Tar Heels land wide receiver

Gastonia standout commits to UNC

North Carolina added to its stellar in-state football recruiting class on Thursday when wide receiver Jheranie Boyd of Gastonia Ashbrook announced for the Tar Heels.

The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Boyd is ranked as the No. 5 prospect in North Carolina and the No. 7 wide receiver prospect in the nation by scout.com.

He held a pep rally at the Ashbrook football stadium to make his announcement. Thursday was a teacher work day at the school.

Boyd has 796 receiving yards this season.

"Carolina is the best spot for me to go," Boyd told the Charlotte Observer, "and it had a lot to do with [UNC coach] Butch Davis and the staff he has down there.

"I have a great connection with them. Oklahoma was leading a little earlier in the process, but I always liked Carolina. And it came down to who could give me the best opportunity to play, and I want to major in communications and [ESPN announcer] Stuart Scott went [to North Carolina]. So if I don't make the NFL and live my dreams, then I can lean back on my degree and maybe get some help from the alumni to get to ESPN."

There are nine high school players in North Carolina who are ranked as four-star or higher by scout.com.

UNC has commitments from four, including three of the top six. Duke has one, and four are not committed.

The top two players on the scout.com list are offensive tackle Xavier Nixon of Fayetteville Britt, who is uncommitted, and defensive end Donte Moss of Jacksonville Northside, who is committed to North Carolina.

The other top in-state commitments for UNC are defensive tackle Jared McAdoo of Chapel Hill; linebacker Justin Dixon of Smithfield-Selma; offensive tackle David Collins of East Forsyth; safety Hunter Furr of Winston-Salem Mount Tabor and wide receiver Ray-Ray Davis of Monroe Sun Valley.

UNC is believed to have 20 commitments. Thirteen are from North Carolina.

(Langston Wertz Jr. of the Charlotte Observer contributed to this report.)