By ADAM ZAGORIA
Following his official visit to North Carolina for the Duke game this past weekend, Precious Achiuwa posted a Twitter picture of himself in a UNC jersey with the caption #whatif.
The 6-foot-9 Achiuwa is ranked No. 9 by 247Sports.com in the Class of 2019 and is a McDonald’s All-American. He has now taken two official visits to Kansas and UNC.
North Carolina head coach Roy Williams and assistant Hubert Davis have been hot on his trail, watching him play with Montverde (FL) Academy against Roselle (N.J.) Catholic last month in the Metro Classic at Kean University.
Turns out @PreciousAchiuwa can dunk…… pic.twitter.com/hMU7elqtfE
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) January 20, 2019
Before that, they visited Montverde.
“Yes, they came over to Montverde and we met and talked about obviously what they do at their program and that was pretty much it,” Achiuwa told me in January.
“North Carolina is one of the greatest programs of all time and I thought that was different that they took the time out to come see me, talk to me. It’s different when you talk to someone face-to-face than when it’s over the phone. I thought that was different.”
#whatif pic.twitter.com/IA6PKyYuxp
— Precious Achiuwa (@PreciousAchiuwa) March 11, 2019
The Tar Heels will lose Cam Johnson and likely Nassir Little on the wing.
“Yeah, they talked about who they expect coming back next year, what positions are going to be open and guys going into the draft,” AChiuwa said. “We talked about all that stuff, yes.”
Boyle, who has coached more top-3 NBA Draft picks since 2011 than any coach outside of Mike Krzyzewski, has ideas on what Achiuwa needs to work on.
“Obviously, he’s got a tremendous physique,” Boyle said. “He’s learning to play a little bit in that wing type of position where he’s getting comfortable. My biggest message to him is your ticket to trying to make it is being a great defender and a great rebounder and then keep improving your perimeter skills, which are good for his age and his size. When you talk about that [NBA] level, they’re not yet good enough for that level. Most guys aren’t.”
He added: “I think Precious has a chance to be a really, really good player but to be versatile good pro player he needs to be a stat guy that has 12 points, 8 rebounds and a steal and one of the best defenders on a good team. And getting in the gym and working on his shot, and not trying to handle the ball too much and over-handle.”
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