Where's UNC Ranked After Cheeks Commitment?

With 4-star OLB Sebastian Cheeks committing to play football at North Carolina on Wednesday, THI dives into our new regular post-commitment feature where we take a look at where Mack Brown’s program really stands in the current Rivals rankings.

Cheeks popping for the Tar Heels moved UNC’s team ranking for the class of 2022 up from No. 27 to No. 22. UNC’s average player ranking improved from 5.75 to 5.76, and therefore as a program Carolina moved from No. 11 to No. 9 in average ranking per commitment.

“I believe they are changing the culture,” Cheeks told THI. “Coach Brown takes care of his people and that’s something that stands out to me. His staff is all very intelligent and loves ball.”

At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Cheeks is rated the No. 105 overall prospect nationally in the class of 2022, including the No. 10 outside linebacker. He is the No. 4 overall prospect in the state of Illinois. He carries a 5.9 player rating.

It isn’t hard to see why UNC was so interested in bringing him to Chapel Hill. The staff made a consistent hard pitch to the Evanston, IL, native.

“Like most backers they recruit, my ability to have an impact all over the field,” Cheeks said when asked what UNC told him it liked about his abilities. “I think versatility is important. and playing in space sideline to sideline.”

Cheeks is the 12th member of the class for UNC and the seventh 4-star in the group. The other five commits are 3-star prospects. The highest player rating for any of the 12 commits is 5.9, which Cheeks shares with Malaki Hamrick, Tayon Holloway, and Omarion Hampton, a running back who announced for the Heels last week.

Below is a breakdown of top 15 classes based on averaging each player’s numerical rating given by Rivals: