UNC Basketball Recruiting: Nick King Names Top 5, Are Heels Moving On From Troy Williams?
By Matt Hamm
2013 small forward Troy Williams cut his list down to two and was supposed to choose between UNC and Kentucky on May 1st via Twitter. On the night of April 30th, Troy even gave a time, “sometime after school, so after 3:09PM”. Twitter, message boards and at least one UNC editors email box I know of went insane. Boo Williams strongly hinted in an interview with Inside Carolina that Troy was head to Chapel Hill. This quote ” Doctors say he’s still growing, if he grows another 2-3 inches he could end up being a four at Carolina”. Tar Heel Nation was convinced, Williams was on his way to Carolina.
Then came the morning of May 1st. Troy tweets another chalkboard pic, this time, Postponed the decision for a little while. Going to set up a new date later this week. Didn’t feel right waking up this morning. My first reaction and just common sense tell me to not just refrain from overreacting, but reacting at all. Troy Williams is barely old enough to drive a car, anybody would be ridiculous to try and figure out what’s going through his head. An indecisive teenager? Oh no! But at the same time, it sure did seem like Troy was headed, or at least leaning towards Carolina. And no matter how much you believe Troy Williams will wear Carolina blue eventually, that fact cannot be denied by anyone.
The depth on the perimeter and the quality of wing position players in the 2013 and 2014 classes (not to mention the fact that Noah Vonleh may or may not reclassify to 2013) mean only that the Tar Heels aren’t desperate at the present time for wing help in 2013. Roy Williams still has an offer out to the classes #1 overall prospect Jabari Parker who will decide by fall. The combination of depth and undecided perimeter players cannot be taken for granted by Carolina. The Heels were the deepest and best team inside last season. After Tyler Zeller and John Henson left for the NBA, instantly, UNC was looking for help. Had James Michael McAdoo went pro, Roy Williams would have been desperate for another big man or two.
Reggie Bullock, PJ Hairston were five star recruits, Leslie McDonald and JP Tokoto both four star athletic studs. I don’t anticipate it, but nobody can say with confidence that two or more of those players won’t have a big time breakout season and go pro early. UNC has available scholarships and part of building a great team is planning for all possibilities.
Nick King and Keith Frazier of the 2013 class have both received a lot of attention lately from Carolina. Both remain without official offers, could that change soon? King recently cut his list down to five, with UNC one of the remaining teams he is considering. I’ve heard rumors from both angles. Word out of Troy’s high school on April 30th had him going to UNC. The latest rumors go from Troy leaning towards Kentucky with his uncle Boo Williams the AAU legendary coach, is pushing him to UNC.
I don’t expect Troy to take much longer to decide. With the next wave of AAU games set to begin May 4th I wouldn’t expect anything until after his next block of games. Mid to late May is a realistic time frame to expect news to break on the situation. That gives Roy time to wait, or change course and go after King or Frazier by offering a scholarship before Williams announces his intentions. It makes sense that Roy didn’t dial up the phone with an official offer the minute Troy delayed his decision. It’s respectful and best for the kid to give him some breathing room. If he’s waffling much longer, it might be time to put the pressure on him by pressing for a decision. Offer or receive a commitment from King or Frazier and Williams or any other perimeter player goes from a need, to a luxury.