Joseph Uchebo, a 7-foot, 240-pound center who’s originally from Nigeria, has made an early commitment to N.C. State.

Uchebo is a sophomore at Oak Ridge (N.C.) Military Academy and played last season at Mount Zion Academy in Durham. Oak Ridge coach Stan Kowalewski said Uchebo run the floor well, has good passing ability and vision, and can score from 18 feet.

In front of an anxious crowd at his high school and a national TV audience on ESPN-U Friday afternoon, top-ranked recruit Harrison Barnes walked over to a laptop to connect by video conference to the coach whose school he planned to sign with.

After an awkward, 70-second pause while the video link was established, coach Roy Williams and the North Carolina team appeared on the projection screen at the gym at Ames High School in Iowa.

It wasn’t the fault of Portal (Ga.) High linebacker/defensive end/wide receiver Theo Rich—he had missed his sophomore and junior football seasons at Statesboro (Ga.) High with unrelenting sinus headaches.

So he had concentrated on basketball. But finally, with the headaches under control, doctors gave him the okay to play football again, just as he was transferring to little Portal for his senior season.

College basketball fans will be able to see top-ranked basketball recruit Harrison Barnes announce his school decision Friday - if they have ESPN-U.

Officials at Ames High in Iowa, where Barnes is a student, have issued a news release saying Barnes will announce at 4 p.m. Friday.

The future of N.C. State's struggling defensive backfield became a bit brighter with the commitment of safety David Amerson of Dudley High in Greensboro.

Amerson, who's 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds, chose N.C. State over Notre Dame according to Dudley coach Steven Davis. He intercepted nine passes last season as a junior, but Davis did not have updated statistics for 2009.

Duke has picked up its 16th commitment in Clerance France, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound linebacker at Carver High in Columbus, Ga.

France, who has 4.6-second speed in the 40-yard dash, was also offered scholarships by Western Kentucky and Troy.

We’ve given you periodic updates on ACC recruiting rankings of the Class of 2010, courtesy of Scout.com.

Here’s a quick check of where SEC schools stand—and I know there’s plenty of interest in college football’s best league, because I hear from its supporters all the time.

N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe is glad to see the NCAA trying to clean up men’s basketball recruiting, but also is concerned that in some cases the college sports governing body is throwing out the baby with the bath water.

On Thursday, the Division I Board of Directors approved rules meant to stop college programs from funneling money to associates of recruits. College coaches who run afoul of the rules could be suspended from postseason or even regular-season games.

Forsyth Country Day tight end Nick Sink has accepted a scholarship to Duke, his coach said.

Sink, who is 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds, was also being heavily recruited by North Carolina and Kentucky, although neither had offered a scholarship yet.

Staff photo by Chuck Liddy

DURHAM – Before Duke’s exhibition opener even started, a security guard ordered students to hand down the signs they’d brought to Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Harrison Barnes, a 6-foot-6 forward from Ames, Iowa, who’s rated the top high school senior in the nation, was about to enter the arena to watch Duke’s 128-70 pasting Pfeiffer in its exhibition opener Saturday.