National Signing Day 2017: 4-star RB A.J. Davis will not sign with North Carolina

After narrowing his potential schools to three at the end of December, running back A.J. Davis out of Lakeland High School in Florida will not be attending UNC. All of his final three schools were in the ACC, with UNC, Louisville, and Pitt making his final cut.

Inside Carolina reported that North Carolina was “no longer involved” with Davis. Everyone is free to speculate on the whys and hows of that, but it sounds like his choice today was really between Louisville and Pitt. UNC pulling back their interest kept them from being a real factor.

With Elijah Hood departing for the NFL after originally saying he’d be returning to UNC, the starting running back job was fully up for grabs. Auburn transfer Stanton Truitt may be the favorite to assume that role, if only because of his prior experience.

The Tar Heels will look for Hood’s replacement among the likes of Truitt, Jordon Brown, Michael Carter, and Antwuan Branch. Getting a highly rated guy like Davis would have been good, but they do have some options here in what will likely be more of a rebuilding year for the Heels. They clearly have their reasons for dropping back.

Davis, as you might expect, drew the interest of tons of schools. He received offers from Florida State, Georgia, Clemson, South Carolina, LSU, Michigan, and many, many others before ultimately deciding between the Cardinals and Panthers.

You can check out Davis in action in the highlight package below.