LAURINBURG — On Jan. 14, Amari Chance took an official recruiting visit to the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
The visit couldn’t of gone any better for the senior offensive lineman.
“The visit was amazing,” Chance told the Laurinburg Exchange. “The campus is beautiful and the coaches made me feel like a Brave. It shows me that not only do they care and support, and have a lot of dedication towards the game of football, but they also care and support the team and every player apart of it.”
Two days later, Chance committed to the UNCP football program via his Twitter page and said his visit was the biggest reason for why he wants to be a Brave.
“Mostly the atmosphere and how they made me feel so welcomed when I first arrived,” Chance said. “Pembroke is an amazing school and it continues to get bigger and better. Even before the new coaching staff, Pembroke has always been there to offer me a home if I ever needed one.”
Chance played all along the offensive line at tackle, guard, and center for the Scots and was named all-conference this past season.
Scotland head football coach Richard Bailey said Chance was “the catalyst for our offense.”
“We ran behind him on probably 80 percent of our plays,” he said. “I called plays always with Amari in mind. Without a doubt one of the top five offensive line players I have coached. Tremendous work ethic and toughness.”
Bailey feels UNCP is getting a steal in Chance and that he was under-recruited was because of his height.
“If he was 6-foot-4, he could have named his school,” Bailey said. “UNCP is getting an absolute gem and I would not be surprised to see him start sooner rather than later.”
UNCP recently hired former Chowan coach Mark Hall to become the program’s third head football coach after Shane Richardson, who coached the Braves’ football program for nine seasons, was not re-signed this past off-season.