Many of us know and lived the disappointment of the 2019-2020 Tar Heel basketball season. It was a season of the unimaginable. Unimaginable late game collapses (Clemson at home, Boston College at home, Virginia at home, at Notre Dame), an unimaginable number of injuries, and an unimaginable low number of 14 wins. Had the NCAA tournament happened, it would have unimaginably left the Tar Heels outside looking in for the first time in a decade. Given all that, there is still good reason for hope of returning to winning ways in Chapel Hill. That hope starts with the 2020 recruiting class.
247Sports has the Tar Heel class ranked third in the country behind fellow blue-bloods, Kentucky and Duke. Throughout the off-season, I will take a closer look into each commit. I will offer former Tar Heel players who serve as a comparison of each incoming player, and look at what gives this class the hype to be special.
The first commit breakdown is Kerwin Walton. Walton is a 6-foot-5, 195 pound shooting guard from Hopkins, MN. He is a four star and 247Sports 99th rated prospect. As a senior in high school, Walton averaged 26 points and 11 rebounds per game.
What He Brings
*the ability to flat out score
*the ability to consistently make shots from deep
*roster flexibility
*a multi year guy with plenty of potential to grow
*good size, length, and a plus defender
Former Tar Heel Comparisons
*Kenny Williams
*Potential to get to a Cam Johnson type player
Bottom Line
Time will tell, but I expect Walton to compete for playing time as a freshman. The competition will be with Leaky Black, who with the Francis transfer may again be forced to play some point guard, Anthony Harris (if healthy), Andrew Platek, and Puff Johnson. They are different style players, but I believe Walton and Johnson have the ability to evolve into a similar perimeter combination of 2009 Carolina standouts Danny Green and Wayne Ellington.
Up Next: Donovan, “Puff” Johnson.
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