CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- The recruiting trail is returning to form for Roy Williams.

"It is more fun this way -- to be able to identify people you want," the North Carolina head coach said, a day after his Tar Heels had signed three players for the 2018 cycle.

The class of Nassir Little, Coby White and Rechon Black, which is currently ranked No. 4 in the nation, is the best class UNC has signed since the 2014 class. That class featured Justin Jackson, Theo Pinson, and Joel Berry, and was key to Carolina's back-to-back Final Four runs in 2016 and 2017, including the net-cutting that occurred last April.

Little is the highest rated recruit that Williams has signed since Jackson. Both are No. 9 overall in the 247Sports Composite rankings.

UNC head coach Roy Williams has put together a top five 2018 class.

"We did have a little bit of a drought there for a while," Williams acknowledged. The reasons are complicated but included the uncertainty surrounding the lengthy NCAA investigation, the one-and-done era in college basketball, and the negative momentum caused by the combination.

North Carolina's last four classes (based on 247Sports Composite rankings):

2014 - No. 10 (Justin Jackson, Theo Pinson, Joel Berry)

2015 - No. 70 (Luke Maye and Kenny Williams)

2016 - No. 14 (Tony Bradley, Seventh Woods, Kenny Williams)

2017 - No. 18 (Jalek Felton, Garrison Brooks, Brandon Huffman, Andrew Platek, Sterling Manley)

The drop in UNC's ability to land the elite, high-level recruits was not because of lack of effort. Williams repeatedly reminds the media of this. He goes after the same guys that John Calipari and Mike Krzyzewski do, and just as hard. UNC just hasn't signed them in recent years.

That could change soon.

"We got some guys we really wanted on campus," Williams said about the 2018 cycle. "For a couple of years we couldn't even get guys on campus. We couldn't even get them to visit. We've been involved with some very good kids."

Nassir Little is UNC's highest-ranked signee since Justin Jackson in 2014.

One name that is still out there is Zion Williamson. The No. 2 overall player in the 2018 class, the Spartanburg, S.C. native is down to UNC, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, South Carolina and Clemson. He took an official visit to Chapel Hill over the Oct. 27 weekend. Williams has visited the 6-foot-6, 275-pound phenom twice since.

While a glimmer of hope remains for Williamson, the Tar Heels will have three talented and athletic players joining the roster next June. All three will be impact players during their time at UNC.

"We really love those three we got. I am extremely happy with them," Williams said. "I can't imagine at this moment that anybody in the country is any happier with their three kids than the three that I am."

For the first time in several years, the Tar Heels are experiencing recruiting momentum.

"I think the difference was not the (NCAA's) ruling," Williams explained. "The difference, it started earlier. No. 1, let's be honest, going to the national championship game two years in a row sort of helps you. Winning the second one, that doesn't hurt you. The fact that some of those guys were told you're never going to compete in a NCAA tournament game -- and did -- gives people confidence. I think the fact that they could see closure to it. All three of those kids (2018 class) committed to us before the final ruling. I think they trusted us and believed us. I think it was all three of those things.

"Two biggest ones: We won and we have been on the biggest stage two years in a row, and guys see they can do that here. And then the fact they did trust what we were saying about it."

For Williams, the 2018 class is admittedly a great sign of UNC's resurgence in the college basketball recruiting scene. The 2019 and 2020 classes are where North Carolina can cement the notion of being back among the recruiting elite.

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