UNC Football: National Signing Day 2018 Primer

Here’s a look at when UNC targets will announce their decision on National Signing Day

National Signing Day 2018 is finally here as college football teams all over the country finalize their recruiting classes for the upcoming year.

The early signing day period took place back in December, a new date that was installed last year and gave programs the chance to sign players in their class early.

This year the North Carolina Tar Heels enter the day with six recruits already enrolled, nine that have signed their letter of intent and two hard commits expected to sign on Wednesday.

The class is highlighted by wide receiver Jordyn Adams who is a composite four-star player and one of the best at his position. Adams picked the Tar Heels over Clemson in July and is the key piece to this class.

But he’s not the only player to get excited about.

Head coach Larry Fedora has put together an impressive class going into NSD and it has the chance to get even better. Going into Wednesday, the class has three four-star recruits signed and 13 three-star recruits.

It could be a big day for the Tar Heels on Wednesday.

They are still in the running for a few big recruits, as they announce their decisions on NSD.

With a class ranked No. 35 going into Wednesday, there is the opportunity to climb into the Top 30 and even Top 25 if everything goes as planned.

It’s possible we could be looking at UNC’s best class in about five years, depending on how Wednesday goes.

Here’s a look at targets the Tar Heels are still in the running for and when they will announce:

Wednesday, February 7 (Signing Day)

• 11 a.m. ET — Dax Hollifield: One of UNC’s top remaining targets is set to make his decision Wednesday morning. Dax Holliefield is a four-star linebacker that is the No. 150th-ranked player in the nation.  Hollifield would fill an instant need at inside linebacker for the Tar Heels, especially with the departure of Andre Smith to the NFL. The recruit will make his official announcement at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the Malcom Brown Auditorium at Shelby High School. Finalists: UNC, Virginia Tech, Stanford & Clemson
• 11:30 a.m. ET — Jamarcus Chatman: The defensive end previously committed to LSU then flipped to Tennessee before decommitting and  re-opened his recruitment. The Tar Heels have been heavily involved and are in position to land the three-star recruit. UNC will have some tough competition, especially with Florida schools Miami and FSU. He took a visit to Miami last weekend. Finalists: UNC, FSU, Virginia Tech, Miami.
• 11:30 a.m. ET — William Barnes: Barnes is one of the top offensive lineman remaining uncommitted in the 2018 class and is a big target for UNC. The four-star tackle is down to Florida and UNC, with the buzz being the Tar Heels holding the edge. Barnes was supposed to visit Florida on Feb. 2 but it was canceled. He has yet to set an announcement time. Finalists: UNC, Florida & Ole Miss
• 11:30 a.m. ET  — Ed Montilus:  The Tar Heels could land a package deal Wednesday on their offensive line. Montilus and Barnes are extremely close and are rumored to be a big package deal for one lucky team. The lineman was supposed to take a visit with Barnes to Florida over the weekend but as we previously mentioned, it was canceled. Like Barnes, the Tar Heels seem to be the favorites for the three-star recruit. Finalists: UNC, Florida & Ole Miss
• 2:30 p.m. ET — Rick Sandidge:  In-state defensive tackle Rick Sandidge has become a very important target for the Tar Heels on Wednesday.  Sandidge is the sixth-best recruit in the state and a a top 150 player overall. The four-star defensive tackle showed a lot of interest in UNC but as of late it appears that South Carolina and Georgia are in a tight battle for him. Finalists: Georgia, South Carolina & UNC
• 3:30 p.m. ET — Antoine Green:  The Tar Heels have already landed recruits at key offensive positions such as quarterback, running back and wide receiver but are looking to add to that. One of those players could be four-star wide receiver Antoine Green.  The Florida product was recently on campus for a big visit weekend a few weeks ago and the Tar Heels really impressed him. He’s set to decide on Wednesday with the Tar Heels and Georgia Bulldogs the frontrunners. Finalists: UNC, Georgia & Florida State.

There might be some more surprises along the way but those are the big announcements coming that involve UNC as of now.

Wednesday could be a big day if UNC gets what it needs to improve their 2018 class.

Next: 2 Tar Heels invited to NFL Scouting Combine

Check back with Keeping It Heel for full National Signing Day coverage throughout the day and into the evening with our Live Blog.