Isaiah Denis, one of NC’s top basketball recruits, made his college choice Saturday

Isaiah Denis is staying in the Tar Heel State to play college basketball.

Denis set off an eruption of cheers inside the Davidson Day gymnasium Saturday afternoon when he donned a light blue cap bearing the letters “NC” and announced North Carolina as his college choice.

“Overall, it was the relationship,” said Denis, a 6-foot-5 combo guard who was listed by most services as a four-star recruit. “Coach (Hubert) Davis has been great.”

Denis, who averaged 14 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists a game this summer in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, picked Davis’ Tar Heels over his other finalists — Ohio State, Miami, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Wake Forest and Kansas.

In recent days, analysts had predicted Denis’ choice would come down to the Tar Heels or Ohio State.

“We let him make the decision,” his mother, Nancy Denis, said afterward. “I told him to choose the place he felt was right.“

Denis was part of a Davidson Day team that won the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 2A state championship last season. He scored 18 points in the title game. According to 247 Sports rankings, Denis was the No. 8 combo guard recruit in the nation this year and No. 2 in North Carolina.

“This is a big win for our program,” said Patriots head coach James Long, who was an assistant coach last year and moved up when Richard Hall left the program. “Isaiah has been a very big part of who we are, and I’m happy for him.”

“It’s like I told him,” Long continued, “the work starts now. The goal is not just to get to Carolina. The goal is to keep working and succeed there.”

Levon Jacobs, a 6-9 senior center at Davidson Day, said Denis’ signing with the Tar Heels will help the Patriots this season.

“It motivates us,” he said. “It helps us know what it takes to get ahead. Isaiah brings us together. He pushes us. He makes us better.”

Denis said the big reason he picked North Carolina was the overall atmosphere.

“I would say it was the culture, and the way the coaches presented everything to me,” he said.

He said that Davis’ style of play, especially transition basketball, will fit his game.

Saturday’s announcement drew a crowd of about 250 family members, school officials, students and others to the gym.

“This is a big deal for our school,” athletics director Chris Turner said.

He noted that a couple of outstanding quarterbacks, Will Grier and Sam Hartman, are Davidson alums. But he said Denis’ success sends a message to other student-athletes.

“He showed that just because we are a small school, we can still compete,” Turner said. “This is a good academic school, and we’re good in athletics, too.”