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Zach Rice, a 5-star class of 2022 offensive tackle who attends Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchburg, VA, has committed to play football at North Carolina.
Rice, who is 6-foot-6 and 305 pounds, chose the Tar Heels over Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Virginia, all of which he visited in June. Rice has also been offered by Southern Cal, Penn State, Oklahoma, Michigan, Oregon, Miami, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, and so many others.
Rice was last at UNC for its 59-39 victory over Virginia on Sept. 18. The only other college game he has attended this fall was UVA's opener versus William & Mary.
The direction UNC Coach Mack Brown has the program moving is a big reason Rice has popped for the Tar Heels.
"I think he has turned that into a legacy,” Rice told THI. “What he has done, you know people usually say UNC is a basketball school and stuff like that, but he has really turned up the culture. I mean the culture has been amazing, but they are taking it more serious now and with the recruits he is bringing in. It's crazy."
Rice is the No. 19 overall prospect nationally in the class of 2022, including No. 4 at his position. He is the No. 1 overall prospect in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Rice is the highest rated prospect to ever commit to UNC. His numerical rating is 6.1, so Carolina’s per-player ranking will surely climb from its current spot at No. 9.
Among the reasons Rice chose UNC is something perhaps minor to some people, but not to him. It stood out when he attended UNC’s game versus NC State last fall, and has stuck with him all along.
"I have a grandmother that is older so its stuff like the seats and stuff like that,” he said, referring to most of Kenan Stadium’s seats have chairbacks. “Like only the student section had those old bench seats but the fans and stuff had the nice seats. Stuff like that, I mean I love my grandma and I want her to have the location that's good and for her to see and come and be in a comfortable seat so that's what's up to.”
Of course, Rice likes Carolina’s offensive approach, as well. It was also one of its selling points.
"A lot of schools set themselves up for failure being just running some type of pro-style offense,” he said. “I like how they make vertical runs, run outside runs, and they do stuff that allows their linemen to get down field. They do a lot of pass blocking.”
In addition, Rice’s mother, Mary Rice, has been a big part of his recruitment, and the Rice’s clearly have taken a big-picture approach here. The goal is for Zach to get to the NFL, perhaps in three years. That UNC has a plan in place for that to happen intrigued Mrs. Rice. She trusts their process, noting the role of Darrell Moody, UNC’s Senior Advisor to the Head Coach.
"He's done a lot of recruiting for the NFL for years and he's coached with Mack Brown,” she told THI. “He does their NFL preparation. They wanted us to meet with him and they talked to us about doing it over Zoom. We hadn't seen the indoor facility either so we just rode down for a little but to check on some things."
"It's good to know that they have a person on staff that really does that," she said. "They're serious about that. After talking with coach Brown, they're fine with guys leaving after three years.
“They need to do what's best for the player. It would certainly help UNC if they were able to keep a NFL ready player on their roster but they're not about that. They want the kids to get developed and do what they need to do.”
Rice is the 15th member of UNC’s class of 2022.
Deana's Take:
“UNC has gotten an elite offensive tackle that I think could possibly start day one as a Tar Heel. He is a player that UNC needed to sign as they have no trouble signing elite offensive skill players. This is a major pickup for the Tar Heels in the national recruiting scene.”
Zach Rice Highlights
Zach Rice THI ISO Video From 2020
Note RIce was a 4-star at the time, but soon after was elevated to a 5-star.
