Local Highly-Touted Winger Has UNC in Top 5

North Carolina got some huge recruiting news on Monday when one of the top small forwards in the class of 2026 announced that the Tar Heels made his top five.

Cole Cloer, a four-star small forward from IMG Academy, slimmed down his list of schools to five. Joe Tipton of Rivals revealed the list of finalists, one that fortunately includes Hubert Davis and the UNC basketball program.

NEWS: 2026 Top-30 recruit Cole Cloer is down to five schools, he tells @Rivals:

North Carolina, NC State, UConn, Alabama, and Floridahttps://t.co/VZx3Bk6Rkn pic.twitter.com/86FJCn7zJV
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) September 23, 2025

NC State, UConn, Alabama, Florida, and North Carolina remain in his recruitment. He still needs to visit North Carolina (scheduled for October 10-12) and Alabama (scheduled for October 17-19) from his list of finalists.

Despite Carolina being in the top five, it's a two-team race between archrival NC State and UConn. However, the Tar Heels have the potential to lure the in-state product to Chapel Hill, but they will have to make a significant push to land the 6-foot-8 forward.

Cloer is rated as the No. 28 overall prospect, No. 13 small forward, and the No. 5 from the state of Florida. While he preps from the Sunshine State, he is originally from Hillsborough, which is about a 25-minute drive from Chapel Hill.

Scouting Report

UNC — Mar 17, 2025; Dayton, OH, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis looks on during the First Four Practice at UD Arena. | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Here is a scouting report of Cloer from Adam Finkelstein, the national director of scouting at 247Sports.

Cloer is a big-time shooter of the basketball who also possesses good wing size and bounce at the rim. He has a high and compact release, gets beautiful loft and rotation on his ball, and is a threat to make all different types of shots. He can make threes on the move or off the dribble, knocked down 43% of his open spot-up threes in EYBL play, and also has a complimenting pull-up game with his ability to score overtop of most opposing wings. Most of all, he has that outward confidence and swagger that almost all great shot-makers share.

Mar 21, 2025; Milwaukee, WI, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis during the first half of a first round NCAA men’s tournament game against the Mississippi Rebels at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

While Cloer isn’t really a creator off the dribble, he has a defined niche that is translatable to the highest levels and a good complimenting skill-set. He uses his shot-fake very well, has a long first step if he gets his defender in the air, good feel as a ball mover, a solid left hand, and can take smaller defenders into the post. He’s even shown some flashes of being able to be a secondary pick-and-roll threat.

Physically, he has very good positional size at over 6-foot-7 (with shoes) and the bounce to be a lob threat or rise-up for explosive open floor finishes. While he lacks ideal length and has a bit of a long neck, he’s gotten stronger and added some noticeable muscle mass definition. Defensively, increased strength and physicality will only benefit him, but there is room for growth with his footspeed and attention to detail at times.

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