Copeland-Latest Recruit to UNC

North Carolina's men's basketball team is apparently on the brink of adding a fifth player to this season's freshman class.

Mike Copeland, a 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward from Winston-Salem, said Sunday he received the two A's he needed via correspondence courses to qualify for a basketball scholarship, and expects to sign with UNC by midweek.

"I talked to [assistant] coach [Joe] Holladay, and they just need the transcripts," said Copeland's father, Michael Copeland Sr., adding that the family had been celebrating since it got the news Saturday evening. "The school should get those by Monday or Tuesday ... and he should sign by Wednesday, at the latest."

Copeland, who played his first two years of high school basketball in Alabama and averaged 17.8 points and 9.1 rebounds as a senior at Reynolds High, should add much-needed frontcourt depth to the defending national champions. He would be the 11th scholarship player on a team that lost its top seven players from last season to graduation and the NBA.

UNC cannot comment on recruits until after they have signed with a school.

By ROBBI PICKERAL-The News & Observer