UNC Basketball Recruiting: The Domino’s Are About to Fall, Starting With Troy Williams
By Matt Hamm
UNC fans have been clamoring for Roy Williams to make some more official offers to the stars they covet in the 2013 and 2014 class. Each day I receive at least a few emails and several tweets that follow the same pattern. “When will UNC offer _____” after news of Austin Nichols being offered by Carolina, “Why are we offering Nichols? We need to go after _____” “Does this mean we’re not getting Julius Randle?”.
I’ve preached patience to Tar Heel Nation. My belief is that everything will fall into place, shortly. The 2013 class will be almost entirely complete by the end of AAU season and 2014 will have a nice start. I strongly believe that Roy is just waiting on a few domino’s to fall, the first drops tomorrow, and North Carolinas recruiting path will soon become much clearer with the decision of Troy Williams.
Whether Troy Williams decides to go to UNC or Kentucky, he dictates not only the next, but a series of moves. A commitment to Carolina means the Heels can focus on tying up the class with a big man. This means continuing to knock down the door of Randle whom the team is largely invested in. And following in the Roy Williams way of blending five star, top tier players with four and sometimes three star prospects more likely to star long into their college careers. Adding a big like Austin Nichols who was just offered, or a Marcus Lee who he can develop and count on to stay in the program 3-4 years. If at any point Randle seems to sway elsewhere, an offer to a Kennedy Meeks would likely happen.
If Troy decides to go to Kentucky. Carolina, an already deep team on the perimeter would turn up the heat on Nick King and or Keith Frazier and offers to those two would likely be almost immediate. The fact that they haven’t come yet may indicate that Williams has already told Roy that he is coming to Chapel Hill.
The Heels have recruited, kept in touch and expressed interest in a ton of players in both the 2013 and 2014 classes. The official offers made have been to the elite of the class. With Nate Britt and Isiah Hicks, the Heels already have two big time, five star recruits in hand. Offers to Williams, Jabari Parker and Julius Randle were made a long time ago. With the Williams domino set to drop on May 2nd, the next phase has begun. Just because it begun with Austin Nichols doesn’t mean anything other than Roy is following his plan. Carolina fans should be happy that UNC is on so many elite players lists, many they haven’t even made an offer to yet. The 2014 class has a few players just dying for a UNC offer in Joel Berry and Jalen Lindsay. But Roy can wait, keep the prestige of an offer by UNC alive and methodically move through the recruiting process.
This isn’t a time to criticize or worry about Carolina basketball, it’s a time to study, watch closely and marvel at one of the greatest recruiters in college basketball history do his work. In closing I will say this. I’ve made a few predictions about who will and won’t end up in Carolina. I will be right about some, and wrong about most more than likely. One thing I will not be wrong about, the 2013 class when finished will be very strong and Tar Heel Nation will be served with proof, once again, that Roy Williams is as good as anybody at building a roster.
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