Williams Makes Selection--It’s North Carolina

Scott Williams will begin his college basketball career next year at Pauley Pavilion.

But not as a UCLA Bruin.

Williams is a 6-foot 10-inch center at Hacienda Heights Wilson High who is considered the top high school prospect on the West Coast. He ended weeks of speculation Friday afternoon and announced that he will sign a letter of intent to play for Coach Dean Smith and the University of North Carolina.

Williams cited the home-and-away series with UCLA, which begins Nov. 24 at North Carolina, as one of the reasons he chose the Tar Heels over the Bruins, Villanova, DePaul and Georgia Tech. That, combined with Smith’s reputation, the potential television exposure and the chance to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, will send the lifetime Los Angeles-area resident to Chapel Hill, N.C.

“I sat down with my folks last night and made a decision based on coaching and academics,” he said. “I don’t know if anybody knows this, but North Carolina is rated in the top 20 schools in the nation for academics.

“One of the other factors was (Smith’s) ability to relate to players. Not only as basketball players, but as people.”

Williams said he called Smith after making the decision Thursday night. At the press conference Friday in the Wilson gym, Williams’ father, Al, tossed him a North Carolina sweat shirt.

The Tar Heels, who finished as the No. 7 team in the nation last season with a 27-9 record, figure to have another strong team this year. But they will lose 6-11 Brad Daugherty, an All-ACC pick, and 6-11 Warren Martin to graduation in the spring, and two 6-10 players, Dave Popson and Joe Wolf, are juniors now.

Therefore, Williams, who may grow another two or three inches by college, could have the opportunity to make an immediate impact. North Carolina recruited well in 1984, landing one of the top prep guards in the country in Jeff Lebo, but two other players are 6-6.

“We have not recruited any big men for the past couple of years,” Smith said from his office in Chapel Hill. “So we thought that we needed two big people from this year’s senior class. . . . It was essential. You could tell how much we wanted him because this was the first time that I’ve ever made a home visit for a recruit in California.”

Exactly how Williams will fit in the system remains to be seen, mainly because the Tar Heels are still in the running for 6-10 J.R. Reid from Virginia Beach, Va., rated as the nation’s top prospect. Reid will wait until the April signing period, but North Carolina fans already are hoping a Williams-Reid parlay would give Smith a big-man combination similar to the one he had a few years ago with James Worthy and Sam Perkins.

Santa Monica guard Carrick DeHart signed his letter of intent Thursday night--but not with Kansas, the school he had committed to.

DeHart waivered on his selection the day after he announced it and continued to make recruiting trips. He ended up signing with UC Santa Barbara, which he visited last weekend.

His teammate in the back court at Santa Monica, Keith Harris, did sign with Kansas as expected.