CHAPEL HILL, N.C. _ On Jan. 10, 2015, North Carolina hosted Louisville in a nationally televised game at the Dean E. Smith Center. At the time, the Tar Heels were ranked No. 18 in the nation, the Cardinals were No. 5.
In attendance that day were top basketball recruits Brandon Ingram, Jaylen Brown, Harry Giles and Dennis Smith Jr. Ingram and Brown were two of the most sought out recruits in the Class of 2015; Giles and Smith were two of the top prospects in 2016.
As the game was winding down, UNC guard Marcus Paige, at the time a junior, made the arena erupt when he scored a game-winning layup in the 72-71 upset win over the Cardinals, and afterward Ingram, Brown, Giles and Smith ran toward the Tar Heels' locker room to join the celebration.
In that moment it was easy to see UNC fans envisioning that group of recruits leading the Tar Heels to more wins. In reality it would be the last time any of them were inside UNC's home locker room. Months later, Brown would sign with the University of California and Ingram would commit to UNC's biggest rival _ Duke. In the fall of 2015, Giles would also commit to Duke, while Smith would commit to N.C. State.
That group of recruits not only committed to other schools, but were very successful, with the exception of Giles, who battled injuries during his one season at Duke. Brown, Giles, Ingram and Smith would all go one to be one-and-done college players, and each was a first-round pick in the NBA draft.
As a freshman at Cal, Brown averaged 14.6 points per game, was named first-team All-Pac-12 and was the league's Rookie of the Year. The Boston Celtics selected Brown with the third overall pick in the 2016 draft, one spot behind Ingram, who was picked by the Lakers after averaging 17.3 points in his only season at Duke.
Ingram was also the ACC Rookie of the Year. Smith won that award in 2017 and was picked No. 9 by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2017 NBA draft.
But did the Tar Heels really suffer without those top recruits?
