By ADAM ZAGORIA
Precious Achiuwa, the 6-foot-9, 215-pound wing from the New Heights AAU program and Montverde (FL) Academy, got a Christmas present from North Carolina coach Roy Williams.
The UNC head coach offered Achiuwa, ranked No. 11 on the ESPN 2019 100, a scholarship about a week ago.
“Yes, he called around Christmas,” Oz Cross, Achiuwa’s coach with the New Heights AAU program, said Tuesday by phone. “He’s been watching him for a long time and he feels he’s really athletic and can come in and help. He can guard different positions and get up and down and score from different areas on the court. I think Roy just wants to make sure it’s a good fit for both them and Precious.”
Williams and assistant Hubert Davis were on hand at Kean University back in January when Achiuwa went off for 19 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks, 4 rebounds and 3 steals when St. Benedict’s Prep beat Hudson Catholic.
Achiuwa then transferred to Montverde Academy over the summer.
“For me, I know how crazy it gets with the recruitment,” Achiuwa, the younger brother of former St. John’s big man God’sgift Achiuwa, said that day. “For me, I’m just focused on getting better. I’m just focused on the season right now. Every other thing is secondary.”
Roy Williams in the house at Kean U for @PreciousAchiuwa pic.twitter.com/d0nVL27C1l
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) January 7, 2018
North Carolina figures to lose freshman wing Nassir Little to the NBA Draft. He’s a projected top-5 pick.
Achiuwa will likely visit UNC officially, and Little’s decision could play into his.
“I definitely it’s something that we want to talk about and think about,” Cross said. “They definitley have some guys at his position who may not be there next year, so that’s definitley a big thing if they are or are not there.”
— Overtime (@overtime) April 28, 2018
Cross said several other schools were actively involved, including Kansas, St. John’s, Memphis, UCLA, Western Kentucky, UConn and Florida State. Achiuwa has taken unofficials to Memphis and Western Kentucky.
“Those have been the schools that have contacted him or myself and are trying to recruit him,” Cross said.
Cross and Achiuwa will set up some visits in the coming weeks.
“He wants to watch conference play,” Cross said. “We want to try to have our visits set in January and in February/March take visits.
“He really wants to look at the schools in the conference play and really get a sense of the style of play and who he’s going to play with and how he’s going to fit in.”
Photo: Under Armour
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