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North Carolina lands five-star 2018 wing Nassir Little

North Carolina landed a huge commitment in the Class of 2018 on Wednesday as five-star wing Nassir Little pledged to the Tar Heels.

Only the second-five-star prospect to commit to North Carolina in the last four recruiting classes, Little is a monster grab for head coach Roy Williams and the Tar Heels.

But he comes with baggage.

Little had long been linked to Arizona and Miami, and the two schools were thought to be the leaders for his services. But both of those programs were mentioned in the FBI complaints released last week in what essentially amounted to a bidding war for a player identified only as ‘Player-12'. Little is believed to be that player.

Little’s former AAU program, 1Family, is involved in the college basketball corruption scandal as well. The program’s former director, Brad Augustine, was arrested last Tuesday.

The 1Family program responded by writing a letter defending Little on Twitter, expressing that Little and his family were innocent.

“The Little family did not ask for, nor were offered any money by any institution or individual,” 1Family’s announcement said. “They were completely unaware of any of the alleged offenses that may have mentioned or contained their son’s name. There is not a single player in our program, nor family member of any player, that had any knowledge or discussion about payments being made in regards to making a college decision.”

After a tremendous summer in which he shot up the national rankings, the 6-foot-7 Little is a consensus five-star prospect -- rated as the No. 5 overall player in the Rivals national Class of 2018 rankings.

A versatile athlete who has a chance to develop into a really good defender, Little is a terror to defend in transition thanks to his size and burst off the floor. With good length and mobility, Little is a strong enough rebounder to play small-ball four if necessary while also being athletic enough to play on the wing and guard some smaller players. If he improves his perimeter skill level then he won’t be in school for very long.

North Carolina’s class gets a huge boost from the addition of a top-ten player like Little as he joins four-star guards Rechon Black and Coby White in the Class of 2018 recruiting haul. Little took official visits to North Carolina and Georgia Tech during the recruiting process while Arizona, Duke and Miami were his other finalists.