Defensive back Dominque Ellis, offensive lineman Ahmad Jaradat, defensive tackle Kyle Linney and linebacker Dwayne Maddox will participate in spring drills and will be freshmen in eligibility in the fall.

Ellis and Linney signed with the Pack last spring. Maddox, from Shelby, and Jaradat, from London, Ontario, graduated high school a semester early.

Ellis moved to North Carolina from Georgia before his senior year of high school at East Wake.

Linney, from Hiddenite, attended Hargrave Military Academy in the fall after signing with the Pack in the spring of 2007.

"We are very pleased to have these young men join the Wolfpack program," coach Tom O'Brien said in a news release. "Being here for the spring semester gives them a chance to get ahead academically, and will also give them the advantage of going through spring practice with the returning team."

MORE FOOTBALL

CLEMSON'S DAVIS CHOOSES NFL DRAFT: James Davis, the "Thunder" in Clemson's "Thunder and Lightning" backfield the past two seasons, has decided to give up his senior season to enter April's NFL draft. Davis was projected as a third-round pick by the NFL.

MORE NFL DRAFT DECISIONS: Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo will skip his senior season to enter the draft after leading the Southeastern Conference with 140 tackles this season.

* Florida State junior linebacker Geno Hayes will forgo his senior season to enter the draft. Hayes was an ACC first-team pick.

* Chase Holbrook, New Mexico State's record-setting quarterback, said Wednesday he will return for his senior season.

TENNESSEE HIRES DRAYTON: Tennessee filled one of several vacancies on its coaching staff Wednesday with the hiring of offensive assistant coach Stan Drayton.

Drayton, 36, said he wasn't looking to leave Florida, where he coached running backs for the three seasons, but was disappointed in the type of offense Florida has run.

NEW MEXICO PROPOSES OWN PENALTIES: New Mexico plans to self-impose penalties, including the reduction of two scholarships for next season, in response to an NCAA investigation into academic fraud involving the team.

According to a report released Wednesday, New Mexico also proposes, among other penalties, cutting the number of coaches who can recruit off campus from seven to six for the next two seasons.

Athletic director Paul Krebs has said two of the three coaches implicated are no longer on staff. Head coach Rocky Long is not accused of any wrongdoing.

FSU ACADEMIC SCANDAL CLAIMS DIRECTOR: The director of Florida State's athletic academic support program is the latest casualty of the cheating scandal that stripped the team of two dozen key players in its bowl loss to Kentucky.

Mark Meleney was told his contract would not be renewed when it expires this summer.

"Meleney was not fired," Florida State President T.K. Wetherell said Wednesday. "He's got the option to apply for anything."

MICHIGAN LOSES QUARTERBACK: Ryan Mallett has left the Michigan football program, and the quarterback might be reunited with his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Tennessee. The Volunteers are considering hiring former Michigan offensive coordinator Mike DeBord and quarterbacks coach Scott Loeffler.

APPALACHIAN STATE COACH HONORED: Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore is the first Division I coach in the 73 years of the American Football Coaches Association's coach of the year awards to receive the honor three straight seasons. He was honored Wednesday in Anaheim, Calif., as the group's NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) Coach of the Year.

ELECTED: Washington coach Tyrone Willingham has been elected president of the American Football Coaches Association.