North Carolina notched a big win on the recruiting trail today, landing three-star defensive line prospect Kaiden Robinson-Vickers over NC State and UCF.
After taking official visits to the Wolfpack, Knights and Tar Heels, he made the decision to join UNC’s 2027 recruiting class — becoming the first defensive lineman to do so.
UCF had the in-state pull and NC State aggressively pursued him for months, but the 6-foot-2 defensive lineman was always attracted to the idea of playing for legendary head coach Bill Belichick.
“Also, coach [Bill] Belichick himself — he shows me how much he wants me there,” Robinson-Vickers said after an unofficial visit to Chapel Hill, North Carolina in the spring. “He’s projecting me to be a significant edge-rusher, defensive end type-of-player. He showed me how much he wanted me; I had a one-on-one with him for about 30 minutes where he told me how much of a priority I am and how I would fit great in their culture and program.
“He also gave me the rundown of how school would operate over there. How a day in the life of a North Carolina football player [would be] — times for certain meals and things like that. He just let me know everything within that and he also just wants me to get up there in-person and see what it’s like.”
247Sports ranks him as the No. 62 defensive lineman nationally and the No. 32 player within the state of Florida. He carries a rating of 88.
Robinson-Vickers had a breakout junior season last fall. He was a key player for a Dunnellon (Fla.) squad that went 8-6 and captured a Florida FIT 1 (1A-3A) championship. He finished his junior season with 55 tackles (19.5 tackles for loss), 7.5 sacks, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery. He will play his senior season at Hawthorne (Fla.) High.
Robinson-Vickers becomes commitment No. 12 for the Tar Heels in the 2027 class. He’s the eighth commitment for UNC in the month of June.
