Five-star guard Dylan Mingo commits to North Carolina
By ADAM ZAGORIA
Five-star guard Dylan Mingo of Long Island Lutheran and the PSA Cardinals is headed to North Carolina.
The 6-foot-5 combo guard, who is ranked the No. 2 point guard by ESPN, pledged to the Tar Heels over Washington, Penn State and Baylor. His older brother, Kayden, plays for Penn State.
“I would like to take my talents to the University of North Carolina,” he said on ESPN. “On my visit, I felt how family-oriented everything was. The coaches just made me feel welcome. The team was super nice, I hung out with the team for a bit. They were all connected. I didn’t feel any animosity And the legacy of North Carolina, that was a dream of mine since I was a kid.”
Mingo, who has played only two games this season due to an ankle injury and is day-to-day for the rest of the year, said he’s looking forward to the Duke-North Carolina rivalry.
“Definitely seeing everything after they won the game [last week] had a huge impact on my decision because it’s so joyful, the fans looked so joyful,” he said. “If you heard Seth Trimble and Caleb Wilson, if you heard them speak after, they talked about how much they loved the community and loved North Carolina, like they would do anything for it.”
He added: “The goal is a national championship.”
North Carolina lands a difference maker in Dylan Mingo. @SCNext @_Dylanmingo @UNC_Basketball
— Paul Biancardi (@PaulBiancardi) February 17, 2026
Since his early years Dylan Mingo has been skilled and savvy. He combines length, high level positional size, production, defense, and a scoring skill set.
With positional size he has… pic.twitter.com/oHevlBzEVV
As for joining his brother at Penn State, Mingo said, “I’ll say Penn State was second. It’s super hard to not play with your brother, to decline that option, but I just felt like North Carolina was best for me right now.”
He joins four-star wing Maximo Adams in Hubert Davis’s 2026 recruiting class.
“Dylan brings tremendous versatility to the college level at 6’5” running the point,” PSA Cardinals coach Donovan Jones said. “He’s a true two-way guard who can defend multiple positions, create his own shot, and make plays for others. His size and toughness give him an advantage, and he competes every possession.”
Said LuHi assistant coach Jay David: “He’s one of the more college-ready guys you will come across. He’s shown up on every level from playing with PSA Cardinals on the EYBL circuit to playing with LuHi on the EYBL Scholastic. At 6’6 he has great positional size and can defend all 1-4 while being able to see over small defenders during screen actions.
“Character-wise he is one of the best young men I’ve been around.”
Mingo was asked what he brings to Carolina, where he will likely join 6-5 rising sophomore Derek Dixon in the backcourt, giving Davis and his staff two big ball-handling guards.
“First of all, they’re getting a winner,” he said. “I’ll assure that we’re going to win at North Carolina next year. And second, a dog on defense first, a person that’s versatile, that’s long, lengthy, can defend 1-3, 1-4, and then offensively I feel like I can pretty much do anything, having some comparisons to Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander].”
Asked his preference on playing the point or the two guard, he said, “I prefer the point but any situation you’re in it’s better to have two point guards on the floor, so you’re going to have to play off the ball at some point.”
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