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A week after decommitting from Notre Dame, 4-star running back Elijah Hood elected to stay close to home, opting to join Larry Fedora and the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Tom Loy of 247Sports has the news:

Hood later tweeted:

This is a tremendous pickup for Fedora and his staff.

Hood is the second-best prospect out of North Carolina, the fifth-best running back in the country and the No. 39 overall ranked recruit in the nation, according to 247Sports' composite rankings.

According to Loy, the Charlotte native put up some gargantuan numbers as a junior last year, tallying 3,309 yards and 48 touchdowns.

At 5'11.5" and 222 pounds, he is a strong, powerful runner capable of grinding out yards in a downhill, north-and-south fashion. He has the body and athleticism to play linebacker at the next level, but he will likely slot next to current freshman T.J. Logan to give Fedora a formidable backfield duo in the future.

Logan, a 4-star recruit in the class of 2013, is a speedy back who will nicely complement Hood once the latter gets onto campus for the 2014 season.

Speaking of which, the new Tar Heel told Loy upon his commitment that he is "done with this process" and hopes to "be here as early as January."

With this gem, Fedora's 2014 class is really coming together.

Per 247Sports, Hood is UNC's 21st commit and joins offensive tackle Bentley Spain and quarterback Caleb Henderson in the 4-star category.

The class is ranked 17th in the country.

North Carolina is known as a basketball school, and while that won't change anytime soon, the Tar Heels, coming off an 8-4 year in Fedora's first season as head coach, clearly have a bright future on the gridiron.