North Carolina spent a busy recruiting weekend putting its past and future in the same building.
While Michael Malone welcomed more than 100 former Tar Heels back to Chapel Hill for a basketball reunion, two of the nation’s top 2027 prospects were on campus taking official visits: five-star power forward CJ Rosser and five-star shooting guard Jordan Page. For a first-year coach who has made a point of tying Carolina’s history to what comes next, the timing fit perfectly.
Rosser, the No. 2 player in the 2027 class in the 247 Composite rankings, and Page, ranked No. 12, arrived together after spending the summer as teammates on U.S. teams that won gold at the 2025 FIBA U16 AmeriCup and the FIBA U17 World Cup.
The weekend gave both prospects a full look at the program Malone is trying to shape. Former Tar Heels gathered Friday night, then came a Saturday tailgate before Carolina’s football win against East Tennessee State and Sunday’s Dribble for Victory Over Cancer event. Malone used the reunion to talk with ex-players, learn more about the program’s history and tell them Carolina has a standard to uphold and that he came to Chapel Hill to compete for another championship banner.
That message lined up neatly with the recruiting pitch to Rosser and Page.
Rosser, a 6-10, 200-pound forward from Rocky Mount, has offers from seven schools and began a visit run that continues at N.C. State on Wednesday, Miami on Sept.
25, Arkansas on Sept. 28, Kentucky on Oct.
1, USC on Oct. 4 and Louisville on Oct. 22.
He enters his senior season after a strong summer with Team United on the Nike EYBL circuit, where he averaged 16.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. At the World Cup in Turkey, he had three 20-point games, including a 23-point, four-rebound, two-block performance in the 107-81 gold-medal game against Serbia.
Page, a 6-5 left-handed wing originally from Raleigh’s Broughton High School and now at IMG Academy in Florida, holds offers from more than 20 programs, including Duke, Kentucky, UCLA and N.C. State.
UNC offered him last month. As a sophomore at Broughton, he was a team captain and averaged 22.9 points, eight rebounds and 3.2 assists per game before transferring.
He has drawn praise for his frame, transition scoring and ability to finish through contact at the rim. During the World Cup, he had 11 points in one of five double-digit scoring games.
UNC has not signed two top-10 recruits in the same class since 2006, when it brought in Brandan Wright, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington, along with Deon Thompson, who is now the program’s director of player development. Landing Rosser and Page together would give Malone and his staff a major foundation as they try to put Carolina back among the nation’s recruiting leaders.
The Tar Heels may not be done with elite visitors, either. Five-star point guard Beckham Black is set to visit next weekend.
The younger brother of Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black, he is considered the top point guard and No. 2 overall player in the 2027 class. He has already been to Texas, Georgetown and Florida, with Arkansas and Duke also heavily involved.
Black averaged 21.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.7 steals last summer in EYBL.
For Carolina, the weekend was about more than hosting two official visits. Malone surrounded his program with the people who built its legacy and showed high-end recruits what their place in that story could look like. Rosser, Page and soon Black are among the players he hopes will help define the next chapter.
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