UNC Basketball: Roy Williams visits 5-star prospect on Saturday

Roy Williams hits recruiting trail after overtime win against Miami

Just hours after his team won an overtime thriller against the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday, North Carolina head coach Roy Williams was back on the recruiting trail.

Not long after their postgame responsibilities wrapped up, Williams and assistant coach Hubert Davis boarded a flight en route to Kean University just outside Newark, New Jersey. It was there that the esteemed coaching duo watched 5-star class of 2019 prospect Precious Achiuwa.

A 6-foot-9, 190-pound senior at Montverde Academy, Achiuwa is one of the top small forwards in his class. He’s got interest from programs all across the country, including big name schools like Connecticut, Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oregon, Syracuse and UCLA.

Williams and company have been heavily involved with the Achiuwa recruitment over the past few months, and they offered him a scholarship in late December. Members of the UNC coaching staff — Williams in particular — have been seen at a number of Achiuwa’s games prior to the offer, and in the time since.

Chris Mullin and members of the St. John’s basketball program were also on hand at Kean yesterday to watch Achiuwa. Achiuwa’s older brother, God’sgift, played for St. John’s under former Red Storm head coach Steve Lavin.

There was a benches-clearing brawl that took place near the end of the game — which was part of the Metro Classic — between Montverde Academy and Roselle Catholic High School. The fight took place just moments after Williams and Davis had exited the facility. Players from both sides had to be restrained, and removed from the court with Montverde up by a score of 65-41.

Known for his tremendous athleticism, Achiuwa has great size and strength, particularly for his position. He’s a good ball-handler, a great dunker, and a good shooter from all over the court. He’s also capable of guarding multiple positions, and blocks a lot of shots for a player his size.

Achiuwa is the No. 13 prospect in the 2019 class according to the 247Sports Composite. He’s the fourth-ranked player at his position, and the No. 3 prospect from the state of New York.

Stick with Keeping It Heel in the coming months for any developments in the Achiuwa recruitment, and all the latest news and info on North Carolina basketball.