High Point Wesleyan Christian Academy wing forward Theo Pinson became the third member of the North Carolina 2014 recruiting class announcing his commitment on Wednesday. The 6-6, 180 lb high school junior is presently ranked in the top 20 by Scout(#18), Rivals(#15) and ESPN(#13). This commitment fills a vital area of need with two wing players with the possibility of picking up another highly rated wing guard to finish out the class. Pinson joins PG Joel Berry and WF Justin Jackson giving UNC three consensus top 25 recruits in the class.
According to Inside Carolina, Pinson has been on UNC's radar quite some time and made multiple visits to Chapel Hill. Given his proximity this is not surprising.
Roy Williams began personally evaluating Pinson in late 2011, but it was during the summer of 2012 that stellar play affirmed the in-state standout as a priority recruit for UNC. Williams watched Pinson's All-Tournament weekend at the prestigious Nike Global Challenge in July 2012, including a stellar 23-point, 10-rebound outing matched up against No. 1-ranked Andrew Wiggins. That Monday evening (July 16), Roy Williams called to offer a scholarship.
Williams closely tracked Pinson for the remainder of the 2012 summer, attended two of his games during the 2012-13 high school season, and he remained a priority recruit this spring. UNC coaches attended all of his games during the two April 2013 Evaluation Period weekends, with Roy Williams courtside for a Pinson game every day he was at an EYBL event.
Clearly the performance against Andrew Wiggins was impressive enough to draw an offer from Roy Williams who tends to be circumspect about extending them.
After two recruiting classes which have been "ho-hum" by UNC standards, it appears Roy Williams is well on the way to locking in a big talent haul for 2014. Since much of what UNC has brought in for 2012 and 2013 are mostly players who will need to develop, the infusion of 2014 talent should combine nicely with experienced players.
