UNC vs. Duke; head-to-head on the recruiting trail

Recruiting in the 2023 class is ramping up as 54 of the top-100 players in the 2023 On3 Consensus have already chosen a program. That means 46 four and five-stars are still in the middle of heated recruiting battles. One of the more intriguing recruiting battles happening is four-star TJ Power. The 6-foot-7 Power released a final five schools with Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, Boston College, and Iowa listed. However, his most recent two visits were to Duke and North Carolina (UNC).

North Carolina and Duke are one of the very best rivalries in sports. Their rivalry expands outside of just college basketball. Last year’s Final Four matchup between the two was the second most-viewed college basketball game in the history of cable television.

So in the spirit of recruiting season, I went down a rabbit hole. I wanted to see how Duke and North Carolina fared against one another on the recruiting trail.

I went back ten years, from 2012 through 2022, and took every player Duke signed and every player North Carolina signed. I reviewed each player’s offers and visits to see which guys both schools recruited.

I came up with some other data, which I will share at the end (so read to the bottom). However, let’s go through year by year and see how the two have fared head-to-head.

2012

Duke signed two players and offered six in this class. North Carolina signed four players and offered 13.

Both schools offered three players; Duke got Rasheed Sulaimon, and North Carolina got JP Tokoto. Both schools offered Mitch McGary, but he ended up going to Michigan.

Duke’s Class (No. 13)
Five-star SG Rasheed Sulaimon
Four-star SF Amile Jefferson

UNC’s class (No. 24)
Four-star PG Marcus Paige
Four-star PF Brice Johnson
Four-star C Joel James
Four-star SF JP Tokoto

2013

Duke signed three players and offered ten in this class. North Carolina signed three players and offered 11.

Both programs offered four players. Duke got Jabari Parker and Matt Jones. Neither program got Bronson Koenig, who went to Wisconsin, or Julius Randle, who went to Kentucky.

Duke’s class (No. 4)
Five-star SF Jabari Parker
Four-star SF Semi Ojeleye
Four-star SG Matt Jones

UNC’s class (No. 9)
Three-star PG Nate Britt
Five-star PF Isaiah Hicks
Four-star C Kennedy Meeks

2014

Duke signed four players and offered 12 in this class. North Carolina signed three and offered 11.

Both programs offered six players. Duke got Jahlil Okafor and Justice Winslow. North Carolina got Theo Pinson and Joel Berry. Neither program got Trey Lyles or Devin Booker, who both went to Kentucky.

Duke’s class (No. 1)
Five-star C Jahlil Okafor
Five-star PG Tyus Jones
Five-star SF Justice Winslow
Four-star SG Grayson Allen

UNC’s class (No. 7)
Five-star SF Justin Jackson
Five-star SF Theo Pinson
Four-star PG Joel Berry

2015

Duke signed five players in this class and offered ten. North Carolina signed two and offered 13.

Both schools offered four players. Duke got both Luke Kennard and Brandon Ingram. Neither program got Henry Ellenson, who went to Marquette, or Ivan Rabb, who went to California.

Brandon Ingram was the lone player to visit both schools. He chose Duke.

Duke’s class (No. 4)
Five-star SF Brandon Ingram
Five-star C Chase Jeter
Five-star PG Derryck Thornton
Four-star PG Luke Kennard
Three-star PF Antonio Vrankovic

UNC’s class (No. 50)
Four-star SG Kenny Williams
Three-star PF Luke Maye

2016

Duke signed six players in this class and offered 11. North Carolina signed four players and offered 19.

Both schools offered four players. Duke got Harry Giles, Javin Delaurier, and Jayson Tatum. Neither program got Dennis Smith, Jr., who went to NC State.

Harry Giles was the only player to visit both programs in this class. He chose Duke.

Duke’s class (No. 2)
Five-star PF Harry Giles
Five-star SF Jayson Tatum
Five-star PG Frank Jackson
Five-star C Marques Bolden
Four-star PF Javin Delaurier
NR SF Jack White

UNC’s class (No. 15)
Four-star C Tony Bradley
Four-star PG Seventh Woods
Four-star SG Brandon Robinson

2017

Duke signed seven players in this class and offered 20. UNC signed five players and offered 16.

Both programs offered three players. Duke got Wendell Carter. Neither program got Mo Bamba, who went to Texas, or Kevin Knox, who went to Kentucky.

Duke’s class (No. 1)
Five-star PF Marvin Bagley
Five-star PG Trevon Duval
Five-star PF Wendell Carter
Five-star SG Gary Trent, Jr.
Four-star SF Jordan Tucker
Four-star SG Alex O’Connell
Three-star PG Jordan Goldwire

UNC’s class (No. 18)
Four-star CG Jalek Felton
Four-star PF Garrison Brooks
Three-star PF Brandon Huffman
Three-star SG Andrew Platek
Three-star PF Sterling Manley

2018

Duke signed five players in this class and offered 12. North Carolina signed three players and offered 11.

Both programs offered four players. Duke got Zion Williamson. North Carolina landed Nas Little. Neither got EJ Montgomery, who went to Kentucky, or Romeo Langford, who went to Indiana.

Nas Little visited both North Carolina and Duke. He went to North Carolina.

Duke’s class (No. 1)
Five-star SF RJ Barrett
Five-star SF Cam Reddish
Five-star PF Zion Williamson
Five-star PG Tre Jones
Four-star SF Joey Baker

UNC’s class (No. 2)
Five-star SF Nas Little
Four-star PG Coby White
Four-star SF Leaky Black

2019

Duke signed four players in this class and offered 14. North Carolina signed four and offered 21.

Both programs offered six players. Duke got Wendell Moore, Vernon Carey, and Matthew Hurt. North Carolina got Cole Anthony and Armando Bacot. Neither program got Boogie Ellis, who chose Memphis.

Vernon Carey and Matthew Hurt took official visits to both Duke and North Carolina. Both players chose Duke.

Duke’s class (No. 5)
Five-star PF Vernon Carey
Five-star SF Matthew Hurt
Five-star SF Wendell Moore
Four-star SG Cassius Stanley

UNC’s class (No. 3)
Five-star PG Cole Anthony
Five-star C Armando Bacot
Four-star SG Anthony Harris
Three-star PG Jeremiah Francis

2020

Duke signed six players in this class and offered 12. North Carolina signed six and offered 18.

Both programs offered five players. Duke got Jeremy Roach and DJ Steward. North Carolina got Walker Kessler. Neither program got Ziaire Williams, who went to Stanford, or Hunter Dickinson, who went to Michigan.

Walker Kessler took official visits to both Duke and North Carolina. He signed with North Carolina.

Duke’s class (No. 10)
Five-star SF Jalen Johnson
Four-star PG Jeremy Roach
Four-star CG DJ Steward
Four-star C Mark Williams
Four-star PF Jaemyn Brakefield
Four-star PF Henry Coleman

UNC’s class (No. 11)
Five-star PG Caleb Love
Five-star C Day’Ron Sharpe
Four-star C Walker Kessler
Four-star CG RJ Davis
Four-star SF Puff Johnson
Four-star SF Kerwin Walton

2021

Duke signed four players in this class and offered nine. North Carolina signed three players and offered 13.

Both programs offered five players. Duke got Trevor Keels and Paolo Banchero. Neither program got Patrick Baldwin, Jr., who went to Milwaukee, Caleb Houstan, who went to Michigan, or Kennedy Chandler, who went to Tennessee.

Duke’s class (No. 2)
Five-star PF Paolo Banchero
Four-star SF AJ Griffin
Four-star SG Trevor Keels
Four-star PG Jaylen Blakes

UNC’s class (No. 34)
Four-star SF Dontrez Styles
Four-star SG D’Marco Dunn
Four-star C Will Shaver

2022

Duke signed seven players in this class and offered ten. North Carolina signed three and offered 17.

Both programs offered three players. Duke got both Dereck Lively and Mark Mitchell. Neither program got GG Jackson, who went to South Carolina.

Dereck Lively visited both programs. He signed with Duke.

Duke’s class (No. 1)
Five-star C Dereck Lively
Five-star SF Dariq Whitehead
Five-star PF Kyle Filipowski
Five-star PF Mark Mitchell
Four-star SG Jaden Schutt
Four-star PG Tyrese Proctor
Three-star C Christian Reeves

UNC’s class (No. 24)
Four-star PG Seth Trimble
Four-star PF Jalen Washington
Four-star SF Tyler Nickel

Other notes

*Over the past ten recruiting cycles, Duke has signed 53 players and offered 126. They have signed 42.1 percent of the players they have offered.

*Over the past ten recruiting cycles, North Carolina has signed 40 players and offered 163. The Tar Heels have signed 24.5 percent of the players they have offered.

*Duke has signed at least one player North Carolina has offered in each of the past ten recruiting cycles. North Carolina has signed at least one player Duke has offered five of the last ten recruiting cycles.

*Over the past ten recruiting cycles, Duke has signed 21 players North Carolina has offered. North Carolina has signed seven players Duke has offered.

*Over the past ten recruiting cycles, seven players have officially visited both Duke and North Carolina. Duke has signed five of them, and North Carolina has signed two.

*Over the past ten recruiting cycles, there have been 48 players both Duke and North Carolina have offered. Only 19 of those players signed elsewhere.

*Duke holds a 13-11 record against North Carolina during this time frame.

*During this ten year span, Duke has produced 28 NBA Draft picks; 12 Lottery picks, 21 first rounders, and seven second-rounders.

*During this ten year span, North Carolina had produced 12 NBA Draft picks; two Lottery Picks, 11 first rounders, and one second rounder.

*Over this ten year period, Duke has won one National Championship. They are 257 – 77 (78.1%) with seven top-ten finishes in the AP poll and seven top-three finishes in the ACC. The Blue Devils have lost ten or more games twice during this period.

*Over this ten year period North Carolina has won one National Championship. They are 257 – 105 (71.0%) with four top-ten finishes in the AP poll and seven top-three finishes in the ACC. The Tar Heels have lost ten or more games in seven times during this period.