Womble makes the call

Sierra Vista (Ariz.) Buena running back Jamal Womble announced moments ago that he will be playing his college ball at North Carolina. Womble chose the Tar Heels after narrowing his list to also including Arizona State and South Carolina.

We caught up with Womble Tuesday night to find out the reasons the Tar Heels were able to win out for his services.

"It was really a lot of things," Womble said. "The opportunity to play early is very exciting to me and I know I'll have that chance at North Carolina. I really like Butch Davis a lot. He's a great coach and a proven winner. He has won everywhere he has been and I'm looking forward to playing for him and the rest of the staff.

"North Carolina is building something and that's what I want to be a part of. Some players prefer to go somewhere to play for a team that is already on top. I wanted the opposite. I wanted to go somewhere and help a team rebuild so I can look back when that team is on top and feel like I had something to do with that.

"I also have a ton of family there. I have three uncles that live 15 minutes away from the campus and a ton of other family members that are only about 30 minutes away. So I'll always have that family support around me and that's a big deal to me as well. Another thing was I just wanted to get away from home. I feel like getting away from home will help me become more independant and I'm excited to see something new."

Saying all that, Womble said it was still very tough to say no to the hometown Sun Devils.

"Oh man, ASU made it very tough for me to say no, this was a hard decision," Womble said. "Before my visit last weekend, I was all North Carolina but after visiting ASU, I really thought long and hard about going there. That's a great school and I love Coach Erickson. The main thing though was just the relationships I had built with the coaches at UNC was a little stronger. I only talked to the RB coach at ASU twice this whole time, I talk to the RB coach at UNC twice a week so that made a huge difference for me."