What We Can Take From D'Marco Dunn's Final Ranking

It has been a long, strange trip, but on May 13, the final 2021 rankings were finally released for basketball prospects in the class of 2021. North Carolina has two incoming freshmen in their current recruiting class, and both were well inside the cut line on the conclusive list.

D'Marco Dunn finished at No. 60, and Dontrez Styles came in two spots below him at No. 62. Carolina fans everywhere have been curious how this duo can help as freshmen next season. Tar Heel Illustrated decided to go back a decade and see how other players who held the same ranking performed in college and in some cases beyond.

Today, we will begin with Dunn. The 6-foot-4 guard will come to Chapel Hill with the reputation as a big-time scorer and one of the top outside shooters in his class. If those attributes manifest themselves in college, he won't be the first 60th ranked player to pull that off. Tar Heel fans can relax when they see names like DeAndre Hunter and Aaron Holiday in that group. There were also others with less name recognition who had outstanding college careers. On the other hand, there are some other names who barely jog a memory.

Dunn is also the fourteenth highest-rated shooting guard in his class. Just as with the overall ranking, some very nice college players came from that spot. Although it is not an exact science from comparison's sake, it is safe to say there is plenty of a positive sample size to suggest Dunn will be a nice addition for the Tar Heel program.

Dunn comes to North Carolina with a reputation as a three-level scorer as well as being considered one of the top outside shooters in the current senior class. While playing the combo role may not be totally out of the question, Dunn will assume the shooting guard role in Chapel Hill.

2020 - Julian Strawther: The forward out of Las Vegas was a freshman on last season's Gonzaga team that was undefeated before losing to Baylor in the National Championship game. Strawther was not prominent in the rotation that featured several future professionals and was as talented as any roster in the country. Strawther averaged 3.4 points in 7.4 minutes of play per game, but is expected to be much more of a factor as a sophomore.

2019 - Zach Harvey: Harvey spent two seasons at Cincinnati before transferring to UC-Santa Barbara this spring. The guard barely registered as a blip on the radar screen as a freshman, but began to round into form as a sophomore. Harvey played 16.4 minutes per game last season and averaged 6.3 points.

2018 - Brandon Johns: Johns' numbers may not be jaw dropping, but he has been a valuable contributor over three seasons at Michigan, including last year's team that won the Big Ten. Johns has started 16 games in his career. In 2021-21, he averaged 4.9 points in 12.9 minutes of play, but he had some memorable performances in crucial games. He had 14 points and six rebounds in the Sweet 16 versus Florida State. He also chipped in 11 in the opening round win over Texas Southern. Johns logged over 20 minutes in each one of Michigan's final five games.

2017 - Ira Lee: Lee finished a four-year stint at the University of Arizona. He had career averages of 3.9 points and 3.2 rebounds. His high water mark was his sophomore season where he topped out at 6.6 points along with 4.2 boards in five starts. Lee recently announced a transfer to George Washington.

2016 - DeAndre Hunter: If there is a player ranked at this spot that could cause North Carolina fans to get excited about the possibilities it is DeAndre Hunter. After redshirting his first season at Virginia he was a huge cog in the Cavaliers' march to the national title in 2019. He averaged 15.2 points and 5.1 rebounds. Hunter went for 27 and nine in the final game. Those results helped him go in the lottery at No. 4 in the 2019 NBA Draft. Since then he has averaged double figures in each of his two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks.

2015 - Aaron Holiday: Aaron Holiday is another player who could cause Carolina fans to have high expectations for a player like Dunn. He scored 1,443 points in his three year career at UCLA, and posted scoring averages of 10.3, 12.3, and 20.3 in his junior season. Holiday was a 42.2 percent career three-point shooter. He was voted First Team All-Pac12 that season and Third Team All-American. The guard was also a first round pick in the NBA Draft. He was chosen by the Indiana Pacers with the 23rd overall pick in 2018.

2014 - Caleb Martin: The 6-foot-7 forward out of Mocksville spent two seasons apiece at North Carolina State and Nevada. After averaging 4.8 points as a freshman, he had three very productive seasons. Martin averaged 11.5 points as a sophomore with the Wolfpack, and then went on to post 18.9 and 19.2 points respectively at Nevada. Martin was twice named All-Mountain West first team, and was the league's Player of the Year in 2018. Martin went undrafted and played briefly with the Charlotte Hornets in 2019-20.

2013 - Kendrick Nunn: Nunn came out of high school as a highly successful guard prospect from Simeon High School in Chicago. He was expected to be the next big time player out of that basketball factory, and for the most part he didn't disappoint. Nunn chose Illinois, and stayed there for three seasons. He made the Big-Ten All Freshman Team in 2013-14. Nunn increased his scoring average all three years in Champaign from 6.2 to 11.1 to 15.5 points per game. He transferred and played his senior season at Oakland University. Nunn led the nation in three-point shooting as well as his team in scoring with a very impressive 25.9 point per game average. He was voted the unanimous Horizon League Player of the Year. In 2020 Nunn was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team and and was second in Rookie of the Year voting. He currently averages 14.3 points per game with the Miami Heat.

2012 - Montay Brandon: The product of Wesleyan Christian High School in Greensboro spent a four-year career in the ACC at Florida State. He played in 135 games and started 121 over four years with the Seminoles. Brandon averaged 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds overall. His best season was in 2014-15 where he averaged 11.8 points and 5.5 boards.

2011 - Sheldon McClellan: This may be a familiar name to North Carolina fans, although he is better known as Sheldon Mac. He spent four highly successful seasons in college: two at Texas and two others at Miami. He averaged in double figures all four years and ended up just 37 points shy of 2,000. Mac was named second-team All-ACC as a senior. He averaged 16.3 points per game that season. Mac appeared in 30 games with the Washington Wizards.

Dunn is also rated by Rivals as the 14th best shooting guard in the class. Through the past ten classes there haven't exactly been any no-shows at that spot, and although there is always s difference in the rates of success there are several more players who compare favorably to what Tar Heel Nation would love to see from Dunn.

2018 - Noah Locke: Here is a good place to start. Locke has averaged 10.1 points per game over three seasons at Florida including two starlight at 10.6. Locke is known as a prolific three-point sniper. He is a 40.3 percent career long ball shooter for his career. Locke entered the transfer portal and will be playing the ACC next year at Louisville.

2017 - Jordan Goodwin: Here is another well known player who had a very sold college career. Goodwin spent four years at St. Louis and averaged in double figures in each one. Goodwin was also a stat sheet stuffer with career numbers of 12.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. He was first-team All-Atlantic 10 in each of his last two seasons. He also broke the school record for steals. To cap off a list of impressive accomplishments, Goodwin averaged a double-double in points and rebounds in his junior and senior seasons.

2016 - Amir Coffey: Coffey was a staple at the University of Minnesota. He averaged 14.4 points over three seasons and capped off at 16.6 points as a junior. He was on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and was third-team all-conference in 2019. Coffey signed a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Clippers and has played in 62 career games.

2015 - Malik Beasley - Beasley spent one very successful season in college at Florida State in 2015-16. He averaged 15.6 points and 5.3 rebounds. Beasley was taken with the 19th overall pick by the Denver Nuggets in 2016. he now plays with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Beasley has had two seasons where he has averaged double digit points and has appeared in 220 NBA games.

2014 - Elijah Stewart: Stewart averaged 10.2 points per game over four seasons and 102 starts at USC. Stewart has played in the G-League and internationally since 2018.