UNC Basketball Recruiting: Julius Randle Cuts List, Drops Tar Heels

The highly-coveted and top-ranked power forward of the 2012 recruiting class has whittled his list to just six programs—and the North Carolina Tar Heels didn't make the cut. Julius Randle's prep school, Prestonwood Academy, posted his list on their own Twitter account Tuesday afternoon.

Still in the race is Kentucky, Texas, Florida, NC State, Oklahoma and Kansas. Out of the running for Randle's services is Baylor, North Carolina, Duke and Oklahoma State.

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Julius Randle narrows to 6: Kentucky, NC State, Florida, Texas, Kansas, OU.

— PCAAthletics (@PCAAthletics) October 2, 2012"

I'll go ahead and own up to the fact I had Randle heading to Chapel Hill in my latest predictions on the destinations of the top 2013 recruits. I could say I originally had NC State, but I'm not Skip Bayless. I don't hedge my bets.

However, I am still leaning toward his excellence ending up in Raleigh, NC with Mark Gottfried and the Wolfpack. Not to mention with his close friend, and recently cleared, Rodney Purvis.

That would be good news for the ACC, but bad news for Carolina and the rest of NC State's competitors.

So where does that leave Roy Williams and the Tar Heels for 2013?

Well, they already received verbal commitments from point guard Nate Britt and power forward Isaiah Hicks. We should fully expect the official signed documents to come during the early signing period, Nov. 14-21.

If Roy Williams is still looking for an extra power forward, 5-star Noah Vonleh and 4-star Johnathan Williams would be perfectly viable options at the 4.

Vonleh recently reclassified to the 2013 class, and was instantly pushed to No. 7 overall on the ESPN 100. I also hold Vonleh's skill set and potential in high regard, as I ranked him No. 10 on my top 25 list of uncommitted recruits, regardless of class.

The Tar Heels will get another top recruit, and I wouldn't be surprised if Noah Vonleh ends up that guy.

For those still interested in the recruiting developments of Julius Randle, all of the schools paid him an in-home visit last month. He also visited Kentucky last month and has an official visit scheduled with Florida on Oct. 6.

Julius Randle is ranked the No. 1 prospect for 2013 on the Rivals 150, No. 3 on the ESPN 100 and No. 4 on Scout.