Tar Heel verbal is a good one

When Camaron Thomas committed to North Carolina some time ago, it wasn't heavily reported. The top players from the Class of 2004 had just signed their letters of intent, so naturally a junior wouldn't generate much of a buzz.

But now that eyes have turned to the Class of 2005, people are starting to realize when a gem the Heels picked up. Thomas, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound defensive tackle from Robbins (N.C.) North More, is one of the top players in the state. He runs the 40-yard dash in 4.9 seconds and is absolutely explosive on the line of scrimmage.

"I had a pretty good season this last year," said Thomas. "I had about seven sacks and more than 50 tackles, but I think I could have done better. I was named all-conference and I did a nice job running the ball on offense too, so I won't complain too much."

That's right. A 6-foot-5, 300-pound fullback. As you can imagine, not too many high school teams have the personnel to even begin to slow that down.

"I don't expect to do too much of that in college," he laughed. "But I know I have a lot of potential at defensive tackle. My biggest assets are my size and intensity. I've got one goal when the ball is snapped, and that's to get into the backfield."

Camaron "Cam" Thomas committed to North Carolina after receiving a lot of interest from schools like Miami, Florida State, Oklahoma, Tennessee and others.

"It's amazing to just flip through the letters I've gotten, with so many big-time programs interested in me," he said. "But I'm committed to North Carolina and I want to be a Tar Heel. Growing up in this state, that's a dream a lot of guys have. I won't find a better education in the country, and it's supposed to be a great college experience up there. They made it real clear that they wanted me, and I think I can go in there and play."

Others schools made it clear they wanted Thomas as well.

"Miami, Oklahoma, FSU -- schools like that were telling me that they thought I could work my way into their rotation pretty early on if I kept on working hard. They said I was one of the top guys on their recruiting lists."

Thomas may camp at other schools and hasn't ruled out visits, but insisted that he plans on attending North Carolina.