UNC Basketball Recruiting: Kennedy Meeks, Austin Nichols, Marcus Lee or Jermaine Lewis?
By Matt Hamm
The Tar Heels already have Isiah Hicks, a five star prospect with superstar potential in hand among the 2013 recruiting class. They have also made the #2 overall rated Julius Randle top priority. Still UNC seeks more size in the 2013 class that could see as many as four bigs usher into Chapel Hill.
Kennedy Meeks and Austin Nichols, both four star prospects are also considering offers from Roy Williams. UNC has also expressed interest in BeeJay Anya and most recently Marcus Lee and Jermaine Lewis. The Heels took a huge hit this season with the departures of John Henson and Tyler Zeller to the NBA. James Michael McAdoo is expected to step in as the teams leader on the block and head to the pro’s himself if all goes well after the upcoming season.
Roy’s trying to strike it rich in the 2013 class. With the point guard spot taken care of with Marcus Paige and Nate Britt set to team up in 2013 and a stacked perimeter that projects to be mostly intact still. 2013 is a terrific class of big men and Carolina has done their homework on the entire class and will come away with a minimum of three in my view.
Hicks is looking more and more like a superstar type of guy at the next level. It looks like Roy’s strategy is to surround him with another superstar (Randle) and two or more four star guys to compliment and grow with the program. The 2012 class brings in Joel James and Brice Johnson, two guys with tons of upside along with some developmental needs for both guys.
Pairing Hicks and Randle could end up being one of the most dynamic inside duo’s in all of college basketball. These two would compliment each other so well in my eyes that it might be more dangerous than Zeller/Henson (at least offensively). As long as Carolina lands Randle, Roy’s #1 target in this class for a long time now, this recruiting class is a success.
Adding the right complimentary guys will be even bigger for the 2014-16 classes. This is a rare class for me, I actually like all the bigs the Heels are targeting. If I had to choose, this is my order: Kennedy Meeks, Marcus Lee, Austin Nichols, Jermaine Lewis, but I’ll take any two and be happy with my pair just to be clear.
Meeks must be in Joel James’ family or something because every time I read about, watch or see him I have deja vu. The way Meeks is trimming down his body and not losing strength in his game is reminiscent of James’ journey this time last year that resulted in JJ losing over 60 pounds. I love where James’ game is at right now and I think Meeks could be even better. He’s a better and more natural passer and a better athlete. I really think their similarities would lead to great competition in practice and friendly competition that would help push both young men.
Marcus Lee is just a little bit more talented than Nichols and Lewis in my view. All three are four star prospects, stand between 6-9 and 6-10 and need some work in college before thinking about the pro’s. Nichols is the most fundamentally sound, Lewis the most versatile of the group and Lee the most complete (in my view at least). If it’s up to me, after Randle, Meeks and Lee would be the ideal combination for Carolina.
Who do you want to see in Carolina Blue?