UNC Basketball: 5-star prospect sets official visit to North Carolina

UNC basketball program will host star-studded group of recruits for Late Night with Roy

Class of 2020 prospect Ziaire Williams will do something that no other high school basketball recruit has done before; take multiple official visits to the University of North Carolina. The Tar Heels will host Williams for the second time on September 27 at Late Night with Roy.

Late Night with Roy has served as the Tar Heels’ unofficial start to the college basketball season since the Hall-of-Fame head coach left Kansas for North Carolina in 2003. It’s also where at least five 5-star prospects will be at when the Tar Heels kick off their 2019-20 campaign.

Along with Williams, the No. 5 prospect in the 2020 class according to the 247Sports Composite, top-20 UNC pledge Day’Ron Sharpe, 5-star 2020 targets Cade Cunningham and Greg Brown and 5-star class of 2021 power forward Paulo Banchero will be in attendance. Like Williams, Brown will be visiting the UNC campus for a second time, but in an unofficial capacity this go-round.

Williams is a 6-foot-9, 185-pound small forward out of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, and one of the highest-rated players on the Tar Heels’ recruiting board. A pledge from Williams would give North Carolina its second 5-star commitment in the class, and third top-10 recruit in the past three seasons. And there’s no doubt that Williams would be a huge addition to a UNC squad searching for talented wings to join the mix next fall.

Williams has a group of finalists that includes Arizona, Duke, North Carolina, Oregon, Stanford, USC and UCLA. For quite some time, the general consensus was that Williams was leaning heavily toward North Carolina and Stanford. Recently, though, it seems as if his recruitment is a bit more open than was initially thought, particularly with Duke making a strong push over the past few months.

Known for his physicality and versatility on both ends of the floor, Williams has a terrific offensive game that features a nice jump shot with range beyond the three-point line. He’s more likely to knock down a jumper off a couple dribbles than taking it all the way to the goal, but he does have the ability to put the ball on the floor and drive the lane. Williams’ size and length will allow him to guard multiple positions on the floor, and play different roles on offense.

Barely a top-50 prospect in March of 2018, Williams is now a consensus top-10 recruit in the class. Williams’ rise to the top of the class is thanks to his tremendous play both for his high school, and on the Nike EYBL circuit — where he averaged 21.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.6 steals per game in 13 games with the Oakland Soldiers. He’s been impressing scouts and coaches, and held nearly 20 scholarship offers when he announced his finalists last month. He’s the No. 1 small forward in the 2020 class, and third among prospects from the state of California.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the Ziaire Williams recruitment, and everything UNC basketball.