UNC Football: Tar Heels pick up Crystal Ball predictions for 4-star DE

UNC football program gaining traction with 4-star defensive end

Class of 2021 defensive end George Wilson planned to visit college campuses before making a decision on his future school, but the NCAA’s recruiting dead period put a halt on that. The 4-star prospect instead utilized phone calls and text messages to coaching staffs, as well as virtual tours to help him come to a decision.

Those methods helped Wilson so much, in fact, that he decided to announce his college choice on July 12. It’s a decision that comes down to Arizona State, North Carolina, Penn State and South Carolina, the four programs that made Wilson’s list of finalists in early June. A senior at Green Run High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Wilson spoke to Rivals about each of his four finalists, including the Tar Heels, whose assistant coach, Dre Bly, has been working hard for a commitment from the talented defensive prospect.

"“North Carolina is closer to home,” Wilson told Rivals last month. “I know one of their coaches, coach Dre Bly, is from the 757. They have some really good coaches. They’re recruiting me at outside linebacker. I went to North Carolina October 26th. I was there for the Duke game. The atmosphere down there was crazy. It was a rivalry game so it was crazy and I loved the energy.”"

The Tar Heels, who weren’t even in Wilson’s list of seven finalists leading up to his June announcement, made a strong push toward the end of his recruitment to get into contention. Now, it’s beginning to look like they may be the favorites.

A trio of Crystal Ball predictions in favor of North Carolina have come through over the past couple of days, including one from Director of Football Recruiting Steve Wiltfong. That’s a good sign for the Tar Heels, given Wiltfong’s track record for correctly predicting the college destination of top recruits. He’s missed on just two of his 290 picks for the class of 2021. National Recruiting Analyst Brian Dohn, who has correctly predicted nearly 98 percent of his picks for the 2021 class, is also on board with the Tar Heels. He submitted his pick the same day as Wiltfong.

Wilson is ranked 336th in the nation according to the 247Sports Composite. He’s 23rd among players at his position, and ninth in the state of Virginia. He’s ranked even higher in the Top247, which pegs him as the No. 182 overall prospect in the class, 13th among weak side defensive ends, and seventh in his home state.

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