12/5/2017 football Edit

Kyle Wright Commits

SC linebacker/running back Kyle Wright committed to UNC on Tuesday, less than a week after being offered. (Rivals.com)

Andrew Jones • TarHeelIllustrated

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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.

Kyle Wright, a 2-star running back/linebacker committed to North Carolina on Tuesday evening less than one week after the Tar Heels extended him a scholarship offer.

Wright, who is 6-0, 211 pounds and attends Ben Lippen School in Columbia, SC, was previously committed to Temple, but decommitted on Nov. 4 and has received quite a few offers from Power 5 programs since, among them Purdue, Colorado, Minnesota and Maryland.

Wright made his announcement on live television, during the WIS Channel 10 News at around 5:40. He unbuttoned his shirt to reveal a UNC t-shirt and said, “It took a long time to make the decision, but I’m going to be a Tar Heel.”

Wright expanded on why he made this decision.

“When I took my visit, I went to a Junior Day and to a game last year and it was amazing," he said, adding it felt like "home” in Chapel Hill.

When on a visit to UNC with a teammate, and after he had already committed to Temple, Wright told his friend, “This is where I want to be, this is where I want to go.”

As for UNC, Wright spoke extensively with THI about the school and football program.

“They are very prestigious school, they have a great coaching staff, in a great location and they are up and coming team,” Wright told THI.

Wright will take his official visit to UNC this weekend.

Unlike some prospects, Wright doesn’t view UNC in a negative light given it’s coming off a 3-9 season. He knows there’s a reason why.

“I believe that the coaching staff know what they were doing and that the injuries did have an effect on the season,” he said. “I trust the process.”

Wright is being recruited to UNC as a linebacker, and with Payton Wilson having decommitted, UNC is likely to bring in one more player at the position. He said also being a running back is part of what intrigues UNC about his potential.

"The linebacker coach (Mike Ekeler), who came to watch me work out last week, he told me it’s a great thing to recruit running backs can play linebacker at the next level because I have the speed and the size to play linebacker," Wright said.

Wright is the 12th member of the class of 2018 for UNC.