By Ty Xanders
Inside Lacrosse

(Photo Courtesy Jack Baddour/UNC Athletics)

North Carolina is IL’s top-ranked incoming freshman class in the country. Here’s more about the Tar Heels, with a full Top 10 of Top Classes to come soon on InsideLacrosse.com.

On the night of the 2021 Under Armour All-America Senior Game, you could find Carolina head coach Joe Breschi perched on the end zone balcony of Johns Hopkins University’s Cordish Lacrosse Center with a smile from ear to ear. 

Quite frankly, who could blame him?

With eight future Tar Heels on the roster, Breschi’s recruits combined for eight goals and put their athleticism and unmistakable upside on display, while face-off recruit Chase Mullins picked up MVP honors with 28 wins at the stripe. It served as a little taste of what’s to come for a class that flew around that night and might be asked to do so early in Chapel Hill, especially as the program prepares for life after Chris Gray following the ’22 season. 

Right now though, there’s a need for midfield speed and production, as the Heels lost a first line that accounted for 370 career points. 

Antonio DeMarco and Ty English, who IL added as 5-stars last March, are fast-rising alley dodgers who pack a punch with their elite athleticism, ability to shoot on the run and two-way play. They’re seamless fits in the ACC and have the ability to potentially replicate what Justin Anderson and Wiliam Perry brought to the table. 

Additionally, there’s Dewey Egan, a fascinating 6-4, 220-pound recruit who came to Chapel Hill from Torrey Pines (Calif.), joining his older brother, Evan, a senior defenseman. Dewey’s an attackman by trade but could end up out of the midfield to start, moving extraordinarily well for a big-bodied dodger. 

Then there’s an impressive defensive piece in Paul Barton, who Breschi says is “athletic enough to play anywhere we want to put him” and will take some pressure off of LSM Matt Wright, with the 6-4 NorCal native expected to be groomed into a dependable everyday starter. 

Cooper Frankenheimer possesses a lot of the same attributes as junior Alex Breschi and will join him in the d-middie rotation, while Mullins is another capable asset to add to the established face-off committee of Zac Tucci and Andrew Tyeryar. 

It feels like Johnny and Tyler Schwarz — Long Island-bred twins at midfield and LSM, respectively — have their best lacrosse ahead of them, and Philly’s Grant Pierce and Evan Bullotta are nice prospects at close D. 

The son of Tar Heel women’s head coach Jenny Levy, Ryan is an interesting recruit who had a terrific PG year at Taft (Conn.) and is bound to play his way onto the field, showing off a high IQ at both positions whenever called upon. 

With the extra years available and the transfer portal as active as ever, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a level of surprise when a multitude of freshmen get significant minutes in a talent-rich conference. There’s no doubt that this is a group that can not only do just that, but ultimately help the Carolina win its first title since 2016.