1/20/2017 football Edit

4-Star CA QB Excited To Get Offer From UNC

4-Star QB Tanner McKee from Corona, CA, discusses getting an offer from UNC earlier this week. (Press Enterprise)

Andrew Jones • TarHeelIllustrated

Publisher

Andrew Jones has covered sports for 26 years, including all major college & professional sports for daily newspapers & national sites. He's done radio and TV & is entering his seventh year at THI.

Distance won’t matter to Tanner McKee when he eventually chooses where he will attend college and play football.

A 4-star quarterback from Centennial H.S. in Corona, CA, McKee received an offer from North Carolina on Wednesday, a day after Tar Heels’ quarterbacks coach Keith Heckendorf flew out west to see him work out. And as far as McKee is concerned, the possibility of playing college ball on the other side of the country won't be an issue.

“If the school is a good fit, I will go,” he told THI.

While UNC is 3,000 miles away, it could be a good fit.

McKee, who is regarded the No. 9 quarterback in the nation in the class of 2018, has no connection to the southeastern part of the country, though his father visited Chapel Hill back in early October after flying east to attend the Louisville-Clemson game. He had no connection to either school, he just loves college football, Tanner said, so he went to the game. On his trip, he made the trek to UNC and raved to Tanner about the campus, town and school.

So, when the Tar Heels offered Wednesday, McKee already had some knowledge of the school and program.

“I am really excited,” he said about the offer. “UNC has a great program and fan base.”

McKee knows a bit more about Carolina, something everyone seemingly knows.

“I know Michael Jordan went there,” he said, chuckling. “Not a lot. I do like their offense. Coach (Heckendorf) said they like to mix it up with some spread and pro-style offense. I like that. They tailor the offense to the strength of the QB.”

And it’s what Carolina’s quarterback did this year that really has McKee’s attention. In just one season as a starter, Mitch Trubisky is regarded the top overall QB prospect in the upcoming NFL draft. Prep quarterbacks around the nation are taking notice, and it’s making UNC more attractive to some of them than perhaps previously was the case.

“I think anytime a program prepares a player to be successful and utilizes his strengths, you have to be interested,” McKee said. “Trubisky is a great QB.”

Among McKee’s many offers are from Utah, Nebraska, Louisville, Georgia and others, so where do the Tar Heels stand at this time?

“I would say they are up there,” McKee said. “Great coaches, great school, and strong conference.”

McKee doesn’t plan on camping at UNC in June, but he’s hoping to make a trip to Chapel Hill in the spring.