The Tar Heels currently have 23 players committed to their 2024 recruiting class, the fifth-most of anyone in the country in the class. One position that has filled up quickly here in the past week is safety where the team has added two commitments in the last four days to join previous commit Jaiden Patterson. The team did miss on 4✮ Kaj Sanders today, meaning that the team has one target remaining at the position, Malcolm Ziglar, the top uncommitted player in the state on the defensive side of the football.
Ziglar, a 4✮ prospect according to 247Sports Composite rankings, is set to announce his commitment on July 17th with the Tar Heels as one of his finalists. Those finalists appear to be Carolina, South Carolina and Notre Dame, the three schools that he officially visited during the month of June. The question is, how does the two recent addition at the position affect the Tar Heels' chances?
To say it has no effect would be a bit ludicrous, but it still feels like the Tar Heels have a legitimate shot to land his commitment next Monday. While the team technically has three commitments at the position in the class, only one of them looks guaranteed to play the safety position at the next level. The team’s most recent commitment, 3✮ Jalon Thompson, spent the majority of his junior season at outside corner and thrived out there in a position that fits his skillset well. Meanwhile, Patterson, who we mentioned earlier, splits his time between safety, nickel and outside corner and is capable of playing any of those three spots at the next level. TyShun White is the one guy that will without question play safety at the next level, but he spends the majority of his time in the box.
That means that there is a spot available in this class for that dynamic free safety to pair with White. Ziglar fits that mantra perfectly, not to mention he would be the highest-rated commit in the class for the team and the team’s first top ten commit from the home state.
Ziglar’s recruitment will go down to the final and Tar Heels will have a good shot to land his commitment on decision day. Adding his commitment would be the perfect way for the Tar Heels to finish off their 2024 defensive back class.
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