Brown still favors Hoos

Two of North Carolina's top three running backs -- Jamaal Edwards and George Bell -- have already made their commitments. That leaves all eyes on Andre Brown. He's down to four schools, but one still sticks out.

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound running back from Greenville (N.C.) Rose is having as good a year as anyone in the state, and several schools have him tabbed as one of their top prospects. Who is his leader?

"Virginia is still number one," said Brown. "Their coaches do a great job with their players, and they're going to send a lot of people to the NFL. I've been really impressed with Coach Groh especially, but also all of their other coaches I've talked to. They're very professional."

Brown has led Rose to a 10-1 record and is now in the second round of the playoffs. Because they're still playing, Brown had to reschedule his official visit to Nebraska for Jan. 9. If they continue to roll through the playoffs, he may also have to pick another date for his official visit to NC State. Who else is Brown looking at?

"NC State is right behind Virginia, like they've been for a while," he said. "They have a great coaching staff and are really a program on the rise. They use their running backs well. Nebraska has been recruiting me really hard too. I think they're looking for that feature running back that can carry it 25 times a game and become an all-conference player. I really liked Thunder Collins while he was there, and that's one reason I have so much interest in them. I like Miami a lot too. That's another great place for running backs.

"All four of those places are good academically, have good football programs, and have good offenses for running backs."

Brown plans on taking all of his official visits before making his decision.