Xavier Lewis didn’t exactly arrive at North Carolina with the kind of recruiting buzz that usually follows a breakout defensive lineman. In fact, he was a long way from that.
UNC was his only Power 4 offer out of high school. The rest of the list was built from Temple, UMass, Campbell, Wofford, Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb and Elon. Recruiting services didn’t give him a stars label or any rating at all.
That makes what Lewis is doing now for the Tar Heels feel even more striking.
The UNC sophomore defensive lineman, who was a force up front against TCU, came out of Rolesville (NC) High School and originally signed with Austin Peay in December 2024. That offer came less than a month before he signed, and at the time he was listed at 6-foot-1, 230 pounds on Austin Peay’s website. Austin Peay offensive coordinator Quinn Billerman, who had previously worked as a graduate assistant at Duke and North Carolina Central, helped the Governors identify Lewis during his high school days.
Then Bill Belichick arrived at North Carolina in December 2024 and made one of his first recruiting stops at Rolesville. That’s where he found Lewis and offered him a preferred walk-on spot with the Tar Heels.
Lewis took it and enrolled at UNC in June 2025. Even without midyear enrollment, he still managed to play in 11 games last season as a true freshman, including seven appearances on special teams field goal block. He finished with eight tackles, four of them coming against Richmond.
Now he’s a scholarship player, and UNC lists him at 6-foot, 260 pounds. Against the Horned Frogs, Lewis put together the kind of performance that turns heads fast: seven tackles, 4.5 for loss and two sacks. Pro Football Focus credited him with five stops, and he was on the field for 53 of 71 defensive snaps.
Lewis has made a strong case that he was overlooked coming out of high school.
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Carson Bertagnole has given North Carolina a promising opening at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate, where the Tar Heels spent Friday hanging around the top of the board after a steady start in Tennessee. Bertagnole sits one stroke off the lead after rounds of 66 and 69, and his play helped UNC card a 3-under-par first day while staying within reach of the tournament front-runners.
The Tar Heels posted a 2-under 278 in the morning and followed with a 1-under 279 in the afternoon, leaving them five shots behind co-leaders Chattanooga and Memphis. With the field still early in the event, UNC has positioned itself for a weekend push, and Bertagnoles start gives the team a chance to make some noise if the scoring stays within reach. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Already Faces Early Pressure In A Major 5-Star Recruitment
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For UNC, the challenge is simple enough to see and difficult enough to solve: Henry has a long list of heavy hitters around him, including Ohio State, Kentucky, BYU, UConn, Arkansas and Kansas. Louisville coach Pat Kelsey is also said to be making a major push in the recruitment, which adds another layer to a race that is only just beginning to heat up for the Tar Heels. [Read more 🡒]
Former UNC Fan Favorite Just Gave Tar Heels Fans Another NFL Reason To Watch
Willie Lampkin keeps finding a way to stick, and Tar Heels fans now have another NFL player worth tracking when the season opens. The former North Carolina interior lineman earned a spot on the Philadelphia Eagles 53-man roster for the 2026 season after turning in a strong training camp and preseason, a notable step for a player who went undrafted and had to work his way through the next stop after starting with the Los Angeles Rams.
Lampkins path has already shown plenty about the traits that helped make him a fan favorite in Chapel Hill. He is known for his balance, strength and versatility at center and guard, and even though he is shorter than the typical NFL offensive lineman, he has continued to give teams reasons to trust him. For UNC fans, his latest roster move adds one more familiar name to follow on Sundays. [Read more 🡒]