The date: Sept. 30
The finalists: Arizona, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Louisville, Clemson, Georgia, Texas
Rundown: Former Marana High School standout guard D'Marco Dunn is ready to make his decision, he announced this weekend. The four-star prospect, who is now living in North Carolina, has not had the opportunity to take visits since his recruitment blew up back in the spring and that is something that could come into play for the Arizona native. Dunn left Marana last year and led his team in North Carolina to an undefeated season as a junior. That helped him gain a considerable amount of attention and his recruitment took off from there.
Arizona had been aware of Dunn before he left for the East Coast, but he was not the player he is now so it took some time for an offer to develop. The Wildcats eventually did offer him and his familiarity with his former hometown school certainly has been important. He still has part of his family living in Tucson, so there would be a natural fit back home. However, North Carolina has made him a priority and has been gaining steam in his recruitment since becoming involved.
Vanderbilt made a charge in recent weeks and has gained some steam as well. Despite Dunn previously listing a top seven the reality is those three programs (Arizona, UNC, Vanderbilt) are in the best position to land his commitment this week.
Arizona has done a good job of making up ground since offering Dunn and that has been helped by his familiarity with the program. Obviously, he has been able to see things up close since he previously lived in Tucson, but the coaches have done an effective job of building a relationship with him as well.
"I did the best I can to find a feel for these schools," he previously told Tar Heel Illustrated about how he came up with his list of finalists. "You do the research on your own and you look up who they've got and their playing style. I'm not saying it was too difficult, but it was different."
As a player Dunn is one of the top shotmakers in the class. It is the aspect of his game that has attracted so many programs, including Arizona. The Wildcats are still on the hunt for a guard who can consistently make shots from deep and provide a scoring presence on the perimeter. As much as UA likes to have size on the inside, the focus lately has been on finding guards to make it easier on Sean Miller to use the three-guard lineup he wants to have on the floor in the coming years.
My prediction: UNC
Arizona does have some ground to make up heading into his announcement as North Carolina would be the pick if he had to make a decision today by all accounts. You can never count out Arizona in a situation like this and the appeal of returning home certainly is real with Dunn, but he has fit in well out in North Carolina and the pull to stay there and play for Roy Williams has been big in his recruitment. At this point it is my belief that he will pick the Tar Heels this week based on everything I have heard up to this point.
