UNC Recruiting: Antwuan Branch commits to North Carolina

North Carolina football nabbed a commit right out from under another program this weekend. Antwuan Branch of Clarksville, Tennessee was previously committed to Purdue before the six-foot, 200-pound athlete took an official visit at Chapel Hill and made a verbal commitment with his new team. A three-star recruit, Branch is ranked among the 2017 class as the No. 77 running back in the nation and the No. 33 prospect in the state of Tennessee.

Branch previously committed to Purdue in June after receiving offers from Wisconsin, Iowa State, East Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Navy as well. Changes at the school and additional offers, however, forced him to decommit and re-evaluate. He received a lot of interest in the last month, receiving new offers from Iowa, Iowa State, UNC, Tulane, and Wisconsin in that time.

The promising running back rushed for over 1,852 yards on 213 carries this past season. He had 22 rushing touchdowns and averaged 9.1 yards per carry. His addition to the program will be incredibly important over the next year with senior T.J. Logan graduating and junior Elijah Hood possibly departing early for the NFL. This marks North Carolina’s 15th verbal commit for the 2017 class. He will be joined by recent commit Michael Carter, who is also a running back.

Despite the announcement, the commitment is not official yet, since he will have to wait for the football signing period to begin on February 1, 2017 before he can sign his letter of intent.