penn State, Pitt, Providence, Syracuse, Villanova, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Xavier, and a couple more mid-majors.

In regards to recruitment, Houston Wilson of Cavs Corner wrote last month, "Along with Virginia, Pitt and Syracuse have been the two schools most talked about when it comes to Dixon but he said has a completely open recruitment at the moment."

As far as a long term schedule goes, Dixon told Wilson, "I think I am going to play out the AAU season and see if any new schools get involved,” he explained, “and then I will most likely make my commitment in the late summer or early fall.”

Indiana Elite hasn't reeled off a perfect spring record just because of Malachi Moreno. It has taken a complete effort. To win at this level it takes several high major type of prospects. Braylon Mullins checks that box. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard out of Greenfield, Indiana is ranked No. 88 in the Class of 2025, and he is making a major push to climb up the ladder.

Rob Cassidy called Mullins one of the, "Six prospects that have boosted their stock in the spring."

"Mullins has been a big reason for his Indiana Elite team’s undefeated start to Adidas 3SSB play, " Cassidy wrote. "The 6-foot-5 guard has plenty of upside left in him as he’ll need to add significant weight, but he’s playing the best basketball of his young career at the moment and averaged 20 points and 2.6 assists over the course of five games last weekend. Mullins is a multi-sport athlete with a reliable long-range jumper and the frame to add muscle and the ability to create for himself. He’s played much better than his current ranking this spring and should move up the Rivals150 come June."

Through 19 games on the Adidas circuit, Mullins is averaging18.3 points, along with 2.8 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game. He is shooting 44% from three-point range on 7.9 attempts per game.

Besides North Carolina, Mullins also picked up an offer Monday from Purdue. Michigan offered earlier in the month as well. He has others from Butler, Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, and several others. He visited Cincinnati earlier in the month.