The Tar Heels have put together a very solid 2025 recruiting haul and they are having to do it while struggling in their home state. Those issues appear to be continuing, as the Tar Heels look to have lost their official visit with one of the top players in the state.
2025 4✮ EDGE Bryce Davis set an official visit to Chapel Hill for the weekend of June 7th back in December, but that visit which was on his 247Sports recruiting profile page is no longer there. Instead, an official visit is scheduled with the rival Duke Blue Devils for that weekend to go along with his trips to Clemson, Georgia and USC. At this point, it doesn’t seem as if that official visit will be rescheduled.
Even if the team had been able to hold on to the official visit, there was still going to be a lot of work to do to land his commitment. The edge rusher room is in good shape moving forward, as they already have two commitments to the class and just three upperclassmen between the two spots. While that room might be in good shape, this is yet another big name from the state of North Carolina that has appeared to eliminate the Tar Heel from contention for his services.
Right now, the staff has picked up just two in-state commitments in this cycle, forcing the team to look elsewhere as they try to piece together this class. If Davis has in fact canceled his official visit, the team will host just one of the top ten players in the state according to the 247Sports player rankings for an official visit. Of the 34 players that are ranked in the state, the team only appears to be in the running for one player that isn’t already committed to them, 4✮ EDGE Taeshawn Alston. It’s a shocking fall off from the success that Mack Brown’s staff had early on in his second tenure. That fence that was once built around the home state has almost completely been torn down and it needs to be rebuilt starting in the 2026 cycle.