UNC basketball rumors: 5-star reclassify candidate visits, Pitino poaches Heels, Team USA connection

UNC basketball rumors: Rick Pitino snipes Simeon Wilcher after surprise decommitment from Heels

On June 6, 4-star combo guard Simeon Wilcher, the No. 34 player in the 247Sports Composite rankings for the 2023 class, decommitted from the North Carolina Tar Heels in a shocking move that definitely felt like a bit of a blindside from the Roselle, NJ native.

At the time of his decommitment, though, it was reported that Rick Pitino and St. John’s, obviously a program trying to rebuild quickly with their new name-brand head coach, would be involved as they tried to keep Wilcher closer to home. That ultimately turned out to be the case.

Around a week after leaving UNC basketball in the dust, Wilcher has committed to the Red Storm to play for Pitino. That commitment landed St. John’s in the updated Top 25 and 1 rankings from Gary Parrish of CBS Sports.

In terms of the immediate effects for the Tar Heels, they should ultimately still be fine in the 2023-24 season with their wing depth. The return of R.J. Davis combined with the arrivals of Cormac Ryan and Harrison Ingram should fill out the top of the rotation more than adequately and set up Hubert Davis with plenty of flexibility too in that capacity.

The longer-term outlook could be a bit more worrisome for UNC basketball, however.

Davis, in the midst of his recent recruiting boom and even before he took over for Roy Williams, has shown a strong propensity for landing prospects from the New York/New Jersey area. But with Pitino’s presence at St. John’s and his ability to sell the Red Storm as a local destination on the rise, that could make that recruiting ground exceptionally more competitive moving forward.

Losing Wilcher isn’t the biggest of deals for North Carolina and their outlook going into next season. But it’s likely a sign of what fans should be monitoring on the recruiting trail in the northeast for the future.