What Byron Sanders Means To UNC

It was no surprise that Byron Sanders, a 6-9, 215 pound power forward from Harrison Central H.S. in Gulfport, Miss., made a commitment to North Carolina after visiting Chapel Hill this past weekend. After all, Sanders had indicated to us right before he took his trip to UNC that if he likes the visit he would make a decision.

ACC sources tell us that Sanders has made a commitment to UNC and did so late last night. Sanders also told us he was also interested in Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Boston College, and Providence during his recruiting process.

When Russ Blake reported way back in November, Sanders told our reporter that UNC Asst. Coach Doug Wojcik started the whole process with Sanders and called his high school coach. UNC caught Sanders in action this winter to evaluate him as potential recruiting prospect.

Sanders was not being highly pursued in the early Fall by the top major programs. But, the class of 2002 is thin along the frontline and Sanders emerged as one of the top targets after Neil Fingleton decided to transfer to Holy Cross.

Sanders took an official visit to McNeese State (Nov. 9-11), but has no designs on signing early. He was going to wait and see if schools like North Carolina would take a serious look. They did. The North Carolina staff liked what they saw and felt that Sanders could add more mobility and athletic skills in the front court for the Tar Heels.

Give UNC some credit though. Once the Jason Fraser sweepstakes did not go their way, North Carolina got on the phone and made contact in the Fall -- a key to holding up Sanders on a possible decision. In fact, Sanders said that in addition to McNeese State and North Carolina, he has also been contacted this past fall by South Alabama, Jacksonville State and Southeast Louisiana.

Sanders averaged 10 points and 12 rebounds per game last season for Harrison Central. He played for a pair of squad this summer -- the Gulf Coast Stars and the Jackson Panthers.

"The things I do well right now are rebound and defend," Sanders said to Russ Blake in a previous interview. "I need to work on my offense with my back to the goal. I do better facing the goal now than with my back to the goal. But I am working on that and getting better."