Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Tar Heels land highly regarded tight end Smith



North Carolina has received the commitment of highly-rated tight end Alex Smith of Lakota West High in West Chester, Ohio, he announced on a media teleconference this morning from his school.

Smith, who is 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, fills a major need for the Tar Heels, who did not sign a TE in their 2009 class. He is considered one of the top tight ends in the country by the major recruiting web sites.

He originally committed to
Cincinnati, but began considering his switch after visiting Chapel Hill for the Tar Heels’ recent victory over Miami.

Smith had more than 20 offers, including
Miami, Michigan, South Carolina, LSU, Wisconsin and Kentucky.

Zack Pianalto and Ed Barham, the team’s current TEs, will be seniors next season. UNC already has one committed player at the position for the class of 2010, Sean Fitzpatrick.


Smith finished his senior season with 23 receptions for 411 yards and four TDs.

--Stan Olson

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stan,

You forgot transfer Nelson Hurst who joined the team this year will be either a So. or Jr. next season and highly recruited So. Christian Wilson will be a junior next season.

UNC has some depth at the position, especially when you bring back Sr. Ryan Taylor who is redshirting due to injury.

Smith is an excellent pickup, but will probably redshirt next season unless Pianalto scores a touchdown.

Stan Olson said...

Anon, I did forget Nelson Hurst, who is top 2010 Carolina recruit James Hurst's brother.

They will have good depth at the position.

By the way, watch that ESPN highlite catch we have posted if you haven't already--pretty impressive.

Anonymous said...

doesn't matter, NC State is still dominating the state of NC remember. (roll eyes).

Anonymous said...

Folks, I don't want you UNC fans to get too crazy about Alex. I'm certainly not here to put the young man down. I'm a Cincinnati fan and hate to loose him. But keep in mind, he was at the Cincinnati game on 11/13/09 and it's my understanding, Brian Kelly pulled his scholarship offer. He's been suspended 3 separate games in his final year of high school football including the most recent state playoff game for which his team lost. Alex sounds like a real head case to me.

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