The Tarheels

gotta love all the big hawgs they are bringing in for the O Line. Now they need some big time running backs to line up behind them.

 

You got anything on Kameron Jackson, Franchise?

 

You can add one more to the list. Darien Rankin just committed

http://northcarolina.scout.com/a.z?...=http://northcarolina.scout.com/2/982439.html

This might end up being Butch's best class yet.

 

North Carolina received its third verbal commitment in less than a week when Darien Rankin pledged to the Tar Heels on Wednesday.

“I talked it over with my mom and my coaches – the people that I wanted to help me make the decision – and I didn’t really see any more offers come in my way, [and] I didn’t want [UNC] to think I wasn’t interested and I was,” Rankin said. “I feel like I see a lot of playing time – maybe not as freshman, but early on.”

With the decision made, Rankin, a 5-foot-11, 179-pound athlete from Salisbury (N.C.), called Everett Withers, UNC’s defensive coordinator, shortly before noon on Wednesday.

“He was very excited,” Rankin said. “He has me and another freshman, [Brandon Ellerbe], coming in at safety. He seemed very excited about my commitment.”

Rankin earned a UNC scholarship offer with his performance at the Tar Heels’ camp last month.

Besides UNC, Rankin also received scholarship offers from Kent State and Utah, and significant interest from NC State, South Carolina, and Wake Forest.

“[New offers] won’t change my commitment,” Rankin said. “I’m committed; I’m going to stay committed to North Carolina.”

The only school Rankin plans to visit is UNC.

“They told me to come up [when I can] to meet more of the players and talk to Butch Davis,” Rankin said.

Besides earning a scholarship offer, the Tar Heels’ camp provided Rankin an opportunity to see UNC’s family atmosphere.

“[I liked] the way when I went in there for camp they just treated me as their family – like I was already playing for them,” Rankin said. “I just liked how they treated me. They showed me much respect.”

Rankin’s teammate, Romar Morris, also has a UNC scholarship offer and lists the Tar Heels among his five favorite schools.

“I’m talking to him about it, but I don’t know where his head is going to be,” Rankin said. “His head is still in the middle.”

Rankin plans to recruit Morris to UNC.

“I don’t want to pressure him to go anywhere he doesn’t want to go,” Rankin said. “But I would love to have him as my teammate, again.”

seems like another kid Davis and staff liked during camp and jumped on.

 

http://northcarolina.scout.com/a.z?s=78&p=9&c=14&yr=2011

ranked #16

http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/12261/acc-top-25-player-countdown-no-1

No. 1. Robert Quinn, DE, North Carolina

2009 numbers: He ranked first in the ACC and 15th in the country in tackles for loss with 19 and was second in the league and 16th in the nation with 11 sacks. He ranked second in the ACC and fourth in the country with six forced fumbles. He had 52 tackles and three pass breakups.

Most recent ranking: Not ranked.

Making the case for Quinn: He finished second in last year’s ACC Defensive Player of the Year voting. If he continues to improve, there’s no reason he shouldn’t finish first this year. The staff will have to be creative with him this year, because opponents will know who he is and look for the most favorable matchups, getting backs to chip him and tight ends to help block him. It’s a similar situation to what Georgia Tech’s Derrick Morgan faced last year. The good news? Marvin Austin will help draw some of the attention.

No. 2 DeAndre McDaniel, S, Clemson

No. 3 Ryan Williams, RB, Virginia Tech

No. 4 Christian Ponder, QB, Florida State

No. 5 Marvin Austin, DT, North Carolina

No. 6 Quan Sturdivant, LB, UNC

No. 7 Russell Wilson, QB, NC State

No. 8 Joshua Nesbitt, QB, Georgia Tech

No. 9 Rodney Hudson, LG, Florida State

No. 10 Anthony Castonzo, OT, Boston College

No. 11 Allen Bailey, DE, Miami

No. 12 (tie) S Deunta Williams, CB Kendric Burney, UNC

No. 13 Bruce Carter, LB, North Carolina

No. 14 Luke Kuechly, LB, Boston College

No. 15 Brandon Harris, CB, Miami

No. 16 Jacory Harris, QB, Miami

No. 17 Tyrod Taylor, QB, Virginia Tech

No. 18 Donovan Varner, WR, Duke

No. 19 Alex Wujciak, LB, Maryland

No. 20 Montel Harris, RB, Boston College

No. 21 Torrey Smith, WR, Maryland

No. 22 Greg Reid, CB, Florida State

No. 23 Anthony Allen, RB, Georgia Tech

No. 24 Ras-I Dowling, CB, Virginia

No. 25 Mark Herzlich, LB, Boston College

 

.

 

The UNC coaches closed up camp in mid-June believing they could land four of their top eight offensive line prospects and be finished at the position – so far, so good.

Kiaro Holts committed to UNC on June 25 and Jamar Lewter followed suit a week and a half later. The star duo joins Jarrod James, who has been on UNC’s commitment list since late March.

UNC’s revised objective is to secure verbal commitments from two of the following six offensive linemen: Kaleb Johnson, Keith Lumpkin, Josue Matias, Brandon Shell, Landon Turner, and Jay Whitmire.

 

Christian Russell is a Tar Heel commitment once again. The Raeford (N.C.) Hoke County linebacker has re-committed to the UNC coaching staff.

“I went ahead and committed to UNC,” Russell told InsideCarolina.com on Friday morning.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while and I figured I might as well as get it over with. This is where I want to go and nowhere else has changed my mind about it. This is where I feel I’m supposed to be at. So I went ahead and made my decision.”

Russell originally committed to UNC on Oct. 5 of last year, but was encouraged to retract the commitment the following day in order to take his time and fully evaluate his options.

UNC was the first school to offer Russell a scholarship. Following the decision in October to withdraw his Tar Heel commitment, 11 other schools offered – Cincinnati, Colorado, Duke, Illinois, Georgia, Miami, NC State, Tennessee, UCLA, Virginia, and Wake Forest. But UNC remained atop his list throughout.

“They’ve been on me a while and they were the only ones that were coming at me so aggressive – they showed me a lot of interest," Russell said of the Tar Heels, adding that his most recent Chapel Hill visit was two weeks ago.

"My mom fell in love with them, I fell in love with them," "All my coaches [and] my family liked them. It’s not too far from home. It’s a great place to play. There’s nothing like playing for your home town team and that’s what I want to do.”

Besides UNC, he took campus visits to Alabama, Duke, NC State, UCLA and Wake Forest

“Most of the other places, they were too far from home and I don’t want to be far from home – [UNC] is like an hour [away],” Russell said. “Some of the other colleges, they weren’t too far either, but Carolina just felt like the place for me to be at. I like the coaches. I like the players – they talk good about the coaches and how it’s a good environment and good place to get an education.”

Last season, Russell started at both tailback and linebacker for Fayetteville (N.C.) Westover. He rushed for 1,728 yards and 23 touchdowns and collected 136 tackles and four interceptions on defense. During the offseason, he transferred to Hoke County.

UNC is recruiting him as a linebacker.

At the Butler Shrine Bowl Combine in April, Russell measured 5-11, 221 pounds. He ran the 40-yard dash on a track in football cleats and still clocked in at 4.63 (he's been timed at 4.48 in track spikes). He also benched 185 pounds 25 times and recorded a vertical jump of 30.7 inches.

Russell is rated the No. 29 outside linebacker in the nation by Scout.com, while ESPN.com ranks him the No. 18 inside linebacker. Inside Carolina's Don Callahan ranks Russell the No. 9 prospect in N.C.

As for the possibility of another de-commitment??

“No worries," Russell said. "This is my final decision. This is what I want to do.

“I still may visit other schools, but right now, Carolina is the school I’m going to. I’ll talk to other schools and hear what they have to say, but right now, my mind is set on Carolina.”

 

Here's another article on Russell...http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2010/07/09/1012626?sac=Home

Of course, I expect his HS coach to talk him up, but those are some pretty encouraging comments, none the less.