While most Carolina basketball fans obsessed about what three underclassmen were going to do, coach Roy Williams went right on recruiting the kids who will eventually replace all of the ones now on campus.

Soon after Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green made their decision to keep out of the pro draft, 6-foot-4 shooting guard Leslie McDonald of Memphis, Tenn., became the latest prep star to commit to the University of North Carolina. The Tar Heels edged out Duke, Georgetown, Memphis and Ohio State to get McDonald.

McDonald recently made a visit to the area to see Duke and UNC, and Carolina came away with the commitment quickly after McDonald returned home and thought about what he had seen.

“When I went on the visits, I had no idea I’d commit, McDonald told the Rivals Internet Network. “Once I spent some time at North Carolina, it set my mind into committing.

“I’ve seen most of the schools I’ve been considering, except for Georgetown. But with North Carolina, when I went into the facilities and began looking around and meeting people, a good feeling came over me.”

McDonald is the latest piece of a puzzle that is adding up to be the top recruiting class in the nation, more than likely. These rising seniors will come to Chapel Hill in the summer of 2009.

The 2008 class just recently arrived. That group consists of 6-8 Ed Davis, 6-11 Tyler Zeller, 6-0 Larry Drew and recently signed 6-4 Justin Watts of Durham. The other kids are all from out of state.

This will be the group that gains the experience to build around when the 2009 class arrives and Tyler Hansbrough’s class graduates a year from now.

The 2009 group is one that appears to be similar in stature to the 2006 class that had Lawson, Ellington, Brandan Wright, Deon Thompson, Alex Stepheson (who recently transferred) and William Graves, who sat out as a redshirt his first year on campus.

Because NCAA rules require that Williams not discuss unsigned recruits, no one knows what he has in mind for guard Dexter Strickland, but this much appears certain: The 6-3 Strickland is a superior athlete and basketball player, one of the finest in the nation in his class. Whether he will play any at point, or just play at the two spot, remains to be seen, but wherever Williams puts this young man, he will more than likely excel.

One of the fascinating aspects of this class is the pair of 6-9 twins from California, David and Travis Wear. As so often happens in recruiting, people begin to whisper and comment on kids once they choose a school, often trying to degrade their talents.

Now that they have orally committed to UNC, the slap at the Wear twins is they are soft, perimeter-oriented kids who will struggle to bang in the ACC. This week, the two have been disproving that myth with their play at the NBA Top 100 camp in Charlottesville.

The Wears continue to gain strength and size, each weighing in at 230 or more pounds now. The two showed an ability to play a physical game at the camp, but they also displayed an acute understanding of the game. They have been coached well and have taken that coaching as one would hope.

What is always humorous about criticism of Williams’ recruits is that, in more than 20 years as a head coach, he has proven time and again to be one of the top, if not the best, evaluators of talent in the game. More than once Williams has taken a kid who others doubted, only to see that youngster become an outstanding basketball player.

When one hears criticism of a Williams signee or recruit, the smart response is: “If Roy believes in him, I believe in him.”

Consider Drew. That kid got hammered by the gossip in recruiting circles before and after he signed. So, all he did was become the player of the year in Southern California and win the three-point shooting contest at the McDonald’s All-America game. By the way, one of the criticisms directed at him was that he cannot shoot.

But go back over the 2009 class, because the real eye-popper in this group is 6-10 John Henson of Texas. This young man may as well have “Superstar” stamped on his forehead.

He can handle and shoot the ball, run the floor, and, the scariest part for opponents, is everyone around him claims he is still growing. He may legitimately be 7 feet tall by the time he gets to Chapel Hill.

Henson is so versatile, he says Williams recruited him to play on the wing.

The biggest problem Williams is likely to have with Henson is keeping him on campus for more than one year.

What all of this means is that UNC will not only return the dominant team in country this fall, Williams has enough talent lined up to ensure Carolina will legitimately continue to compete for the national championship for the foreseeable future.

Oh, just to make sure it stays that way, Williams already has two commitments from the 2010 class: point guard Kendall Marshall of Virginia and small forward Reggie Bullock of Kinston.

If you stop and think about all the worrying that went on during the time Lawson, Ellington and Green tested their worth for pro scouts, it’s kind of funny. The one thing Tar Heel fans should spend no time worrying about is men’s basketball.

Williams has that securely under control.

Eddy Landreth can be reached at chnsports@nando.com.