N.C. State and North Carolina will have very good football recruiting classes, according to Jamie Newberg, the regional recruiting analyst for scout.com.

He expects State's class to be better than last year's group.

Coach Tom O'Brien started strong in North Carolina and has moved out into other areas.

"O'Brien has connections all over the country," Newberg said. "At Boston College, he recruited Massachusetts really well, but he knew that he wasn't going to build a program just with Massachusetts players. The same is true at N.C. State.

"He wants to do well in North Carolina, but knows that he needs to get great players from outside the state also."

North Carolina may not bring in as many players, but it is still planting seeds throughout the country.

"Butch Davis is doing things in Chapel Hill that haven't been done before," Newberg said.

Last year, UNC signed Marvin Alston, the top-ranked defensive lineman in the country.

This year, the Tar Heels got visits from the nation's top-ranked cornerback, Patrick Johnson of Pompano Beach (Fla.) Ely, and the top-ranked linebacker, Arthur Brown of Wichita, Kan.

Brown eventually chose Miami, but UNC was among his finalists along with Southern California, Florida, Miami and LSU.

Johnson has committed to Miami, but still may consider Florida, LSU, Georgia, Florida State, South Florida and UNC.

"Carolina is getting the attention of some of the top recruits in the nation," Newberg said. "That's a huge step.

"All UNC needs now is to win more games. The product on the field has to improve if it is going to sign the nation's best players."

BANKS TO KANSAS STATE: Brandon Banks, a former Garner High football and track standout, has committed to Kansas State after playing the past two seasons at Bakersfield (Calif.) College.

Bakersfield (12-1) was ranked among the top junior-college teams in the country last season.

Banks, a wide receiver, is a former national high school sprint champion.

BARNES SLIPS, A LITTLE: In the preseason, Bunn running back Brandon Barnes was ranked the top player in the state by the scout.com recruiting site, but has slipped a little.

Scout.com still gives Barnes, who has committed to N.C. State, four stars out of a possible five, but he is now listed as the No. 7 player in the state.

"I am still very, very high on Brandon," said Newberg, scout.com's regional talent analyst. "I think he has tremendous upside on either side of the ball."

Barnes didn't have outstanding statistics at Bunn during his senior year and Miller Safrit, who covers North Carolina for scout.com, said that cost him in the state rankings.

"He still has all the tools, but he didn't have a breakout year that I expected him to have," Safrit said.

"It is hard to pick his best position. At the Shrine Bowl last week, he showed flashes of greatness, but he didn't play great all of the time."

E.J. Mattes, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound offensive tackle at Concord Robinson, and New Bern linebacker Kevin Reddick are moving up.

Safrit said Mattes was one of the most dominating players at the Shrine Bowl and may jump up to No. 4 in North Carolina.

"He not only dominated in practice, but did in the game also," Safrit said.

Reddick, who is uncommitted, was bumped to three stars and could see his recruiting stock rise.

"I suspect several more schools to check on him," Safrit said.

BENGALS SIGN: Fuquay-Varina's Cameron Conner and Zach Boraski recently accepted baseball scholarships to N.C. State and Vienna (W.Va.) Ohio Valley University, respectively.

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