Published Sep 22, 2019
North Carolina lands five-star center Walker Kessler
Dan McDonald
Recruiting Analyst

North Carolina had a big recruiting weekend with a pair of five-star visitors on campus in Caleb Love and Walker Kessler. The Tar Heels were able to seal the deal with one of those visitors as Walker Kessler gave Roy Williams good news following the visit.

“I’m going to North Carolina,” Kessler said. “I thought Carolina could be a legit possibility going into the visit because of the style of play and it is just a historic program. I have all the respect for all the other programs that recruited me and I have great relationships with the other coaches, but I just see myself at UNC and feel like I belong there.”

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2020 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position

2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Position

“It was everything, walking around the campus, watching them practice, hanging out with the players, it was just a great visit," Walker stated. "My relationship with Coach Roy [Williams] is great. He’s a great coach and so smart, but beyond that he’s just a great man and I can see myself playing for someone like that. The other thing is I could see myself being a student there even if I wasn’t a basketball player.”

Fit in the coaches system was important to Kessler in making this decision. He wanted to play in a system that takes advantage of both his ability to play in the post as well as shoot the 3. The North Carolina staff pointed to a recent star they coached to show him how he might be used.

“They said they want me to be like Luke Maye," he said. "They showed me video of Luke Maye and said this is literally exactly how we want to use you.”

Kessler is North Carolina’s second commitment in the 2020 class joining Day’Ron Sharpe. He also took official visits to Auburn, Duke, Michigan, and Virginia within the past year.

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