Local linebacker commits to UNC

Kyle Wright will play his college football in the Carolinas.

The Ben Lippen running back/linebacker verbally committed to North Carolina on Tuesday in a ceremony on WIS-TV.

“I’m going to be a Tar Heel,” Wright said as he revealed his UNC T-shirt underneath his long sleeve shirt. “When I took a visit there for junior day, it was amazing. It was a place I want to be.”

Wright committed to Temple in September but opened up his recruiting last month. He also considered Colorado and Purdue.

The Tar Heels made a strong late push for Wright. UNC offered him last week and assistant coaches Deke Adams and John Papuchis visited him at school Tuesday. Wright will take his official visit this weekend and plans to enroll early.

Wright is the 19th ranked prospect in the state by 247Sports Composite and played both running back and linebacker at Ben Lippen. He will play inside linebacker for the Tar Heels.

Wright is the 13th commitment for UNC in the Class of 2018 and the only linebacker.

“It will be an easy transition for me to play linebacker,” Wright said.

Wright joins former Blythewood standout Jordyn Adams, who committed with the Tar Heels. The two were teammates at Blythewood before Wright transferred to Ben Lippen for his final two years. Adams played this year at Green Hope in North Carolina.

Wright rushed for 1,854 yards and 22 touchdowns this year. On defense, he had 24 tackles, nine for loss.

As a junior, Wright played more at linebacker and had 128 tackles, 80 solo.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pounder played in the SCISA All-Star game last week and is a finalist for the Richland One/Two Player of the Year award, which will be announced Thursday.

This story was originally published December 5, 2017 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Local linebacker commits to UNC."