After a long, somewhat painful wait, five-star 2026 combo guard Dylan Mingo has announced that he is committed to play for the University of North Carolina this fall. This announcement was made on ESPN’s First Take with Steven A. Smith.
Mingo is a 6’5, 189-lb combo guard out of Glen Head, NY. He currently plays for Long Island Lutheran, and he is the second best combo guard in the country according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, as well as the fifth-best overall player. He chose the Tar Heels
over Baylor, Penn State, and Washington. Interestingly enough, Mingo’s 247Sports Composite 0.9981 score is the exact same as Caleb Wilson’s was before he made his way onto campus.
This is a win that Hubert Davis desperately needed in this 2026 class. That isn’t to say that he wasn’t getting any quality talent — he already earned a commitment from Maximo Adams, is a four star small forward that has already signed his National Letter of Intent. But Mingo will likely be the last player that Davis gets out of this class, and the rest of his moves will come from the transfer portal. Mingo gives Davis a high-quality freshman who has one-and-done potential, and also gives him another weapon to team up with Derek Dixon should he decide to stay with the program.
As far as what Mingo can do on the court, scouting reports see him has a big guard with a lot of length that has a lot of versatility. He can guard most positions on the floor, is able to create for himself as well as others on offense, and is a good perimeter defender. One of the knocks on his game is that he can sometimes be a little lackadaisical with the ball, which has resulted in unnecessary turnovers. However, the good far outweighs the bad, and he will undoubtedly be a huge positive for a Carolina team that barring a huge surprise will lose Caleb Wilson to the NBA.
Now that Davis has locked in Mingo, it’s likely that his focus once the season is over will strictly be on the transfer portal. He has a solid group of guys on this year’s roster, but there may be a few roster moves that are made if things continue going the way they are, both from a NBA Draft and an overall fit perspective. But what do you think about UNC’s latest commitment? Let us know in the comments below.
