CHESAPEAKE, VA (WTKR)- The trend of Hampton Roads top football recruits heading to North Carolina continued on Wednesday afternoon.
Western Branch wide receiver Paul Billups verbally committed to the Tar Heels during a ceremony at the high school. Billups picked UNC over his other finalists, Virginia Tech and Michigan State.
"The family atmosphere," the Bruin senior said about why he picked North Carolina. "When I kept going down there, they showed me a lot of love and showed me this could be my home."
Tar Heel assistant coach Dre Bly, also a product of Western Branch, has had recent success recruiting in the 757. That continued as he plucked another high profile player out of the Tidewater region and will bring him to Chapel Hill, this time from his alma mater. Billups said Bly was key in selling UNC.
"Dre showed me a lot of love," the wide receiver noted. "We grew up around the same neighborhoods, so he already knew my situation and he helped out a lot."
In addition to Bly, the handful of local stars in North Carolina's program will make it more of a familiar environment for Billups.
"It impacted it a lot," he pointed out of the local ties in Chapel Hill. "They have Doc Chapman, they have George Pettaway, Andre Greene, Tayon Holloway, they have a lot of those guys down there so I already knew I was going there because they're my guys."
With the decision out of the way, Billups now turns his attention to his senior high school season. He and the Bruins are coming off a trip to the 6A region title game in 2021 and are hoping to make some noise in his final campaign before heading to the next level.
"It took a lot of weight off so I could focus on my senior season and try to break some records," he noted.
Billups and the Bruins kick off their 2022 season on Friday at Churchland.
