Signees Headline Early Recruit List for UNC-Duke Game

North Carolina’s final home game this season will also serve as a springboard for the 2025-26 season. UNC’s recruiting class of 2025 – signees Isaiah Denis and Derek Dixon and commitment Caleb Wilson – will be in the Smith Center on Saturday against Duke.

They’ll be joined by LJ Smith, a 2027 combo guard from Lincolnton (N.C.) High School. We expect additional names to be added this week.

The game could go a long way in determining the Tar Heels’ NCAA tournament chances, and Chapel Hill will host ESPN’s College Gameday. It’s also RJ Davis’ final time taking the Smith Center floor in a UNC uniform.

Suffice to say, it’s Carolina’s biggest game of the year.

“We looked at the schedule and had an opportunity to come to a few different ones,” Jerry Wilson, Caleb Wilson’s father, told Inside Carolina. “But that feeling we had last year (Wilson visited for UNC’s home win against Duke a year ago), we want that again. We’ll be there and we hope they put on a show.”

It will be Wilson’s third trip to Chapel Hill, but his first as a Tar Heel commitment. He was also in Chapel Hill last October.

He’s ranked the No. 9 player in the senior class by 247Sports and chose Carolina over offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Duke, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio State, Tennessee, and Southern Cal, among others.

Wilson and Atlanta (Ga.) Holy Innocents will play Kennesaw (Ga.) North Cobb Christian for the Georgia High School Association Private school championship on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Both Denis and Dixon have completed their senior seasons.

Dixon helped lead Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga to the DCSAA Boys Class AA State championship on Sunday. He had 13 points (4-7 FG, 1-2 3pt, 4-4 FTs), 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in Gonzaga’s 67-51 win over Washington (D.C.) Sidwell.

“Derek and his family, I just can’t say enough great things about them,” UNC head coach Hubert Davis said earlier this season. “Derek is another big guard, 6-5, unbelievable shooter off the dribble, off the catch (and) an excellent passer. He can play multiple positions with the ball, without the ball, he’s one of those guys that just makes winning plays. And with him out on the floor, you’re going to win a lot of games. He’s just that type of person, that type of player… ”

Saturday’s game will be Dixon’s first time attending a Carolina game. He officially visited this past September. He’s ranked the No. the 49 overall player in the class of 2025, and chose Carolina over offers from Arizona, Iowa, Kansas State, Maryland, Miami, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, and Virginia Tech.

Denis missed most of his senior season with a broken finger. It kept him out from mid-December to early February. Davidson (N.C.) Day lost in the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association playoffs to eventual 3A state champion Greensboro (N.C.) Day.

“He’s an unbelievable kid, and he is about 6-5,” Davis said of Denis. “He can defend multiple positions. He can handle the basketball, he’s a really good shooter, he competes and he’s somebody from North Carolina that always dreamed about coming to North Carolina. And so to have that type of quality person and his family, to be a part of our family is something that we’re really excited about.”

Ranked the No. 48 player in the senior class, Denis chose UNC over offers from Arizona State, California, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Kansas, Miami, Michigan, N.C. State, Ohio State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest.