Saturday, he could become the first North Carolina football player drafted in the opening round since 2002.

Nervous? Yes.

Surprised? Not really.

"I'm used to being the underdog,'' the 6-foot-5, 298-pounder said recently. "I like being the underdog, because that's what makes me work as hard as I do ... that's what's made me come so far."

Indeed, since he was a star three-sport athlete at tiny Weldon High in northeastern North Carolina, Balmer has been used to working his way to the top.

He laughs at some recent reports he was "highly recruited" out of high school, because while he received football offers from N.C. State, Wake Forest, UNC and East Carolina, hardly anyone else ever traveled to the 300-student, I-A school to watch him play. And even then, he figured his future was on the hardwood rather than a football field.

"I actually always thought I was going to play in the NBA,'' he said, grinning at the memory. "Basketball was where I used to spend all my time; we used to play every weekend from sun up till sundown, literally, 8 o'clock in the morning till 8 o'clock at night, till you couldn't see the ball. Cement courts, dirt courts, we played on a tennis court a couple of times."

His future dreams began to turn more toward the gridiron when former Elon lineman Grady Williams was hired as head football coach at Weldon and started telling Balmer what he just might experience in college -- with some tenacity.

"I always knew he was a special type of athlete," Williams said. "He was very large, and he had exceptionally great foot speed. Most jocks have got a little air about them, this ego, but Kentwan had a different air about him ... he was willing to work, he wanted to learn, and that rubbed off on a lot of his teammates."

Longtime Tar Heels assistant Kenny Browning was impressed by those same attributes during a recruiting trip through the Roanoke Rapids suburb. When Balmer came to UNC's football camp as a junior the following summer, "it just validated what I had seen ... and he accepted our scholarship offer shortly after that,'' Browning said.

Still, Balmer appeared to be far from a first-round draft pick during his first three seasons in Chapel Hill. He was one of only 13 true freshmen to play in 2004 but recorded only one tackle. He started the final three games of his sophomore season, but the Tar Heels failed to make a bowl.

He switched from defensive end to tackle before his junior season -- only to have an early ankle sprain hobble his output for the rest of the year.

His big break came last spring, after former NFL coach Butch Davis was hired to replace John Bunting. Davis and defensive line coach John Blake immediately saw Balmer's NFL potential and told the player he could be a first-rounder, if he worked to live up to that potential. Draft analyst Mel Kiper even pegged Balmer as one of the top 20 incoming seniors, regardless of position.

"I knew it was up to me; I knew I was going to open that door or shut that door,'' Balmer said.

His biggest improvements came in technique -- knowing how to use his hands, when to drop his hips, when best to leverage his size and utilize his speed. Blake, he said, was a "technique freak,'' making him do things over and over and over until it became second nature in games.

The result: Balmer finished with 59 tackles and posted 3 1/2 sacks, earning second-team All-ACC honors. The Tar Heels failed to make the postseason, but NFL scouts took notice.

And Davis wasn't surprised.

"Every place that I've ever coached, we've always emphasized that we're going to have a pro-style football program, one that's going to showcase kids' talents, that's going to give them the opportunity to play schemes that if they perform and play the way we expect them to play, the NFL is certainly going to recognize that,'' Davis said. "And Kentwan is great evidence of that.

"... From the discussions we've had with pro scouts and GMs that have come through here ... they love the upside on him, that he's just basically scratched the surface -- that the best of Kentwan Balmer is going to continue to come in the next half-dozen years."

Davis is hopeful that defensive lineman Hilee Taylor, linebacker Durell Mapp and kicker Connor Barth also will be selected this weekend.

Meanwhile, Balmer has met with at least 20 different teams, and most mock drafts predict he'll be selected in the final 10 to 12 picks in the first round.

"Kentwan is a great story because it affects not only the players here at UNC, but every high school player in the state,'' Browning said. "Weldon only has about 50 kids in each graduating class ... but he has shown that no matter how small the school, if you have the ability and you have the work ethic, you have a shot."