He committed Monday to the Tar Heels and will meet with the media today at Jordan.

Watts, who averaged 24 points and nine rebounds during his senior season, is the fourth member of UNC's 2008 recruiting class, joining point guard Larry Drew and forwards Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller.

Alex Stepheson's decision to transfer out of the program, which was announced last week, opened up a scholarship at UNC.

Dave Telep, the recruiting director for Scout.com, said Watts would have been a significant recruit in almost every college conference in the country.

"The question at North Carolina, of course, is the opportunity he will get," Telep said.

"Justin is a very good, and everybody says he is a great character guy. He is a good guy to have on your team."

UNC coach Roy Williams has a history of populating his bench with players from the region. Telep cited junior reserve Michael Copeland as an example.

"The year Carolina signed Copeland, it had a lot of defections [to professional basketball]," Telep said. "UNC might be in the same situation this year."

Underclassmen Wayne Ellington, Danny Green and Ty Lawson have all declared for the NBA Draft but have not hired agents, leaving open the possibility they could remain at UNC.