UNC Recruiting: Tar Heels land pair of football recruits over the weekend

Class of 2019 recruits Kamari Morales (TE) and Kenan Johnson (CB) verbally committed to UNC over the weekend. Morales participated in UNC’s annual Freak Show on Saturday, and it’s become an tradition that the Heels land a few recruits in the days following the event. As most recruits do now, he delivered the news with a tweet.

Johnson, a cornerback from Lake Minneola High School in Lake Minneola, Florida also announced his decision via social media. Unlike Morales, he was not in attendance on Saturday evening.

Morales is a 3-star prospect from Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Florida. Both Rivals and 247 Sports has him currently ranked as the 33rd tight end in the nation. Listed at 6’3” and 230 pounds entering his senior season, Morales should continue UNC’s trend of versatile tight ends who will contribute in both the run and pass games. According to Morales’ interview with Tar Heel Illustrated, UNC tight ends coach Chad Scott believes that Morales’ ability to be a threat on all three levels of the field is what stands out the most.

Interestingly, Larry Fedora’s program has not signed a tight end in two years. A quick look at their roster shows five tight ends currently listed - senior Brandon Fritts, juniors Jake Bargas, Carl Tucker, and Jared Worley, while RS-So Noah Turner and Garrett Walston round out the group. Morales breaks that trend.

Kenan Johnson is also a 3-star athlete, expected to contribute at cornerback. Originally recruited by new cornerback coach Henry Baker at Rutgers , the 5’11”, 160 pound rising senior indicated the coaching staff is impressed with his length and range on the sidelines.

His commitment continues the UNC coaching staff’s borderline obsession with the defensive backfield. He is the fourth recruit of the 2019 class that projects to line up in the secondary. Clearly they are looking to capitalize on a few seasons of strong defensive efforts in the passing game, including developing M.J. Stewart into a second round draft pick in this past April’s NFL Draft.

Morales chose the Heels over Kentucky, Maryland, and Mississippi among others. Johnson held offers from defending national champions UCF and Rutgers. Both recruits continues UNC’s push to gain traction in Florida’s fertile recruiting grounds. They are the eighth and ninth verbal commitments for UNC from the 2019 class.