Beating NC State in essentially anything is always fun for North Carolina Tar Heel fans, especially when it comes to recruiting battles.
On Thursday night, Bill Belichick and the UNC football program got the upper-hand on Dave Doeren and NC State, securing a commitment from Class of 2026 EDGE rusher Lawrence Brown.
Committed🐏@nichols_ty @Belichick_B @mlombardiuncgm @BelichickDynast @CoachNickPopiel@Coach_AMHill @CoachTuftsJr @grayson_fb@RecruitGeorgia @CoachCarswell@On3Recruits pic.twitter.com/bAbmFPzNm1
— Lawrence Brown Jr (@athlj2026) June 27, 2025
Brown announced his commitment on social media. The 6-foot-4, 195-pound edge rusher from Loganville, Georgia received offers from the likes of Pittsburgh, Arkansas, Purdue, and Wake Forest (among others), but his recruitment came down to two schools who reside in the state of North Carolina.
Fortunately, Brown made the right choice.
Brown made official visits to both North Carolina and NC State during the month of June, as it appears that his trips were enough to help him make his final decision. It also helps that his current high school teammate, four-star quarterback Travis Burgess, committed to the UNC football program in May.
Although he is currently unranked by 247Sports, it might not be long before Brown starts to get recognized by media outlets. An under-the-radar guy, Brown finished his junior season with 30 tackles and six sacks over his 13 games played, and is expected to be a force to be reckoned with during his senior season at Grayson High School.
Brown becomes the fourth member of the Class of 2026 to commit to the UNC football program over the last 72 hours. He is the second prospect to pledge to the Tar Heels on Thursday, following Zamaurious Robertson's commitment just a few hours prior.
With the addition of Brown, North Carolina now has 25 players from the Class of 2026 committed to play for Bill Belichick and the UNC football program.