North Carolina - In the world of ever-expanding titles that schools give coaches – either to reward a loyal assistant or get another body on deck, “Head Coach Designate” is a new one. But after taking at look at North Carolina’s incoming men’s class, it would behoove every school in the country to go out and get one. Before he even set foot on deck, HCD Rich DeSelm attracted perhaps the best recruiting class in school history.

That class starts with the nation’s best backstroke recruit - Josh Hafkin (Rockville, MD). One could argue that Arizona’s Chitwood deserves the title, but Hafkin’s has the added ability to be on every Tarheel free relay. The same can be said for Tommy Whyer (Tampa, FL). Hafkin and the Whyer flyer will be mainstays of NCAA-caliber relays. Joe Kinderwater is one of just ten prepsters to cross the ‘B’ cut in his mile. The rest of the class – Tyler Harris (Richmond, VA), Robert Grimmet-Norris (North Bethesda, MD), Andrew Brake (Burke, VA), Alex Ismail (Zionsville, IN) and David Zolno (Austin, TX) aren’t quite NCAA-caliber but their choice to attend UNC left a lot of other schools saying, “not another one!”

The scariest thing is that as good as this class is, there’s not a single one from in-state. As the staff proves itself to the natives, that should change and when it does, the ACC and the national will be looking for their own “Head Coach Designate.”

 

 2514	Hafkin, Joshua		Rockville, MD	
 2502	Kinderwater, Joe		Lancaster, PA	
 2478	Wyher, Tommy		Tampa, FL
 2342	Harris, William Tyler	Richmond, VA	
 2318	Grimmett-Norris, Robert	North Bethesda, MD
 2310	Brake, Andrew		Burke, VA
 2178	Ismail, Alex		Zionsville, IN	
 2122	Zolno, David		Austin, TX