BY BRIANA GORMAN

bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668

CHAPEL HILL -- When high school seniors sit down to sign their national letters of intent today, fans will be pouring over the rankings of each school's recruiting class.

And while North Carolina's recruiting class of 2010 has been ranked anywhere from No. 24 to No. 29, the most important thing for the Tar Heels was not rankings but filling holes.

"It's not going to be as high profile, but I think the main thing is that they filled all their key needs," said Don Callahan, a recruiting analyst for www.InsideCarolina.com. "I think a lot of people are going to look where it's ranked and all the stars, but they got the positions that they need and they got their first pick in a lot of those positions."

Also, Duke coach David Cutcliffe and his staff aren't big believers in the rankings. The Blue Devils pride themselves on finding talented -- if not always highly rated -- players who fit what they're trying to do.

The Tar Heels' most pressing needs were along the offensive and defensive lines and at wide receiver. UNC's offensive line got most of the attention after it struggled during the 2009 season, when injuries and graduation departures from the 2008 unit left little depth.

Offensive tackle James Hurst (6-5, 285 pounds) out of Plainfield, Ind., was UNC's lone five-star recruit and was one of the first commitments of the class of 2010. He and three-star offensive tackle T.J. Leifheit of Wilmington both enrolled in January.

The others expected to sign today are three-star center Russell Bodine of Fork Union, Va., and two-star guard Nick Appel of Arlington, Va.

The Tar Heels also are expected to sign a pair of small, speedy three-star receivers in Reggie Wilkins of Shelby and Brendon Felder of Monroeville, Pa.

UNC also is on the list of four-star receiver prospect Markeith Ambles (6-2, 182) from McDonough, Ga., who also is has Tennessee and Southern California on his short list.

But while UNC's line recruits on offense were determined fairly early, the Tar Heels' defensive line prospects looked shaky until a few weeks ago.

That is when Lane Kiffin suddenly departed Tennessee for Southern California the first week of January, and UNC picked up one of the top defensive lineman in the country.

Four-star recruit Brandon Willis (6-2, 255) out of Duncan, S.C., switched his commitment from Tennessee and already is enrolled at UNC. He highlights a group that will include four-star recruit Kareem Martin (6-6, 240) from Roanoke Rapids and three-star players Tim Jackson and Quinton Alton -- who picked UNC on Tuesday.

"It looked kind of scary at first with the defensive linemen, but they were able to regroup," Callahan said. "The Willis thing was huge. For him to switch like he did really helped."

The Tar Heels also are waiting to hear from three other defensive linemen today. Ethan Farmer (6-2, 260) from Tabor City is expected to decide between UNC and Clemson, while Carlos Gray from Pinson, Ala., and Terry Talbott of Huber Heights, Ohio, also are expected to announce today.

Callahan said the success of UNC going to back-to-back bowl games for the first time since 1997-98 and the projection that at least five defensive players could be drafted next year has helped the Tar Heels this recruiting season.

"For a while there, they were talking about what Butch Davis can do and what he's done at Miami," Callahan said. "Now there's actually some substance to it, because he's actually been able to do those things and will be doing those things at North Carolina."

Duke (subhead)

Last year's class included a two-star wide receiver prospect named Conner Vernon. He already is a star for the Blue Devils, having earned freshman All-America honors his first year out of high school.

Scout.com currently ranks Duke's class at 69th out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision programs.

The class of 20 includes five defensive linemen, a definite area of need. First, the Blue Devils lost Vince Oghobaase, Ayanga Okpokowuruk and Kinney Rucker to graduation. More recently -- and unexpectedly -- they lost John Drew, a serious contributor as a true freshman, and redshirt Brandon Putnam, who were dismissed from the program along with redshirt running back Kyle Griswould because of an on-campus gun charge.

In the days leading up to signing day, those departures contributed to Duke picking up verbals from a couple of defensive tackles who were off the radar of many programs in part because of injury problems: Will Bryant (6-3, 290) out of Woodward Academy in Atlanta, and Steven Ingram (6-3, 280) from Southhaven (Miss.) High School made commitments over the weekend.

The offensive line also is a great area of need, and the crown jewel of the class might come from that spot. Laken Tomlinson (6-4, 285) out of Chicago, picked Duke over Ohio State among others.

Duke has, however, lost a lineman. Alex Hill, a 300-pound prospect from Louisiana, recently withdrew his verbal commitment to Duke and committed to Illinois.

Once again, Duke has made a mark close to home. The Blue Devils enter signing day with commitments from nine in-state prospects, matching their total from a year ago. Duke's four classes prior to Cutcliffe's arrival totaled 10 in-state signees.

N.C. State (subhead)

The Wolfpack's list of verbal commitments has lots of local flavor, including highly touted wide receiver Tony Creecy out of Southern Durham.

The Pack, whose class is ranked No. 37 by Scout.com, also has commitments from three former area high school players: offensive lineman Rob Crisp and safety Pete Singer, who played at Chapel Hill High before transferring to Raleigh Athens Drive for their senior season; and running back Tobais Palmer, a Northwood High product who will be returning home from Georgia Military Junior College.

Verbal commitments

Duke (20)

Issac Blakeney, 6-5, 210, DB-LB, Monroe; Anthony Boone, 6-2, 222, QB, Matthews; Brandon Braxton, 6-2, 185, WR, Charlotte; Kelby Brown, 6-2, 210, LB, Charlotte; Jamal Bruce, 6-2, 265, DT, Hogansville, Ga.; Will Bryant, 6-3, 290, DT, Atlanta; Takoby Cofield, 6-6, 290, OL, Tarboro; Brandon Connette, 6-2, 190, QB, Corona, Calif.; Braxton Deaver, 6-5, 207, WR, Charlotte; Clerance France, 6-2, 210, LB, Columbus, Ga.; *Cooper Helfet, 6-4, 235, TE, Kentfield, Calif.; Steven Ingram, 6-3, 300, DT, Southaven, Miss.; Dezmond Johnson, 6-5, 210, DE, Nashville, Tenn.; Jordan Ondijo, 6-5, 225, DE, Waller, Texas; Nick Sink, 6-6, 245, TE, Winston-Salem; Joshua Snead, 5-9, 180, RB, Smithfield-Selma; Quantrez Stevenson, 6-0, 194, S, High Point; Juwan Thompson, 5-11, 212, RB, College Park, Ga.; Laken Tomlinson, 6-4, 300, OG, Chicago; Jamal Wallace, 6-3, 225, DE, Virginia Beach, Va.

North Carolina (19)

Quinton Alton, 6-6, 250, DL, Memphis; Nick Appel, 6-6, 300, OT, Arlington, Va.; Giovanni Bernard, 5-9, 198, RB, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Russell Bodine, 6-4, 278, OC, Scottsville, Va.; Tre Boston, 6-1, 175, DB, North Fort Myers, Fla.; D.J. Bunn, 5-11, 190, DB, Smithfield; P.J. Clyburn, 6-1, 205, DB, Statesville; Brendon Felder, 5-10, 163, WR, Monroeville, Pa.; Sean Fitzpatrick, 6-6, 220, TE, Pittsford, N.Y.; James Hurst, 6-6, 284, OT, Indianapolis; Tim Jackson, 6-5, 220, DE, St. Petersburg, Fla.; T.J. Leifheit, 6-7, 320, OT, Wilmington; Ty Linton, 6-2, 215, LB, Charlotte; Darius Lipford, 6-2, 200, South Lenoir; Kareem Martin, 6-6, 240, DE, Roanoke Rapids; Jabari Prince, 5-11, 170, CB, Pompano Beach, Fla.; Casey Turner, 5-11, 190, RB, Jacksonville, Fla.; Reggie Wilkins, 5-10, 160, WR, Shelby; Brandon Willis, 6-4, 250, DL, Duncan, S.C.

N.C. State (20)

David Amerson, 6-3, 180, DB, Greensboro; Torian Box, 6-3, 295, OC, College Park, Ga.; Tyler Brosius, 6-3, 230, QB, Waynesville; Tyson Chandler, 6-6, 340, OT, Plainfield, N.J.; Anthony Creecy, 6-0, 196, WR, Durham; Robert Crisp, 6-8, 290, OL, Chapel Hill; A.J. Ferguson, 6-3, 250, DL, Southpoint; D.J. Green, 6-4, 208, SS, Macon, Ga.; Mustafa Greene, 6-1, 206, RB, Irmo, S.C.; Fre'Shad Hunter, 6-5, 245, DE, Cary; Dontae Johnson, 6-3, 180, DB, Pennington, N.J.; Andy Jomantas, 6-7, 250, OL, Dayton, Ohio; Art Norman, 6-1, 225, DE, Stone Mountain, Ga.; *Mikel Overgaard, 6-7, 270, OT, Weiser, Idaho; *Tobias Palmer, 5-10, 170, RB-WR, Pittsboro; Reynard Randolph, 6-2, 325, DT, Brandywine, Md.; Theodore Rich, 6-3, 225, DE, Portal, Ga.; Pete Singer, 5-11, 170, DB, Chapel Hill; Thomas Teal, 6-2, 330, DL, Bennettsville, S.C.; Logan Winkles, 6-0, 240, FB, Thomaston, Ga.

* -- junior college transfer.