Lucas: High Brings Versatile Game To Carolina

🎥: THE INTRO: Zayden High#CarolinaFamily | @zaydenh1gh pic.twitter.com/tmVIapbh0D
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) November 28, 2023

By Adam Lucas

Blame caller ID.

When Zayden High's cell phone rang during an AAU tournament in Orlando, he wasn't quite sure he could believe it.

The screen identifying the caller read: "Hubert Davis." Then he looked closer. It said "Maybe" Hubert Davis.

"I was very excited," High says. "I didn't expect it at all. I was in front of all my friends and I was like, 'Whoa, this is really cool.'"

The call was the beginning of a relationship that eventually resulted in High's commitment to North Carolina, a somewhat unexpected rise for a player who admits his hometown of San Antonio is not known as a basketball hotbed.

High is trying to change that.

"There are a lot of great players in San Antonio," he says. "A lot of them are overlooked because it's not a big city in Texas. So you have to go out there and prove you belong in other places so you can get that opportunity to be looked at."

High wasn't necessarily expecting those looks to come from North Carolina. Once the call came, though, he immediately began learning more about the Tar Heels, a process that was accelerated when he came to Chapel Hill on a recruiting visit.

"I knew somewhat about North Carolina, but I hadn't gone in depth," he says. "When I came here on the visit and learned about the culture and family atmosphere, it was amazing. I learned about all the great players who have gone on to play in the NBA. The style of play is fast-paced, and it's a family. All of that is exactly what I wanted to be part of."

In order to have the best chance to have success being part of it, High—currently known by his teammates as one of the best trash-talkers on the roster (although he nominates Harrison Ingram)—wanted to ensure he was prepared for any role. He'd already had several big performances on the AAU circuit and then relocated to Arizona for his senior year of high school to ensure he was facing quality opponents.

The wide range of competition also gave him a chance to diversify his skill set, which has been beneficial during his freshman season, which has frequently seen High—also a skilled outside shooter—play in the post for the Tar Heels.

That's enabled him to contribute in some unexpected ways—his offensive rebound percentage is third-highest on the team, behind only Jalen Washington and Armando Bacot—but he's also committed more fouls than he would have preferred and occasionally been the victim of turnovers.

That's exactly the type of some good, some bad production you'd expect from a true freshman. Finding the right spot to use him to enable him to be successful can occasionally be a challenge; on one instance in the Bahamas, Hubert Davis sent him to the scorer's table to check in but then brought him back to the bench because the game situation changed before he checked in.

But it's not difficult to imagine his athleticism and size being an asset against a team like, for example, Tennessee, which plays physically and may create some foul trouble.

"I want to be in the right spot to help us win," High says. "I played the five for the first time in my career last year, and I have no regrets because when I came here I can play the five and the four and I can guard multiple positions…Anywhere I go, I just want to do whatever the team needs me to do."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Zayden High

Harrison Ingram

Jalen Washington

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