Better late than never. North Carolina has finally entered the fray for talented Montverde Academy wing Precious Achiuwa.
The Tar Heels have been keeping a watchful eye on Achiuwa for more than a year. Last January, head coach Roy Williams took a trip up to New Jersey to watch Achiuwa in a game at St. Bendict’s Prep. The North Carolina coaching staff also was a constant observer during the summer months while Achiuwa played with New Heights (NY) on the Under Armour circuit.
Nevertheless, the offer never came— until now.
Receiving an offer from a blue blood program like North Carolina is always exciting for high school players. Although Precious is considered a consensus five-star athlete by media outlets, getting that validation from a blue blood program is especially meaningful.
Still, the question remains: Is the prestige of North Carolina strong enough to pass up the schools that have been recruiting Precious for a longer period of time?
New Heights head coach Oz Cross mentioned Kansas, Memphis, St. John’s, UCLA, UConn, Florida State and Western Kentucky as the schools who are heavily recruiting Precious in an interview with 247Sports.
Achiuwa has already taken unofficial visits to four of those schools (Connecticut, Memphis, St. John’s and Western Kentucky).
My feeling is that North Carolina still has a good chance of landing Precious Achiuwa. The 6-foot-9 forward has yet to take any of his official visits. If North Carolina is able to secure a visit from Achiuwa, the Tar Heels would be in good shape.
At this point, I like Connecticut, St. John’s and Kansas as the favorites. UConn and St. John’s have made Precious top priorities for a while now and Kansas has come on strong. North Carolina has some work to do, but they’re in contention.
