How Hubert Davis drew attention of top UNC basketball target during fall recruiting period

UNC basketball was front and center for its top 2023 recruiting target last Thursday.

And yes, five-star Combine Academy point guard Robert Dillingham was quite aware.

“I definitely notice who’s here on Day One,” Dillingham, the No. 11 overall recruit in the class of 2023, told Jason Jordan of Sports Illustrated last week. “It’s not something I hold against a school if they don’t come, because I know they’ll get here. But yeah, I notice who came out to see me on Day One.”

On Sept. 9 — the first day Division I college basketball coaches could make in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations during the 2021-22 cycle — plenty of staffers traveled to Combine Academy’s Lincolnton campus, 38 miles from Charlotte, to scout players at two open gym sessions.

But, as Jordan reported, only two were specifically in the building to watch the 6-foot-1 Dillingham in action and mingle with him and his father, Donald, afterward: UNC head coach Hubert Davis, who succeeded the retiring Roy Williams in April, and Brad Frederick, one of Davis’ three lead assistants.

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Their visit was further confirmation of Dillingham’s status as UNC’s top 2023 recruiting target. The shifty point guard has been playing for Combine Academy and former UNC and NBA point guard Jeff McInnis since his freshman season, and he initially earned a scholarship offer from Williams’ staff last December.

Davis has since re-affirmed the offer and hosted Dillingham for an unofficial visit in early July, a natural next step for a player and head coach who hadn’t met face to face in well over a year due to COVID-19.

That visit was also a crucial relationship-building opportunity for Tar Heel assistants Frederick, Jeff Lebo and Sean May, especially considering Davis didn’t retain Steve Robinson (a longtime assistant who took the lead on Dillingham’s initial recruitment for Williams’ staff) when he assembled his new staff in April.

Dillingham, since then, has continued his ascension in the class of 2023 by averaging 23.8 points per game for a Peach Jam semifinalist team and earning MVP honors at the 2021 FIBA Americas U16 Championship. He scored a USA U16 single-game record 31 points in a gold medal game victory.

McInnis told SI of the 16-year-old Dillingham last week: “That boy is just different.”

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Heading into his junior season, Dillingham holds 19 offers, per 247Sports, and has unofficially visited N.C. State along with UNC. Two of 247Sports’ lead basketball analysts have placed high-confidence Crystal Ball predictions for the Tar Heels to ultimately land a commitment from the Hickory native.

Dillingham wasn’t the only 2023 recruit to hear from UNC last week. Before heading to Combine Academy, Davis, Frederick and Lebo started Sept. 9 at Ridge View High School in Columbia to visit with G.G. Jackson, a 6-8 five-star power forward and AAU teammate of Dillingham’s with Team CP3 16U.

Davis and Lebo, per reports, are also in New Jersey this week to check in with two more highly ranked 2023 players with UNC offers: five-star forward Mackenzie Mgbako and five-star guard Simeon Wilcher.

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Chapel Fowler is a recruiting reporter for The Fayetteville Observer and the USA TODAY Network. Reach him by email at cfowler@gannett.com or on Twitter at @chapelfowler.