NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top-10 Ziaire Williams final 7 teams

North Carolina Tar Heels

Remember how hard I said it is to get a player to travel across the country earlier? It’s easier when you have a Hall of Fame head coach to make the argument. Roy Williams of UNC has been after Williams as hard as any team, even more after Duke landed a five-star wing of their own in Johnson.

That right there is why the Tar Heels have a better shot at winning out this recruiting battle between the hated rivals. After losing Cameron Johnson to graduation and Nassir Little to the NBA Draft, they decided to go the grad transfer route for an impact replacement. That guy is Justin Pierce, a talented scorer from William & Mary. And his likely backup at that position is another grad transfer in Christian Keeling from Charleston Southern from the Big South. But as far as the season after goes, it’s wide open on the wings.

Williams would be a perfect high-level replacement for the Tar Heels and would be 30+ mpg at the small forward position. He would join already committed top-30 frontcourt prospect Day’Ron Sharpe, with UNC also favored to land five-star shooting guard Jaden Springer and top 2020 point guard Caleb Love.

With four out of the five projected starters for next season not likely to be around, it’s hard to see how North Carolina will look. But if they can land Williams before the season starts, the 2020 recruiting class could be a historic one for the program.