The Tar Heels' early success on the 2025 football recruiting trail continued on Sunday afternoon.
2025 unranked safety Javion Butts, who hails from the state of Georgia, announced his commitment to the class via social media following an unofficial visit to campus on Saturday. This was Butts’ third trip to Chapel Hill and helped seal the deal after the team positioned themselves as a threat in his second visit back in January. He commits to Carolina over his hometown school, Georgia Tech, the other school pushing hard for him in recent months.
Butts is beginning preparations for his senior season at Jones County High School in Gray, GA following first team all-region honors as a junior. He finished the season with 51 total tackles, two interceptions and six passes defensed, the latter of which tied for the most on the team. This was a nice jump from his sophomore season where he finished with 24 total tackles, one interception and four passes defensed.
Butts is very similar to a lot of the guys that the Tar Heels have added to their secondary in the last couple of recruiting cycles because of the versatility he provides. He can make play on the outside as a corner, in the slot as a nickel and in deep coverage as a safety, meaning that the possibilities are endless for him when he gets to campus. He has tremendous speed that allows him to stick with receivers if he’s in 1-on-1 coverage and make plays on the football when he’s in space. He is a very solid tackler that can lay the lumber with how well he breaks on the ball, but he is not the most involved safety in the run game. Butts is a guy that, like the true freshmen defensive backs that were on the Tar Heels’ roster this past year, will need some time to develop once he gets on campus, but he has some nice upside and versatility that will eventually give him the opportunity to compete for snaps within the first couple of years on campus.
With his commitment, the Tar Heels now have seven commitments in the 2025 class, including three from the state of Georgia. This is a great start in one of the most talent-rich states in the country and is important because of the team’s struggles with the best players in the home state.
The class ranks 20th overall in the 247Sports Composite team rankings and fifth in the ACC.