Miami commit gives biggest hint yet he's about to flip to North Carolina

Momentum around Kenton Dopson III’s recruitment shifted hard toward Chapel Hill this week, as national recruiting editor Steve Wiltfong logged an expert pick for North Carolina to flip the Miami Norland cornerback from his Miami pledge. Wiltfong’s projection framed UNC as the program to beat and now, it appears like something might happen soon.

On Thursday night, Dopson posted to his X account a picture of him in UNC gear that might just be foreshadowing a potential announcement.

Predictions from industry leaders don’t guarantee flips — but they rarely come without meaningful intel. Wiltfong’s call for UNC on Sept. 4, 2025, plus Dopson's post, is the strongest public signal to date that Dopson’s recruitment is tilting away from Miami.

Dopson, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound junior who committed to Miami on March 14, 2025, is currently one of the top CB's in the 2027 cycle. Dopson holds offers from Penn State, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Florida, Florida State and South Carolina, among others. What also makes his recruitment different is that he could reclassify to 2026.

Under head coach Bill Belichick, UNC’s 2026 class has surged to No. 18 nationally (No. 4 ACC) in the On3 Industry team rankings. This gives the Tar Heels a chance to sell recruits on the direction of the program, despite a recent blowout loss to TCU. A reclass would drop Dopson straight into that rising group — but it doesn't exactly explain why he would flip (or it doesn't completely answer the question)

Miami and Mario Cristobal have given Dopson permission to join their 2026 Class, as it could be assumed for UNC and other programs. If he moves to Miami's 2026 class, he joins four 4-star CB's with Jontavius Wyman, Brody Jennings, Jaelen Waters and Camdin Portis already committed (per Rivals). For any recruit, that may not be all that attractive. But, the tricky part is that UNC also has four CB's committed in the Class of 2026 — although each of them are listed as 3-star players (per Rvials). Dopson would be joining Jaden Jefferson, Xavier Jackson, Keegan Chapman and Marcellous Ryan if he were to go through with the potential flip and officially decide to reclassify.

So if you're keeping track at home: both programs seem open to reclassification for Dopson, both have four CB's already committed in 2026, UNC's are all three-stars while Miami's are all four-stars, and we don't know what the NIL is looking like for him at each program.

With all of the information that we have, it does seem a little bit confusing as to why the decision to flip is so enticing. Obviously NIL would play a part in any move but it's not unreasonable to think Miami would be able to match whatever UNC would bring to the table — especially to keep a local star. But that's just speculation. As of right now this is a developing situation and more news will likely come soon for what the young CB decides is best for his future.