North Carolina doled out offers to three of the hottest players in the Class of 2018 on Monday.
The Tar Heels offered 6-foot-10 Vermont Academy forward Simi Shittu, 6-6 Orlando Christian (FL) Prep small forward Nassir Little and 6-10 Northfield (MA) Mount Hermon small forward Nate Laszewski.
Little is ranked No. 8 in the Class of 2018 by 247Sports.com, while Shittu is No. 9 and Laszewski No. 96.
Shittu, who runs with CIA Bounce on the Nike EYBL circuit, is being recruited by Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon, Vanderbilt, Baylor, Notre Dame, Arizona and UConn, among others. Kentucky is looking to get him on a visit, but Shittu currently has no visits planned. He was a first-team All-Peach Jam selection.
Simi Shittu ’18 Junior Season Highlights 2016-17 from Vermont Academy Boys Basketball on Vimeo.
Playing with 1Family on the Adidas Gauntlet this spring, Little currently holds offers from nearly 30 schools including Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State, Kansas, Florida, Florida State, Louisville, Auburn, Clemson, Creighton, Illinois, LSU, Memphis, Mississippi State, Missouri, NC State, Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh, SMU, South Carolina, St. John’s, Stanford, among others. He has also received interest from schools such as Duke and Kentucky.
“I haven’t seen a prospect make a bigger jump April-to-April,” Brad Augustine, the program director of Little’s 1Family Hoops AAU program, said on The 4 Quarters Podcast. “His skillset is just widened. He’s leading adidas in field goal percentage and a couple different categories. He’s really made a big transition and focused on the work.
Little has already visited Miami and St. John’s. He is slated to take his first official visit to Georgia Tech Aug. 24.
Laszewski, who played with current UNC freshman guard Andrew Platek at NMH, holds offers from Wisconsin, Arizona, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Indiana, Virginia, Miami (FL), and others. He has visited Notre Dame several times.
“As a sophomore, Nate was MVP of the 2016 NEPSAC AAA Championship in an NMH win over St. Thomas More,” NMH coach John Carroll said. “He went for 26 points and 17 rebounds in a game that he was the only underclassman to play and with upperclassmen heading off to North Carolina, Villanova, UConn, Davidson, Iona, Penn, Bucknell and in total over 20 Division 1 prospects. He introduced what he was capable of to everyone at that game. Now, he has done that kind of performance consistently for the past 4 months since becoming 100 percent healthy.
“He has convinced everyone everyone that he can play anywhere in the country.”
