UNC Football: Four-star running back picks North Carolina
The UNC football program earned a commitment from four-star running back George Pettaway on Wednesday night.
The long-awaited decision of Suffolk, Virginia’s George Pettaway came on Wednesday night, as the four-star running back and top-100 prospect picked North Carolina over Florida, Oregon and Penn State.
His pledge to UNC comes three months after his most recent visit to the school — he went to Chapel Hill twice over the past year — both being of the unofficial variety. In fact, he took only one official visit to his four finalists, a June 25 trip to Penn State just three weeks removed from his time on the UNC campus.
Pettaway’s commitment to North Carolina came as no surprise, given that most of the buzz surrounding his recruitment over the past few months seemed to heavily favor the Tar Heels. And their momentum with the standout junior from Nansemond-Suffolk Academy had been building for some time, leading to a consensus of predictions across 247Sports and Rivals favoring UNC. That included Crystal Ball selections from Director of Football Recruiting Steve Wiltfong, and Penn State insider Sean Fitz. Also expecting a UNC commitment from Pettaway was Adam Friedman, National Recruiting Analyst/Rankings Director for Rivals.
Pettaway joins a 2022 UNC recruiting class that features seven other four-star prospects, and five-star blue chip defensive lineman Travis Shaw. They’ve already got a top-15 recruiting class in the nation, and that should improve following Pettaway’s commitment. It’s also got a good chance to move up once five-star offensive tackle Zach Rice and four-star wide receiver Andre Greene, Jr. announce their decisions. Both are thought to be potential UNC leans, and nobody would be shocked to see them end up in a Carolina uniform next season.
Pettaway is a 5-foot-11, 190-pound back with a quick first step and plenty of acceleration. He’s got good instincts and awareness on the football field, and should win the majority of foot races that he gets into, especially if he’s running north and south. He projects as a difference-maker in year one with the Tar Heels, even if he isn’t a starter as a freshman. He could prove to be a valuable backup to Caleb Hood next season, as well as a potential multiple-year starter in seasons to come.
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Check back with Keeping It Heel for more on new North Carolina commit George Pettaway, as well as all the latest on the Tar Heels’ 2022 recruiting class and everything UNC football.