North Carolina recently received an early football commitment for the 2003 season, a very big one.
Tight end Jon Hamlett, a 6-foot-5, 260-pound rising senior at Jefferson Forest H.S. (Forest, Va.), made it official on March 29.
Hamlett has followed the Tar Heels all of his life and said he is already focusing on what he expects his future contribution to be to the Carolina program.
“I just think that I can open the passing game up for them,” Hamlett said.
Hamlett is the grandson of former UNC football player Jack Waddell, who was a teammate of Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice.
“I was recruited by a lot of schools, and people told me I should wait,” Hamlett said. “They were offering me, but I just wanted to get it over with.
“I just like Carolina. I like Chapel Hill.”
Hamlett caught 22 passes for 355 yards during his junior season, and he expects to be even more prolific for the Cavaliers this fall. Hamlett said he was last timed in the 40-yard dash at 4.8 seconds.
“I’ve been working a lot in the off-season, getting stronger and faster. I think I will get a whole lot more passes this year.”
North Carolina coach John Bunting has described the type of player that he wishes to bring in -- kids who want to play football. And Hamlett provides considerable insight into the positive persona that Bunting and his staff project on prospects.
“A lot of things factored into it and more so, I was a fan all my life,” Hamlett said. “I feel like that’s where I want to play.
From a recruit’s perspective, sincerity was extremely important to Hamlett.
“I think they are real honest people, and I don’t think that they would lie to me and that is one of the reasons why I trusted them,” Hamlett said. “I like (Coach) Bunting a lot, the times that I have talked to him. He’s real down to earth. He expects you to come in there and be a good player. He’s honest with you.
“I really like Coach (Ken) Browning, too; he was my recruiting coach and (will be) my position coach as well.”
When a student-athlete is as gifted physically as Hamlett, and at this stage in his development, it is not unusual for him to play several sports in high school. Hamlett pulled double duty on the defensive side of the football as well in 2001, but will concentrate solely on the tight end position this season.
“Coach (Terry Smith) didn’t really want me to go both sides,” Hamlett said. “I won’t play defensive end this year, but I played a lot of it last year.”
Hamlett also played basketball for Coach Steve Epps at Jefferson Forest. Hamlett attended UNC basketball camp when he was younger and is a force inside at the prep level.
"Jon’s so big and takes up so much room, usually we just let him rebound and everybody else goes out," one opposing coach said.
Last season, the Tar Heels were limited in their use of the tight end as an offensive weapon. As a junior, Zach Hilton caught 12 passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns. He split time with senior blocking specialist Doug Brown, who did not catch a single pass.
Bunting spoke frequently of increasing the role of the tight end as a receiver in the future, and Hamlett is now a part of that future.
“It’s just always been of dream of mine to play there,” Hamlett said. “My room was Carolina Blue.”
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