UNC Basketball: Roy Williams on UNC’s 2018 recruiting class

UNC head coach Roy Williams comments on his 2018 class as the early signing day period opens

Wednesday marked the start of the early signing period for college basketball recruits in the 2018 class, lasting just one week before re-opening in April.

Recruits can sign their National Letter of Intent for a college on this day, committing to the program and school.

The North Carolina Tar Heels currently have the No. 1 recruiting class in the 2018 rankings signing three top 100 recruits.

The class is headlined by guard Nassir Little who gave his verbal to the Tar Heels back in October.

Little is ranked as a five-star recruit and the No. 9 overall player in 247 Sports’ Composite recruit rankings. He’s UNC’s first top 10 recruit since landing Justin Jackson and Theo Pinson a few years back.

UNC’s class got off to a great start in 2016 when guards Coby White and Rechon “Leaky” Black gave their verbal. Both are top 100 players and will be key pieces for the Tar Heels moving forward.

With the top class, there is a lot of excitement for the future of a program that just went to back-to-back Final Fours and won it all in 2017.

Head coach Roy Williams hasn’t spoken much about the class until now.

UNC made the signings official on Wednesday and released some quotes from Williams about the new class.

“These three young men make my staff and me feel very fortunate and pleased with this class,” said

Williams then offered up a statement about each player in his class, complimenting them as they become members of the Carolina family.

Roy on Nassir Little:

"“He has the potential to be a great scorer and a big-time defender. He can shoot the ball from the outside, he is very athletic finishing plays around the rim and just has the total package as a basketball player. He’s a wonderful kid from a wonderful family."

On Coby White:

"“Coby committed to us after his sophomore year and it was one of the happiest days of my coaching career because I think he is such a wonderful prospect,” says Williams. “He’s 6-5 and can play both guard positions, can shoot the ball extremely well and is very athletic attacking the basket. He pushed the ball hard in transition and will fit in well here.”"

And on Rechon “Leaky” Black:

"Rechon’s grown to almost 6-8, but he can play point guard. His greatest skill is understanding the game. He’s a great passer who is always trying to get others involved. He keeps getting bigger and stronger, so we have no idea what position he will play because he’s so versatile and he keeps growing so much. He truly has a tremendous future."

You can read all of Williams’ quotes on the three-man class via Go Heels.

Despite having the current No. 1 class, Williams and his staff aren’t done yet. The Tar Heels are still in the running for several top recruits.

On Wednesday, they received some bad news as 2018 recruit Simi Shittu cancelled his visit that was set for UNC this weekend.

It appears as if Vanderbilt is now the overwhelming favorite for Shittu.

As for Romeo Langford, he’s set to announce his top 3 this weekend. Langford is one of the best recruits in the class and took a visit to UNC for Late Night With Roy.

Then there is Zion Williamson.

Williamson arguably has the most hype around him in the class, going viral with his incredible dunks that blow up on social media.

There are still some big programs in the running for Williamson, including UNC, but the recruit isn’t tipping his hand and there’s been some momentum for the Tar Heels as of late.

Next: Joel Berry preseason All-America

With the next signing period coming in April a lot is going to happen, including the chance for UNC to improve its class even more.