UNC Football: Tar Heels land four-star DE in 2022 class

It’s been a while since Mack Brown and the UNC Football program landed a recruit for their 2022 recruiting class. But that changed on Wednesday afternoon.

Brown and the Tar Heels staff received good news when four-star defensive end Beau Atkinson offered his verbal commitment to the program. He now becomes the fifth player to commit to North Carolina’s 2022 class and the first since Malaki Hamrick on February 21st.

Atkinson made his decision at Rivals media day on Wednesday night, pledging his commitment to the Tar Heels:

With the recruiting restrictions lifted, it’s allowed coaches and players to take trips including official visits. And while it hasn’t led to a ton of commitments yet for UNC, they are on the board here in the month of June with this big commitment.

Atkinson is a Raleigh, North Carolina native that is set to play his senior season at Leesville Road High School. He’s ranked No. 360 overall, No. 19 at the edge position and No. 11 in the state of North Carolina per the 247Sports recruiting rankings. Atkinson picked the Tar Heels over Miami, and Michigan, while having a total of 18 offers in his recruitment. He recently visited UNC during the month of June and has taken trips to both Michigan and Miami.

But in the end it was the Tar Heels that won out on this important recruiting battle and have boosted their defense for the future.

With the commitment, the Tar Heels 2022 class has two players from the state of North Carolina and three others from the state of Virginia. It’s a class that is also ranked in the top 40 right now with a lot of time to improve on that ranking.

For more on the UNC Football program and recruiting, please check back with Keeping It Heel.