UNC Basketball: Tar Heels recruiting Simeon Wilcher’s four-star teammate

Four-star power forward Akil Watson is the teammate of 2023 UNC basketball commit Simeon Wilcher, and the Tar Heels are after him, too.

Hubert Davis and the North Carolina Tar Heels earned their first commitment from a class of 2023 prospect last week in five-star combo guard Simeon Wilcher. Now, with Wilcher already in tow and looking to add to their early haul, the Tar Heels are targeting Wilcher’s high school teammate, Akil Watson.

Watson, like Wilcher, is a junior at Roselle Catholic High School in Roselle, New Jersey, and he’s among the best in the nation at his position. A 6-foot-9, 200-pound power forward, Watson already has scholarship offers from more than a dozen schools. His current list includes Auburn, Connecticut, Creighton, Illinois, Texas Tech and West Virginia, but you can expect his offer sheet to double in the coming months. In fact, one of the programs recruiting him hardest — North Carolina — is yet to extend an offer, but that’s not likely to remain the case for long.

"“It is a legendary program,” Watson said of the Tar Heels in a recent interview with 247Sports. “Jeff Lebo makes sure I am okay, and messages me all the time. He always tells me to keep working hard.”"

As the Tar Heels continue to ramp up their efforts with Watson, one has to wonder if his relationship with Wilcher and Wilcher’s commitment to North Carolina could end up playing a part in his recruitment. It almost has to, though it makes a Watson commitment to UNC nowhere near a done deal. I have to believe that a North Carolina offer is coming his way soon, and wouldn’t be surprised to see Watson on campus for a visit some time after that.

Ranked 40th in his class and fifth in the state of New Jersey, Watson is currently one of just two 2023 power forwards that North Carolina is seriously considering, the other being Gregory “G.G.” Jackson. I actually like the Tar Heels’ chances with Jackson, the No. 10 overall recruit in the 2023 class. If the Tar Heels get a commitment from one or the other, could it greatly impact the other’s recruitment? Right now we have more questions than answers, as there’s a lot of time left in both players’ recruitments.

We’ll continue to follow both in the coming months, as well as everything else on the UNC basketball program. Check back with Keeping It Heel for all of the latest.