Tar Heels loaded with far-flung talent

When you can recruit the top players in the nation regardless of where they are from, there’s no reason to limit your roster to guys who play in your home state.

North Carolina’s three best players are from Missouri, Pennsylvania and Maryland, all McDonald’s All-Americans, and it’s impossible to imagine what kind of team the Tar Heels would be without Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson.

It’s also nice to see an in-state player perform well enough to receive a scholarship offer from the top-ranked Tar Heels. Reggie Bullock, a sophomore wing from Kinston, N.C., committed to the Tar Heels on Wednesday.

“He’s got to be the No. 1 2010 prospect in North Carolina, and I think North Carolina certainly would like to keep some home-bred talent in their program,” said All-Star Sports recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons.

But North Carolina has only two scholarship players on its current roster – Greensboro’s Will Graves and Winston-Salem’s Mike Copeland – from North Carolina. Before Wednesday, none of the seven prospects who had committed to or signed with the Tar Heels were from North Carolina.

Bullock will bring some needed in-state flavor to the Tar Heels in the future.

– Ken Tysiac