CHAPEL HILL – Alijah Huzzie admits he was nervous as the first day of spring practice approached.

Could he do it? Was he a Power 5 player? Did he make a mistake leaving the comfort of an FCS program where he was a star seeking something bigger and more career-enhancing?

That is what swirled through Huzzie’s mind as North Carolina was on the cusp of opening spring practice in early March.

“The first day that we came out, I was kind of nervous,” he said. “I was like, ‘It’s here, it’s in my face, I’ve gotta take advantage of the moment. I went down in press (coverage), and you want to get a feel for the receivers.

“So, I was like, ‘Okay, I done seen this before and I didn’t do nothing special, you’re not doing anything I haven’t seen before.’ From that point on I was like, ‘Okay.’”

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Huzzie was an FCS first-team All-America cornerback at East Tennessee State, and tied for the national lead in interceptions last fall. He started his last 30 games for the Buccaneers, finishing his ETSU career with 12 interceptions and 30 PBUs.

But this was the ACC, Mack Brown, North Carolina, and a much bigger stage.

“It built up from meetings and being around people,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect, I kind of knew in the back of my head. I said, ‘Don’t think too much, just go out there and be you.’”

No problem.

The nerves are gone, long gone. In fact, Huzzie is pegged to start for the Tar Heels in the fall and regularly drew rave reviews from teammates and coaches during the spring. He’s got game, and if a player can play, it doesn’t matter where they came from.

“He’s got really good ball skills, and that’s part of being a great basketball player in high school…,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said. “We haven’t had that many interceptions. He’s got really good hands… He plays the ball so well.”

His interceptions and how he plays the ball are what grabbed Carolina’s attention when watching Huzzie on film after he entered the portal. UNC’s cornerbacks have combined for only eight interceptions over the last four seasons, a ridiculously low figure.

Huzzie, who is 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds, though he appears a tad thicker than that, has something that cannot be taught, defensive coordinator Gene Chizik said.

“We always tell (corners) that we’re responsible for the first second-and-a-half of a play, ‘that’s what you’re, get you in the right spot,’” he explained. “And the player is responsible for the last three, four, or five seconds of a play of making those plays…

“He does a great job of finishing, he does a great job of just feeling things in the secondary that we can’t teach. He’s got a sixth sense for the ball in the air. Just a really, really good player. Never panics. He’s been everything we’d hope he’d be so far.”

Huzzie was an all-conference basketball player in high school, and Brown believes that’s one reason he has such good ball skills. Humble yet confident, Huzzie arrived in Chapel Hill with a purpose.

Things have gone so well for Huzzie that he has cross-trained learning the star position as well. Chizik says they wouldn’t have moved Huzzie there for reps if he didn’t have a firm grasp of the corner duties, which include less press and man coverage from his day at ETSU, and more communication in the back of the defense.

At star, Huzzie has already fit at well, though he sees himself more as a straight corner.

“I could do both, honestly,” Huzzie said. “I see myself more outside, but I can pick up on star, too.”

He wanted to raise his skill level and have a more challenging opportunity. Huzzie has settled in and says football is just football, though there are some variations between the Southern Conference and the ACC.

“The level is different,” he said. “It’s kind of faster than SoCon, but it’s really no different when it comes to skills.”

Huzzie outgrew FCS football, and in time he hopes to outgrow the ACC. And so does Carolina’s staff.