Recruiting classes score high marks
North Carolina's Butch Davis did it in February.
N.C. State's Tom O'Brien is doing it in June.
About seven months into their respective tenures, both football coaches have scored highly regarded commitments in recruiting. O'Brien was mostly quiet in February, when Davis closed out his first class by signing top-100 prospects Marvin Austin, Greg Little and Dwight Jones.
But the commitment Tuesday of Bunn High running back Brandon Barnes solidified O'Brien's growing reputation for securing top in-state prospects. Rivals.com rates Barnes as the top 2008 senior in North Carolina.
His was N.C. State's fifth commitment from the rivals.com North Carolina top 30. No other school has more than two.
"(O'Brien and Davis) are both sticking to the (methods) they had in their previous jobs," said scout.com regional recruiting analyst Miller Safrit.
For Davis, that meant closing strong in February, using his Miami Hurricanes and Cleveland Browns pedigree to lure top players considering big-name football programs such as Florida State and Notre Dame. For O'Brien, that means using his football camp to identify and evaluate prospects early.
T.J. Graham, a receiver who is one of the state's top sprinters and committed Tuesday, was fond of former N.C. State coach Chuck Amato. But O'Brien made Graham so comfortable that he committed and then started trying to persuade other players to choose N.C. State.
Barnes, O'Brien's top catch at N.C. State, rushed for a modest 518 yards last season as coach David Howle used him at multiple positions in a Wing-T offense.
Barnes also strongly considered Auburn and Clemson but wanted to stay close to home and end the deluge of text messages and mail he was receiving.
"... I think he knew in his heart where he wanted to go to school," Howle said.
Heels-Buffs nixed
North Carolina's home-and-away dates in 2008 and 2009 with Colorado were canceled. West Virginia took UNC's place on Colorado's schedule.North Carolina sports information director Steve Kirschner said the Tar Heels would like a seventh home game in 2008 and would prefer to play out-of-region nonconference games in areas Davis probably will recruit. Kirschner said North Carolina is talking to a couple of schools about filling the vacant dates.
Cavalier suspended
Virginia running back Keith Payne has been suspended from the team for failure to meet academic responsibilities.
Coach Al Groh did not say how long Payne, a redshirt freshman who was expected to compete for the starting job, would be suspended.
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