4-star WR Kobe Paysour commits to UNC football

For the third time this week, UNC football has received a commitment for the class of 2021. On Saturday afternoon, in-state wide receiver Kobe Paysour committed to the Heels. He joins Keeshawn Silver, who committed on Tuesday night, and Drake Maye, who flipped from Alabama on Friday. The announcement was made via twitter.

A four-star recruit from Kings Mountain High School in Kings Mountain, NC, Paysour is another high-level option for an offense that continues to add prolific playmakers. There is some differing of opinions within the recruiting services on Paysour’s current ranking, but as a borderline consensus top-20 player in the state of North Carolina, most disagreement will eventually be quibbles. He is a consensus top-3 WR in the state.

It’s important to remember these rankings are always fluid, especially as players enter the spring and summer camp circuits. Here are Paysour’s current ratings.

Rivals: WR, 3-stars, NR (national), #53 (position), #18 (state)
ESPN: WR, 4-stars, #223 (national), #19 (position), #14 (state)
247 Sports (organic): WR, 3-stars, NR (national), #65 (position), #21(state)
247 Sports (composite): WR, 4-stars, #329 (national), #56 (position), #18 (state)

Regardless of your recruiting persuasion (or lack thereof), it’s hard to ignore the Heels continue to stack-up elite talent for Phil Longo’s offense. At The Opening Regional camp last spring, Paysour measured at 6-0, 170-pounds and ran a 4.75 40-yard sprint and 4.51 shuttle sprint. He was measured with a 29.5 inch vertical. It will be interesting to see if those numbers improve as he enters his junior year.

Those aren’t the most overwhelming numbers, but what he may lack in explosion or speed for top-level WRs he makes up for in size, strength, and the ability to control his body in the air. His high school stats certainly support that notion. As a junior he collected 60 receptions for 1,138 yards and 16 touchdowns. In his three-year high school career, he has 158 receptions, 3,378 yards, and 46 touchdowns. (All stats are courtesy of MaxPreps).

This is UNC’s second wide receiver, and the third offensive recruit of this cycle. QB Drake Maye and fellow WR Gavin Blackwell round out the current offensive commits. Quarterback/athlete Caleb Hood may also end up on the offensive side of the ball, but his ultimate position is still to be determined.

Paysour is also UNC’s sixth ESPN 300 recruit of the cycle, matching last year’s school-record. That brings UNC’s total ESPN 300 recruits to 15 since Mack Brown returned. They only had 21 such recruits from 2013-2018. (2013 was the first year of the ESPN 300 rankings).

UNC now has eight commitments for 2021, meaning they are 8-for-8 on in-state recruits in the current class. Since Mack Brown returned, he has signed or received the verbal commitments of 57 recruits. Of those 57 recruits, 32 are from North Carolina. Brown has been on the job for fewer than 16 months.

For context, John Bunting signed 56 in-state recruits in six seasons, Butch Davis/Everett Withers signed 48 in five seasons, and Larry Fedora signed 44 in six seasons. Under Mack Brown, UNC has more than half of those coach’s individual totals in less than three full cycles.

Based on the past six weeks, it’s fair to assume there will be a few more additions to those numbers before UNC takes the field for their Spring Game on April 18th.