Is Carolina’s recruiting over? That’s a Precious question.
With the commitment of Charleston Southern shooting star Christian Keeling, inquiring minds want to know if Roy Williams is done recruiting for the 2019-20 season. That answer is probably yes — with an asterisk.
Keeling, a graduate transfer who averaged more than 18 points and drained just under 40 percent from 3-point range last season, fills an obvious shooting void left by the departure of Cam, Coby, Kenny and Luke.
With Seventh Woods transferring, another question is who will back up 5-star freshman Cole Anthony at point guard. The candidates are under-the-radar incoming freshman Jeremiah Francis, a 3-star recruit whose high school injuries dropped him down the rankings, and fellow incoming combo guard Anthony Harris.
Other candidates for playing time at the point are junior K.J. Smith, the Jet’s son, and of course Leaky Black — who saw some time running the offense before his high ankle sprain cost him six weeks of active duty. Black is a leading candidate to start on the wing beside senior Brandon Robinson.
So, right now, the roster looks ten deep with Anthony, Garrison Brooks, Armando Bacot, Black and Robinson – backed up by Sterling Manley, Keeling, Francis, Harris and junior guard AndrewPlatek.
One other 5-star still looming who has apparently shown some interest in the Tar Heels is 6-9 Nigerian Precious Achiuwa, who now lives in The Bronx, New York, but has a list of finalists from Carolina to Georgetown to Kansas to Memphis to UCLA. Making most of UNC’s recruiting noise is Bacot, who still Tweets that Precious is a possibility to join the Tar Heels when he announces his destination in late May.
Signing Achiuwa would vault Carolina above Duke for the top recruiting class in the nation, something the Heels haven’t had in more than 10 years. Memphis seems to be getting more chatter, largely because Carolina already has four big men on its roster. But Precious is listed as a small forward, and there is no incumbent starter at that position.
So just like a young Kevin Durant might have beaten out Marcus Ginyard, Danny Green and anyone else on the roster in 2007, Precious could complete one of the biggest front lines in the country alongside Brooks and Bacot, with Manley and Brandon Huffman as back-ups.
While it appears that Keeling’s commitment rounds out the 2020 roster, there is still at least one scholarship to give. And wouldn’t it be prescient if Precious claimed it.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe:
Related Stories
‹
![]()
Dirt Bags We KnowGregg Doyel first got my attention when he was a punk sports writer for the Charlotte Observer, obviously trying to make a name for himself. At the time, he wrote a story claiming the problems surrounding UNC’s basketball program in the early 2000s were all Dean Smith’s fault. Smith had been retired for five years […]
![]()
Kupchak's Living LegacyOf all the quality kids who have come through the Carolina Basketball program over the last half century, none was any more real than Mitch Kupchak, the Tar Heels’ star center and ACC Player of the Year in 1976. Kupchak faked nothing. He came from a blue collar background in the middle of Long […]
![]()
Carolinas ConnectionsA gala wedding party was thrown at Litchfield Plantation in South Carolina last weekend, and among other things it was a great example of why people who live in both Carolinas argue and joke over which is the REAL Carolina. Each state has so much to offer, no wonder so many people claim them both. […]

Roy Williams, Hubert Davis Share Thoughts on Mike Krzyzewski's RetirementThe college basketball world received major news this week when longtime Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski announced he will retire at the end of the 2021-22 season. During his time in Durham, Krzyzewski has led Duke to five national championships, most recently in 2015. With 1,170 victories, he is the winningest coach in men’s college basketball […]
![]()
Social Media Reactions to 'The Last Dance' DocumentaryThe long-anticipated documentary “The Last Dance,” about Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls premiered on ESPN on Sunday, giving fans unprecedented access to the end of Bulls’ dynasty. With sports suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, this documentary gave fans two hours of exciting basketball featuring the greatest player in the history of the […]

Roy Williams Teams With Coach K, Kevin Keatts in Coronavirus PSANorth Carolina Governor Roy Cooper sent out a tweet on Monday night with a public service announcement for the coronavirus pandemic featuring all three of the Triangle’s prominent men’s basketball coaches — UNC’s Roy Williams, NC State’s Kevin Keatts and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski. In a state where college basketball functions as somewhat of a secondary […]

UNC Basketball vs. Virginia Tech: How To Watch, Cord-Cutting Options and Tip-Off TimeUNC basketball travels to Virginia Tech hoping to snap a four-game losing streak and finally push Roy Williams over Dean Smith in the all-time wins column. The Tar Heels beat Yale on December 30 to put Williams in a tie with his mentor Smith, but since then have gone winless in 2020. Since the start […]

Chansky's Notebook: Fluid Blue BloodsCarolina and Duke are finally getting on the same recruiting page. After one of the games between the local blue blood rivals last season, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski deflected the talk about his own one-and-done players by saying of Carolina, “They will see what it’s like,” meaning the recruiting field was all but even now. […]

Chansky's Notebook: Who's Counting?Boy, these summertime basketball bloggers are bad at math. It must be a long summer for these bloggers, mostly Kool-Aid drinking Dukies. I’ve been on them before, and even I thought enough was enough. Until I saw the post on Fansided a couple of days ago that rated the best college basketball coaches in the […]

Chansky's Notebook: Prescient DecisionIs Carolina’s recruiting over? That’s a Precious question. With the commitment of Charleston Southern shooting star Christian Keeling, inquiring minds want to know if Roy Williams is done recruiting for the 2019-20 season. That answer is probably yes — with an asterisk. Keeling, a graduate transfer who averaged more than 18 points and drained just […]
›