According to Adam Zagoria, it appears likely that the athletic PF/C from Rice H.S. in Manhattan will be making a trip to UNC in the near future:
Kadeem Jack is a hot commodity right now, so hot that the North Carolina Tar Heels have come calling and Jack is interested.
The 6-foot-9 senior forward out of Manhattan Rice High School is planning a visit to North Carolina sometime soon although no date has been set.
More importantly, Zagoria's report seems to indicate that if a trip down to UNC does occur, then it is possible that it will be more than just a visit and could culminate with an outright commitment:
[Maurice] Hicks [Rice H.S. head basketball coach] didn’t rule out the possibility that Jack could even end up committing to the Heels if he were to visit.
"He’s the type of kid, he’ll probably wind up doing that," Hicks said. "If he goes down there for a visit, he’ll probably go."
Damian Leslie, Jack’s mentor, echoed Jack’s interest in the Tar Heels.
"I’m pretty sure it sounds like a promising situation," Leslie said of North Carolina. "I don’t think he would turn that one down. It sounds more like he would visit though."
So what would this mean for the Heels? Well, the obvious benefit would be the addition of another player who is capable of playing down low. Jack is raw offensively, but according to Scout, his strengths are explosiveness, rebounding (confirmed by the 20 he grabbed against JayVaughn Pinkston), and running the floor, all of which are traits that tend to excel in the Roy Williams' system.
On the flip-side, there appears to be some disagreement as to where Jack really stands as a recruit. Dave Telep (Scout) has him rated at #43, which is 11 spots higher than he had the Wears, but he is not ranked in the Top 100 by RSCI, the Top 150 by Rivals, or the Top 200 by Bob Gibbons (neither RSCI nor Gibbons have released their final rankings yet). If it turns out that Telep is not accurate, is it possible that UNC would actually be better off eating the scholarship this year so it could be saved for the loaded Class of 2011, despite needing front-court depth for next season? This is the type of question that is great for blogs and also makes me really glad that I am not the one who ultimately has to make the decision.
Regardless, this will certainly be something to keep an eye on.