UNC Basketball Recruiting: Examining the Tar Heel Way
By Matt Hamm
Every program in the country has a different style of recruiting. Much like free agency in professional sports, each program decides who to target, who to offer and who to bring into their program. John Calipari is content flipping almost his entire roster with one and done prospects. Every year is a roller coaster in Lexington, I’m not a fan of this type of style. Constant scrutiny, uncertainty and most of all, fans never get the chance to fall in love with a player. That may sound corny, but think about this Tyler Hansbrough, Tyler Zeller, Michael Jordan, I could go on and on with players that captured the hearts of Tar Heel Nation over the course of three to four year careers. College should be, well college, a place for real student athletes, not simply an NBA factory.
But we’re here to talk about Roy Williams and the Tar Heels recruiting strategy. One that takes the present and future of North Carolina into account. Williams’ philosophy is that you need a mix of big time, five star, potential one and done, superstar type recruits. And with those superstars you need to balance them with groups of versatile prospects with high ceilings the coaching staff can develop, over time.
The beauty in this philosophy is that it keeps everything together. It’s not just a saying, the Tar Heels don’t rebuild, they reload. By battling programs like Kentucky for the very best prospects. The mystique of the program would take a hit if some of these top players didn’t choose Chapel Hill. On the other side, by paying early attention to four star recruits the dream remains alive. A high school prospect on the rise can still dream of wearing Carolina blue even if he has no shot at becoming a top 25 prospect.
Roy Williams is a master at building rosters. Just as Kendall Marshall exits, Marcus Paige enters with Nate Britt right behind him. The one exception to the rule, the Heels always recruit top end point guards, they must given their style of play. The perimeter is so stacked it’s almost hard to imagine fitting Harrison Barnes on the roster now had he decided to return for his junior year. The depth may have taken a hit inside the paint.
Losing Tyler Zeller and John Henson would set most programs back at least a year or two. Except Roy has a star in waiting in James Michael McAdoo. A couple four star players who could develop into stars in Brice Johnson and Joel James. With Isiah Hicks right behind them.
UNC has offers out to Jabari Parker, Julius Randle, Troy Williams, Noah Vonleh, Kennedy Meeks, Austin Nichols and Jahlil Okafor in the 2013 and 2014 classes. Several of those players are flat out superstars, a couple others players who would be excellent role players while they develop, a nice balance. Roy and his staff are keeping tabs on several other recruits, many of whom have put kept them on their list without an offer. Nick King, a top 10 prospect, recently cut his list down to five teams from fifteen. King previously had 14 offers amongst his top 15. He now has four offers in his final five, you know your doing something right when a player like King keeps you on his list without an offer.
The next time your wondering why in the world UNC hasn’t offered Nick King, Keith Frazier, BeeJay Anya, Joel Berry, Jalen Lindsey or any other recruit. Think about this, Roy Williams is one of, if not the very best at not just recruiting but building a roster the program and the University can be proud of.