Hokies, Pack lead for Howard

One of New Jersey's top defensive line prospects has taken four official visits, and he almost committed on his most recent trip. Is a decision looming?

Defensive tackle Carl Howard, a 6-foot-4, 295-pound lineman from Matawan, N.J. was in Blacksburg over the weekend.

"It was a real nice visit," said Howard. "It was better than I thought it would be, and it moves Virginia Tech right up there to the top of my list with NC State. I'll most likely choose between those two in the next few days. I don't want to pick an exact date yet, because I'm not sure. But it will probably come within the next week."

Howard visited NC State a week ago (Jan. 16), and has also taken official visits to Rutgers and Maryland. All those schools, in addition to Miami and Michigan State have extended scholarship offers to Howard.

"I can't go wrong either way with NC State or Tech," he said. "I think both places are looking for guys like me that can come in and contribute a little bit early on. I like the academics at both places, and since they're both in the ACC I'll be playing a good conference."

Howard is ranked the No. 18 player in New Jersey and has a 3-star rating.