5-star big man Tony Bradley commits to UNC, gives Tar Heels size amid allegations

For those who have followed every twist and turn of North Carolina’s academic fraud scandal over the last four years, there’s long been a sense that whatever punishment the NCAA levied against the program would ultimately be fairly mild. The NCAA’s Notice of Allegations essentially confirmed that this summer, when Roy Williams’ name only appeared once and the major scorn was centered on former counselors and staff advisers instead of the men’s basketball team.

Deep down, Williams knew he wasn’t going anywhere, and neither were the national title banners UNC raised in 2005 and 2009. While a postseason ban was possible, it never seemed likely. So, the question then became: how was Williams supposed to be able to explain all of this in the living rooms of potential recruits to teenagers and their parents, and convince them he was telling the truth?

Even without this context, the commitment big man Tony Bradley gave to UNC on Wednesday would have been a big deal. Bradley is considered a five-star prospect by ESPN and ranks No. 26 overall in the class of 2016. He was one of the top front court players available, and the Tar Heels need bodies with Brice Johnson entering his senior year and Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks now juniors.

But when you factor in the cloud that’s been hanging over North Carolina recently and the way it affected the Heels’ recruiting efforts in the class of 2015, pulling a player of Bradley’s caliber makes the pledge even more significant.

It was only four months ago that Brandon Ingram, the consensus No. 3 recruit in the class of 2015, essentially admitted that the sanctions hanging over North Carolina factored into his decision to pick Duke instead of the Tar Heels. Williams would pluck Kenny Williams from VCU after Shaka Smart moved to Texas, but North Carolina is used to landing blue chippers, not players ranked in the 80s.

Williams, a shooter, is still a nice grab for a UNC team constantly searching for perimeter threats, but grabbing Bradley feels like a signal that the NCAA’s allegations will no longer affect Williams’ recruiting efforts. The Tar Heels love to feed the ball inside to their big men, and at 6’10 and 230 pounds, Bradley has the soft hands and scoring acumen to thrive in Chapel Hill.

Bradley, a native of Bartow, Florida, played on Nike’s EYBL circuit for Each 1 Teach 1 this summer, where he became an efficient scorer and one of the better rebounders in the league. He averaged 12.5 points per game on 60.3 percent shooting while grabbing 8.5 boards per game.

According to Rivals’ Eric Bossi, he might remind Roy Williams of one of his former players:

Carolina will still need to land a guard to replace the departing Marcus Paige next season, but in the short-term that role should be filled by Joel Berry III, a former McDonald’s All-American who would be entering his junior season. That player could be explosive South Carolina native Seventh Woods, or one of a number of talented guards within the class of 2016.

In Bradley, North Carolina has a perfect fit for its system and the type of interior presence that should keep the Tar Heels competitive regardless of what happens during an upcoming season when they might be No. 1 in the preseason polls. Williams may not be landing surefire one-and-dones like Duke, but he’s also building a team that will have the benefit of experience.

North Carolina isn’t exactly in the clear yet when it comes to the NCAA, but perhaps the worst part is now over. As long as the Tar Heels can still land the type of impact recruits they’re used to get, it’s going to be business as usual in Chapel Hill.