UNC HC Hubert Davis eyes 4-star prospect amid recruitment interest from Georgia, Kansas, and more

Hubert Davis, the North Carolina Tar Heels' head coach, suffered a first-round exit after their loss against Ole Miss in the NCAA Tournament last season. However, the 55-year-old has already started to plan for the future.

According to 247Sports' Sherrell McMillan, Hubert Davis had a phone call with LJ Smith, a Class of 2027 recruit, who plays for Lincolnton High School in Lincolnton, North Carolina. This happened after UNC assistant coach Jeff Lobo visited Smith's school to watch a workout during the spring.

He spoke about the phone call in an article published on Sunday:

"He (Hubert Davis)cactually texted me Sunday (June 15) and said he was going to call me when he gets back from USA (basketball). Then he called me (this afternoon).

"He said he was really looking forward to building a relationship with me, and that he was excited to be recruiting me. He wants to keep following, watching me develop. Then he told me I had an offer to North Carolina and that they'd love to have me."

LJ Smith ranks 47th nationally, second in the combo guard position, and third in North Carolina (as per On3's Industry Rankings). Apart from Hubert Davis' UNC, Smith has offers from Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia, Kansas, LSU, Memphis, Mississippi, Mississippi State and more.

He started playing basketball at Lincolnton in eighth grade and has played 67 games in three seasons for the Wolves. He is averaging 27.6 points, 2.3 assists, 8.0 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 0.7 blocks per game.

Last season, LJ Smith led the Wolves to a 24-6 record and a 15-2 record in the North Carolina Section 2A Catawba Valley Basketball League, where they finished first. However, the team was knocked out in the third round of the NCHSAA state tournament after a 67-59 loss against Salisbury.

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Hubert Davis' target LJ Smith leads Team Johnson to an unbeaten run in the NBPA Top 100 camp

Team Johnson secured a 5-0 record in the NBPA Top 100 camp from Jun. 11-13, defeating Team Thomas, Team Sandro, Team Smith, Team Reggie and Team Roddy.

LJ Smith averaged 11.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.4 apg in 18.4 mpg. His best performance came against Team Reggie, when he scored 14 points on 7-for-12 shooting, grabbed four rebounds, dished out four assists and stole the ball once.

He also spoke about the camp while on the phone:

"At NBPA, it was like real NBA games. The defensive learning there was cool, because they focused on concepts like ball screens and off-ball defense, and moving as a string as a team."

Smith has two years to decide on his collegiate career.