Desmond Hubert (Cream Ridge, N.J./New Egypt), the best remaining center the in the 2011 class, committed to North Carolina over Maryland on Thursday afternoon. The No. 20-ranked center prospect, made his commitment days after visiting coach Roy Williams' North Carolina program.
"I had a feeling [when I was down there] but I wanted to give it a few days to let it calm down," said Hubert. "When you're there its their job to make you feel like you belong."
With Tyler Zeller and John Henson return to Chapel Hill next season, UNC's frontcourt will be deep, but Hubert made his decision knowing that he'll have a chance to compete against some NBA prospects and improve his game.
"I think it's (good) that they have Zeller and Henson coming back. I can learn a lot from them both," he said.
The New Jersey Playaz center took his time with his recruitment and went on a host of unofficial visits, many of them through ACC country as he wound up on the campuses of Wake Forest and Duke, as well, over the years.
North Carolina's current class contains five players, led by McDonald's All-Americans PF James McAdoo (Norfolk, Va./Christian) and SG P.J. Hairston (Greensboro, N.C./Hargrave). Jackson Simmons (Sylva, N.C./Smoky Mountain) is a preferred walk-on and Stillman White (Wilmington,
N.C./Hoggard) signed this week to bridge a gap between Kendall Marshall and 2012 point man Marcus Paige (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Marr). With the addition of Hubert, UNC moves up to No. 4 in the class rankings just ahead of Texas.
Dave Telep is the senior basketball recruiting analyst for ESPN.com. His college basketball scouting service is used by more than 225 colleges and numerous NBA teams. He can be reached at espndt@gmail.com. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter.