North Carolina recruiting: Big time commits paint an optimistic picture of things to come for UNC

Despite the fact that a large majority of people see North Carolina as a basketball school, Larry Fedora and his assistant coaches have been working diligently to change that narrative. Progress has definitely been made on that front despite outside factors (see: NCAA cloud) potentially making things more difficult. Fedora’s work and subsequent success on the classes of Tar Heels to come has been difficult to ignore.

Carolina missed out on getting five-star running back Zamir White to stay home and play for the Heels instead of heading to Athens to suit up for Georgia. Maybe there is a miracle scenario in which White changes his mind in the long months between now and when he signs a letter of intent, but, as crazy as it may sound, the Heels will be okay even if he doesn’t change his mind.

Landing four-star quarterback Tyler Shough was a huge get for the class of 2018. All indicators point to him being the real deal that the Tar Heels will need as their signal caller after the one-year stopgap of Brandon Harris. Shough will give them an elite level quarterback with some highly dangerous weapons to throw to. That combination usually tends to work out pretty well.

Dyami Brown and Jordyn Adams will give the Heels two four-star wide outs with Adams having the potential to end up as a five-star receiver before he ends up on campus. Offensive tackle Avery Jones and linebacker Payton Wilson give the Heels five four-star commits for next season with plenty of time still left to go.

Shough, Adams, and Wilson were all invited to Nike’s prestigious event The Opening last week in Beaverton, Oregon. Shough was one of 12 quarterbacks in the country to make the cut for the event, and Barton Simmons from 247sports noted that Shough was able to consistently throw the deep ball as well as anyone he’d seen. Simmons also had a lot of praise for Adams, claiming that no wide receiver at the event was more impressive in his eyes.

All of that is extremely high praise for guys who will be wearing Carolina blue before too long. Fedora’s recruiting is on the rise, and big names are starting to take notice. While the program hasn’t been able to land the Zamir White’s of college football just yet, the strides they have made makes it feel like it’s only a matter of time. Until then, other folks may very well continue sleeping on Carolina’s football program rising to national relevance at their own peril.