Iman Shumpert, a 6-foot-4 guard from Oak Park (Ill.) & River Forest High, is expected to announce his college decision tonight.

Shumpert, a senior, has narrowed his choices to North Carolina, Marquette and Georgia Tech. He is ranked as the 15th-best prospect in the country by Scout.com.

UPDATE: Shumpert picked Georgia Tech.

— Tim Stevens

E.J. Whitley, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound defensive back, announced on ESPNU Monday that he would accept a football scholarship to Virginia Tech.

Whitley, a projected four-year starter at Matthews Butler, had narrowed his decision to Tech and N.C. State.

"He stepped in for us a freshman replacing Jamar Adams [a starting safety at Michigan]," said Butler coach Mike Newsome. "We knew he was a special player then."

Newsome said Whitley is big, strong, fast and has great knowledge of football. Whitley runs 40 yards in 4.4 seconds.

Whitley is ranked as the No. 20 prospect in the state scout.com. Butler was 12-3 in 2006 and reached the state 4-AA semifinals.

— Tim Stevens

Since Chris Paul left Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons have gone 8-24 in the ACC. Theoretically, that record puts Wake coach Skip Prosser squarely in a win-or-else situation for the upcoming season.

Except Prosser might have recruited himself out of any ultimatum. Wake landed two of the best recruits in the class of 2008 in Al-Farouq Aminu (ranked No. 3 by Scout.com) and Tony Woods (No. 55) on Thursday. Add in Ty Walker (No. 14) and the Deacs have two of the top 15 players and three in the top 55 coming for the 2008-09 season.

"Wake Forest has a class that anybody — Kentucky, Duke, Connecticut, UCLA, UNC — would like to have," Scout.com analyst Dave Telep said in today's print edition.

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North Carolina has received a key commitment from quarterback Braden Hanson of Charlotte Latin.

During the 2006 season, Hanson, 6-foot-6 and 200 pounds, passed for 2,695 yards. He had 39 touchdowns and 12 passes intercepted.

“Braden has the size that college coaches like, he’s very accurate and he’s cool in the pocket,” Latin head coach Larry McNulty said today. “I think he will be a good fit for a program that should be on the rise.”

— Tim Stevens

Tom O'Brien and Butch Davis won't get all of the best football recruits in the state of North Carolina. Maryland landed one of the best prospects in the state in Southeast Raleigh linebacker Demetrius Hartsfield.

Hartsfield (6-2, 215 pounds) had scholarship offers from Duke and East Carolina. North Carolina and Wake Forest also were evaluating him.

In 2006, Hartsfield made 128 tackles and recovered six fumbles — returning one for a touchdown — Southeast's 8-4 season.

UNC didn't sign a recruit for 2007 and all is not roses for the class of 2008 but that doesn't mean it's time to panic, Tar Heels coach Roy Williams says in today's Charlotte Observer.

Sure, Kevin Love would have looked good in Carolina blue but he chose Bruin blue. The season is not exactly ruined without Love, or Patrick Patterson for that matter. (Hello, Deon Thompson).

As for 2008-09, when Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson will presumably both be gone, Williams has already landed point guard Larry Drew (and don't forget Bobby Frasor) and is pursuing top-rated forwards Ed Davis (UConn being the main competition) and Tyler Zeller (Indiana's the clubhouse leader).

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Ken Tysiac, of the Charlotte Observer, watched the top high school prospects work out at the LeBron James Skills Academy.

Wake Forest recruit Ty Walker impressed and Tysiac also talked with ESPN's Jay Bilas about recent draftees Josh McRoberts and Jared Dudley.

There's also this quote from UNC's Ty Lawson about teammate Deon Thompson. "He's lost the baby fat."

Tar Heel Fan has been tracking Thompson's performance in the Global Games.

Splashy recruiting wasn't necessarily supposed to be Tom O'Brien's bag, but N.C. State's new football coach has done quite well on the early trails according to Rivals, and especially in the state of North Carolina.

What a concept, making your home state a priority.

Also on the TOB front, not everyone was enamored of his offensive philosophy, and coordinator Dana Bible's, at Boston College.

StateFansNation asks what's wrong with conservative?

Carolina found its next point guard in California. The Tar Heels received a commitment from Larry Drew Jr.

Drew, who will be a senior in the fall, is ranked among the best high school point guards in the country. He averaged 14.8 points and seven assists per game on a Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft High team that finished 20-4.

"Larry can dominate a game without having to score a lot of points," said Taft coach Derrick Taylor. "He understands the game of basketball. We are returning five all-league players, but it wouldn't be the same without Larry. He is our glue.

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Durham Riverside tight end Weslye Saunders will commit to the University of South Carolina on Monday during Riverside’s annual football banquet.

The 6-foot-5, 270-pound tight end and defensive end helped Durham Riverside to the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-AA state championship game and is regarded as one of the top 20 tight end prospects in the country.

Saunders had narrowed his decision to the University of North Carolina and to South Carolina.

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The Associated Press in Huntington, W.Va., reported that Huntington High superstar O.J. Mayo, previously suspended for two games after receiving two technical fouls in a recent game, has been granted a temporary restraining order by a Cabell County (W.Va.) circuit court judge that will allow him to play tonight at the Durham HoopHall Classic in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Mayo is considered the top prep player in the nation. Huntington (15-0), ranked second in the nation by USA Today, is scheduled to play No. 16 Artesia (21-1) of Lakewood, Calif., at 8:30 p.m.

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Coaching changes never help in recruiting, particularly in a state like North Carolina that traditionally loses its best recruits to other programs.

Garner's Chris Culliver is the latest in-state recruit to travel elsewhere, South Carolina in this instance. As Tim Stevens writes in today's recruting column, Culliver's not the only talent draining from the state.

Garner defensive back Chris Culliver has reportedly chosen South Carolina over Florida, according to The State.

Culliver, who originally committed to N.C. State last summer, re-opened his recruiting process even before the Wolfpack made a coaching change.

He's expected to make a formal announcement on Wednesday.

New N.C. State basketball coach Sidney Lowe landed an important recruit today when 6-foot-9, 240-pound senior J.J. Hickson of Marietta (Ga.) Lipscomb announced he would be joining the Wolfpack.

Hickson is ranked as the No. 21 prospect in the country by the Scout.com recruiting site.

"He can play with his back to the basket or he can move outside," said veteran Wheeler coach Doug Lipscomb. "One of the strongest parts of his game is his versatility."

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Durham Hillside's Greg Little has narrowed his choice of schools to North Carolina and Notre Dame.

Little, 6 feet 3 and 215 pounds, plays both sides of the ball for Hillside but is likely to play defense at the college level.

Before the press conference he held on Monday, Little also considered Southern California, Ohio State and Florida.