Keeping It Heel
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UNC Basketball: Tar Heels’ 2020 recruiting class could look a lot like this

By Blake Cockrum

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 16: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels watches his team play against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles during the first half of their game at the Dean Smith Center on November 16, 2018 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 16: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels watches his team play against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles during the first half of their game at the Dean Smith Center on November 16, 2018 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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UNC Basketball
PITTSBURGH, PA – MARCH 15: The Duke Blue Devils mascot, Blue Devil attends the game against the Iona Gaels during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

Mark Williams

Mark Williams is a highly coveted, big-bodied center out of Norfolk, Virginia that’s holding nearly two-dozen scholarship offers from some of the nation’s top basketball programs. Clemson, Duke, Florida, LSU, NC State, Stanford, UCLA, Vanderbilt, VCU, Virginia and Virginia Tech have all offered Williams, and more interest is likely to come his way before a decision has been made.

Williams is a long, strong, mobile big man who can run the floor and finish in the post. Although he’s still working on his offensive game, Williams has some nice post moves and a developing jump shot. His ability to dribble and pass the ball is unusual for a player of his size, but his knack for blocking shots and grabbing a lot of rebounds are a surprise to nobody.

His length and athleticism will allow him to guard multiple positions at the collegiate level. They’ll also be helpful when it comes to creating mismatches against smaller opponents. And altering shots and clogging the lane shouldn’t be hard for the 7-foot, 225-pounder with a 7-foot-2-inch wingspan.

One of the strong competitors in Williams’ recruitment is Duke, but the senior big man does have some ties to North Carolina. He’s played with fellow 2020 center and UNC commit Day’Ron Sharpe on the amateur circuit with Garner Road Basketball Club. He’s also visited the North Carolina campus where he met with Roy Williams, and played pickup games with Rasheed Wallace and other former and current players.

Williams is currently ranked No. 37 in the 247Sports Composite. He’s the No. 7 center in the class of 2020, and third in the state of Virginia. His Crystal Ball favors Duke as a 50 percent favorite over second-place Stanford, who has 25 percent of the vote.

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