THE COMMITMENT: Four-star defensive tackle Clyde Pinder chose North Carolina over a host of other school on Friday evening. The Armwood (Fla.) High School star announced his intention to become a Tar Heel with a video on Friday night and, with that, became one of the most touted members of Mack Brown’s 2020 class.

Pinder was high on Pitt, Arizona State and UCF among others before settling on North Carolina this week. He cited a number reasons why Brown and company were able to land his pledge and talks about his commitment below.

IN HIS WORDS:

On why he chose North Carolina:

“The atmosphere there is perfect man. It’s a home-like atmosphere."

On his relationship with the UNC coaching staff:

"I’m good at telling what people want, you know? With me, usually I can see right through people and can tell if they're genuine or fake. With the Carolina staff, I could tell all of them are great people. They aren’t fake.”

On his role at UNC:
"They plan to use me as a one technique and as a three technique."

HOW THIS HELPS NORTH CAROLINA: Pinder is probably a bit undervalued by colleges because he carries a touch of bad weight. That said, he’s both effective and is battle tested. Pinder has competed against top-flight offensive lineman in both camps and on Friday nights. The fact that he’s been hyper-productive despite not yet scratching the surface of his physical potential should be encouraging to UNC fans.

On the macro level, establishing a pipeline to Armwood High is a perk for a UNC program that has recruited Florida with differing levels of success for some time. One of the more perennially loaded teams in the Tampa area, Armwood will never be short on Power Five prospects. Having Pinder, a team leader, in the fold could help UNC land his younger teammates down the road.