5-star point guard Kayla McPherson commits to North Carolina over Arizona, others

Photo courtesy USA Basketball

Five-star point guard Kayla McPherson committed to the North Carolina Tar Heels over the Arizona Wildcats and a few other schools on Sunday.

She’s the No. 15 player in the 2021 class and No. 3 point guard, per ESPN’s rankings.

@uncwbb @CoachBanghart pic.twitter.com/Ps69X6wS5t

— Kayla McPherson (@KaylaMcPherso20) August 16, 2020

The COVID-19 recruiting restrictions hampered Arizona’s chances of landing her. On-campus visits have been prohibited since March due to the coronavirus, meaning McPherson, a Hull, Georgia native, was never able to get to see the UA in person.

The other schools on her list—N.C. State, Mississippi State and Georgia Tech—were much closer to her hometown.

Arizona coach Adia Barnes alluded to McPherson’s impending commitment on Friday.

“We’re asking someone to sign from across the country without being on campus,” Barnes said. “So for me, that’s a really big disadvantage. And we might lose some kids because of that. I’m very confident if they were to visit we’d get some of these kids.”

Barnes is hoping Arizona can add one more player to its 2021 recruiting class, which currently consists of five-star post Aaronette Vonleh, four-star shooting guard Madison Conner and Estonian guard Anna Gret Asi.

“We will sign one more player, probably, and then I’ll be very, very happy,” Barnes said. “That’s going to be another top class.”

The Wildcats still have another five-star point guard on their radar in Kyndall Hunter, a Houston native. They are also after Anaya James, an all-state guard from Torrance, California.

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