North Carolina vs. Kansas: From Caleb Love to Ochai Agbaji, how top players were ranked as high school basketball prospects

The Kansas Jayhawks and North Carolina Tar Heels are set to square off in the 2022 NCAA men's basketball national championship game Monday in a battle of Blue Blood college basketball programs.

But while no one would bat an eye upon hearing either school was one win away from college basketball’s crowning achievement, both schools have had ups-and-downs on the recruiting trail in recent years.

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Here’s a look at how both schools have recruited over the past few years, as well as a breakdown of how each key player was rated as a prospect coming out of high school.

KANSAS JAYHAWKS

Over the past five years Kansas has recruited like a top-10-15 program nationally, highlighted by the class of 2018, a top-5 group nationally that consisted of David McCormack and Ochai Agbaji, two of the Jayhawks’ top players.

2018 — No. 5 nationally

2019 — No. 15 nationally

2020 — No. 23 nationally

2021 —No. 11 nationally

2022 — While the 2022 class has not yet arrived, the success of this year’s Jayhawks’ squad appears to have translated with high school prospects.

Kansas currently has the nation’s No. 4 recruiting class, highlighted by a trio of five-star prospects — Gradey Dick (No. 24 overall), M.J. Rice (No. 25 overall) and Ernest Udeh Jr. (No. 29 overall).

Jalen Wilson (11.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists) — The national championship game hits particularly close to home for Wilson, whose lone two official visits on the recruiting trail were to Kansas and North Carolina.

The 2019 prospect out of Texas was rated the nation’s No. 46 overall prospect and No. 14 small forward.

In the Texas state rankings, Wilson was No. 6, behind notables R.J. Hampton and Tyrese Maxey, but two spots ahead of college basketball moustached legend Drew Timme of Gonzaga.

David McCormack (10.5 points, 6.9 rebounds) — Coming out of storied Oak Hill Academy in the class of 2018, McCormack was rated the nation’s No. 40 overall prospect and the No. 6 center.

In the state of Virginia, he was the No. 2 player behind emerging San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson.

The 6-foot-9, 255-pound center took official visits to Kansas, Oklahoma State, North Carolina State and Xavier, but the Jayhawks won the battle for the borderline five-star talent.

Dajuan Harris Jr. (5.5 points, 4.2 assists) — The 6-foot-2, 160-pound point guard was rated the nation’s No. 94 overall prospect and No. 7 point guard.

He originally signed with Missouri State - a shocker - but was granted his release by the school before choosing (and quickly enrolling at) Kansas.

Christian Braun (14.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists) — Another member of the 2019 recruiting class, Braun was rated the nation’s No. 130 overall prospect and th No. 32 small forward.

Only a three-star prospect, Braun still managed to rack up 17 scholarship offers, highlighted by Creighton, Illinois, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Wake Forest and others.

Clearly, he has outperformed his ranking.

Braun was a second-team all-conference selection this season.

Ochai Agbaji (18.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists) —Agbaji was been a star for Kansas, but was not expected to be a “dude” coming out of Missouri in the class of 2018.

The 6-foot-6, 195-pound wing was rated the nation’s No. 132 overall prospect and the No. 33 small forward.

His lone official visits were to Colorado State and Oregon State.

Not exactly the profile one expects from the unanimous Big 12 Player of the Year.

Clearly, Agbaji has greatly outperformed his recruiting profile as a Jayhawk.

Remy Martin (8.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists) — Recruiting services were split on Martin coming out of national powerhouse program Sierra Canyon High School (California) in 2017.

247Sports and Rivals both listed him outside the nation’s top-100 prospects, while ESPN pegged him as the nation’s No. 85 prospect.

Martin originally signed with Arizona State over UCLA, but transferred last May after averaging 19.1 points for the Sun Devils in his final season.

NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS

North Carolina has hauled in talent like a top-10 recruiter over the past few years.

However, many of the Tar Heels’ top recruits from those classes have already moved on to the NBA: Cole Anthony, Nassir Little, Coby White, Day’Ron Sharpe and others.

This group is built on the backs of multi-year college talents and a crucial transfer.

2018 — No. 13 nationally

2019 — No. 9 nationally

2020 — No. 2 nationally

2021 — No. 19 nationally

2022 —North Carolina has the nation’s No. 11 recruiting class, consisting of three four-star prospects — point guard Seth Tremble (No. 32 overall), center Jalen Washington (No. 41 overall) and small forward Tyler Nickel (No. 81 overall).

Armando Bacot (16.3 points, 13.1 rebounds) — Bacot wasn’t the highest-rated high school prospect set to play in the national championship game.

But he may have been the most offered back in high school.

The 6-foot-10, 240-pound big man, out of IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida), racked up an astounding 37 scholarship offers.

Given that he was the nation’s No. 27 overall prospect and No. 6 center perhaps that’s no surprise.

The knock on Bacot was his lack of elite athleticism, but he also came with the expectations of being a very good multi-year college player.

That’s been the case at North Carolina.

Bacot has registered a double-double in every NCAA tournament game this season, highlighted by back-to-back 20-plus-rebound performances the past two games.

Brady Manek (15.2 points, 5.9 rebounds) — A class of 2017 prospect out of Oklahoma, Manek, then a short-haired, beardless recruit, signed with the Sooners.

The then-6-foot-7, 205-pound prospect was rated the nation’s No. 193 overall prospect by 247Sports, carrying a three-star distinction.

After four stellar years (and multiple hair styles) at Oklahoma, Manek transferred to North Carolina for his final season, where he was been an essential piece of the Final Four run.

R.J. Davis (13.5, 4.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists) —In the class of 2020, Davis was rated the nation’s No. 50 overall prospect and the No. 7 combo guard.

He took official visits to Georgetown, Pittsburgh and Marquette before a final visit to Chapel Hill locked up his future in North Carolina.

The McDonald’s All-American selection was billed as plug-and-play electric offensive threat.

Caleb Love (16.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists) — Rated the nation’s No. 14 overall prospect and No. 2 point guard in the 2020 recruiting class, Love was projected as future first-round NBA draft pick by 247Sports.

In fact, the only point guard with a higher rating that year was Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft.

Unsurprisingly, Love had more than 25 scholarship offers.

The high-scoring floor general visited North Carolina and Missouri before choosing the Tar Heels, although he also held offers from Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Purdue, Tennessee and others.

Leaky Black (5.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists) — Coming to North Carolina in 2018, Black was often the overlooked piece in the Tar Heels’ three-man recruiting class, behind five-star prospect Nassir Little (No. 3 overall) and Coby White (No. 25 overall).

Black was rated the nation’s No. 71 overall prospect and No. 17 small forward.

While Black hasn’t turned into a star, he’s become a key piece for North Carolina, particularly on the defensive end of the floor, where he was named to the ACC’s defensive team.