Recruiting blog: UNC remains a possibility for Zion Williamson after his official visit

Zion Williamson, the No. 2 recruit of the 2018 class according to 247Sports and ESPN, had his official visit at UNC this past weekend.

Williamson, who was hosted by current senior forward Theo Pinson, spent the weekend with head coach Roy Williams and the rest of the Tar Heels. He watched the team's exhibition against Barton College on Friday night — where he sat next to North Carolina basketball legend Phil Ford — and also attended UNC's football game against Miami.

Williamson is a 6-foot-6 forward, a highly-coveted recruiting target and an artist of ridiculous dunks. 

Fast, strong and extremely athletic, Williamson is one of the most exciting high school players in the country. He averaged 36.8 points and 13 rebounds per game during his junior year. In February, he scored 51 points in Spartanburg Day School's state championship win and equaled the opposing team's final score.

The Spartanburg, S.C., native’s weekend in Chapel Hill came after back-to-back weekends at Kentucky and Duke. He has also already taken an official visit to Kansas.

Williamson’s decision to schedule a visit may have come as somewhat of a surprise to the Tar Heel coaching staff, as he was originally scheduled to visit UCLA for the weekend of Oct.
27. Many people considered the recruitment of this high school standout a lost cause for UNC.

 

His interest in UNC seems to have been on the upswing recently, especially since the commitment of Williamson’s friend, Nassir Little. After Little committed, Williamson posted an Instagram picture congratulating him.

While Instagram is by no means an accurate predictor of where a recruit will commit, Williamson has seemed to show more interest in UNC on social media. In a Twitter video, Williamson is seen reacting to a dunk from Little at a USA basketball training camp, where he said, “That’s the way UNC people do?”

Williamson has also shown love to another long-time friend, first-year Jalek Felton, on Instagram earlier this year.

Based on Williamson’s Snapchat story, it seems as if fraternity court assisted the North Carolina coaching staff in its recruiting efforts this weekend. Pi Kappa Alpha hung a massive banner from the front of its house featuring a UNC jersey with the name Zion on it. Williamson took notice and posted a picture of the banner with the caption, "That's tuff."

If UNC were to land Williamson, he would be the latest of a number of notable Tar Heel commits from South Carolina. Raymond Felton, Brice Johnson, Seventh Woods and Jalek Felton are all from the Palmetto State. Williamson is the top recruit from South Carolina, just like Felton and Woods were in the two classes before him.

While Williamson’s friendships with current Tar Heels and UNC’s South Carolina pipeline are potentially encouraging signs, Kentucky is currently considered the frontrunner for Williamson, according to 247Sports. Williamson also has a close connection with Kentucky commit Immanuel Quickley, who has been encouraging him to become a Wildcat.

247Sports’ Crystal Ball prediction only gives the Tar Heels a 7 percent chance of landing Williamson.

North Carolina’s 2018 recruiting class already includes five-stars Little and Coby White, along with four-star Rechon “Leaky” Black. UNC is still heavily involved in recruiting five-star players Romeo Langford and Simisola Shittu, as well as Williamson. 

If the Tar Heels were to add Williamson or either of the other two five-stars, to an already strong recruiting class, Williams could have one of the best classes in recent memory.

@holtmckeithan

sports@dailytarheel.com