UNC Stimulus Package
This post has been provided by Keeping it Heel’s new recruiting insider John Finlayson.
Welcome to our brand new segment here on Keeping it Heel! As our recruiting insider, I try to stay as up to date as possible on all things going on in the Carolina recruiting world. This weekly post will give you insight as to what’s going on with UNC recruitment for both basketball and football.
It was a very busy and eventful week for Roy Williams and his coaching staff on the recruitment front.
Kennedy Meeks took his official visit to Chapel Hill the weekend of October 27th. Meeks was seen walking in to Kenan Stadium with the basketball team in a bright red under armor sweatshirt. He does have NC State in his final list so I am not sure if his wardrobe meant that he was trying to stay neutral. He still has visits to State on November 2nd, Indiana on November 9th, and Kentucky on November 16th. That being said I believe Meeks is ours to lose. He seems to have good relationship with other UNC recruits and he has a Sean May like game that fits very well in Roy’s system. Not to mention, Meeks is a local product. Schools such as Kentucky already have players committed such as Marcus Lee and State has offers to other centers such as Beejay Anya and Dominic Woodson leaving little room for Meeks. Indiana is also high on Anya and Noah Vonleh.
The #1 overall player Tyus Jones (PG), #2 overall Jahlil Okafor (C), and #7 overall Theo Pinson (SF) took visits to Duke and UNC over the weekend of the 19th. They went to Countdown to Craziness as an official visit and then unofficially to UNC the next day. While at UNC they watched practice and were able to shoot around on the floor. Jones said in his blog that in good fun they tried to recreate the Austin Rivers shot where Theo was the first to make it. Not sure what that means in terms of where UNC is on their list, but they are players that would greatly benefit Carolina. I like all three but hate the idea of “package deals” because it’s making college too much like the NBA. I know they were high on Duke but I can’t see someone with the skills as a big man like Jahlil want to go there and play in a three point based offense. North Carolina is one of the few schools besides Duke to have offered all three which at this point will put them in the mix as much as anyone.
Andrew Wiggins shook the world when he reclassified to the class of 2013. He took the number one spot over Jabari Parker who now is the highest rated #2 player ever. Wiggins had a strong summer and was voted the best player in high school even as a member of the 2014 class. Kentucky and Florida State were the front runners for the 6-7 forward (parents played at FSU and Kentucky has been after him forever), but after reclassifying to 2013 it’s anybodys game. Kentucky already has two SG’s committed in James Young and Aaron Harrison leaving little room on the depth chart. Roy Williams has offered him as well and has been said to have constantly in contact which includes his in home visit with Andrew on Thursday. For his position Roy has offered a similar player in Vonleh who is also a top ten recruit. It’s unlikely that UNC will land both players, but I believe Wiggins is UNC’s to lose. Roy has watched him once work out and is pushing very hard to have him wear Carolina blue.
Big weekend for football recruiting – UNC also had a big weekend for recruiting this week. The Heels beat NC State at the end and unveiled new helmets and rarely seen uniforms in front of some big commits and other top recruits. Some of the top commits attendance included star dual threat QB Mitch Trubisky, 6-5 250 pound DE Nazair Jones, and speedster Ryan Switzer. I think Switzer’s break away speed is a huge game changer for Coach Fedora in the coming seasons and he should fit into the spread offense quite nicely (highlights are below). There were 21 recruits in attendance overall.
That about sums up the UNC recruiting news for last week. Obviously, it was a busy week and we should expect more of the same from Roy and Fedora this week as well. Check in with Keeping it Heel for all the latest in North Carolina recruiting.