by Alex Schwartz

Last week, both Colorado and Wake Forest started off their 2012 recruiting classes with in-state prospects, while North Carolina also received a 2012 commitment. After those three made their decisions, another trio of talented juniors have come off the board in the past few days.

As was the case in the first group of pledges, the Buffaloes and Demon Deacons both added commitments from in-state players. In addition, a couple members of the senior class came off the board this weekend, one selecting  North Carolina State the other opting for Marshall.

The most high-profile player to make a commitment in the past few days was 6'7 power forward Montrezl Harrell of North Edgecombe (NC). The #44 ranked player in the NBE Post-Summer Class of 2012 Top 50, Harrell committed to Virginia Tech, per Evan Daniels of Scout. The athletic interior presence is the first member of the 2012 class for the Hokies.

Harrell began his ascension as a big-time recruit in the spring of his sophomore year. He cemented his status as a high-level player when he outplayed JP Tokoto at the 2010 Bob Gibbons TOC. Scout had an article about that last night, and here is what I wrote  about Harrell after watching that game:

"Montrezl Harrell was the top performer that I laid eyes on Friday. A 6'7 power forward, Harrell is a huge presence in the paint and outperformed Tokoto when the team's matched up, though Tokoto came out on the winning end. Harrell is a great athlete, evidence by his phenomenal putback dunk when he came from the baseline, skied, grabbed the ball with one hand, and slammed it down with one hand. If he grows another inch or two, Harrell could become one of the truly elite players in the class of 2012."

In news that was also broken by Scout's Evan Daniels, 6'7 small forward Aaron Rountree of Greenfield (NC) made his college decision last night as well. Within an hour of Harrell popping to Virginia Tech, Rountree became the second junior in North Carolina to pledge to an ACC program, as he went with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Rountree is the second player in as many weeks from North Carolina's class of 2012 to commit to Jeff Bzdelik and Co. The first to do so was 6'2 point guard Codi Miller-McIntyre of First Assembly Christian (NC). As of now they are the only two players committed to Wake Forest in the 2012 class.

Like Wake Forest, the Colorado Buffaloes also added their second commitment from an in-state junior in as many weeks. According to Eric Bossi of Rivals, 6'7 power forward Wesley Gordon of Sierra (CO) opted to stay in the Centennial State for college and pledged to Colorado.

Gordon joins 6'9 power forward Josh Scott of Lewis-Palmer (CO) in the 2012 recruiting haul for Tad Boyle and his staff. Both Gordon and Scott are big men who attend high school in Colorado Springs, which is roughly within two hours from the Boulder campus according to MapQuest.

Not to be forgotten are a pair of guards in the class of 2011 who came off the board this weekend, about a month before the spring signing period. Both players were amongst the better available backcourt players in the senior class.

The North Carolina State affiliate of Rivals, The Wolfpacker, that broke the news of Jaqawn Raymond's commitment to Sidney Lowe and Co. The 6'4 shooting guard from Statesboro (GA) made his pledge to the Wolfpack on Sunday afternoon.

Raymond is the third member of a superb recruiting class for Sidney Lowe that is currently in the top 40 to 45 in the nation, joining a pair of players ranked in the NBE Post-Summer Class of 2011 Top 150. The other two seniors headed to Raleigh are #61 ranked 6'9 center Joseph Uchebo of Word of God Academy (NC) and #130 ranked 6'8 small forward Tyler Harris of St. Benedict's (NJ).

Hoopniks reported the other 2011 commitment on Sunday, which came from 6'2 shooting guard Mike Cheatham of Baltimore City College HS (MD). A teammate of Maryland-signee Nick Faust in both high school and AAU ball with Nike Baltimore Elite, Chatham opted to pledge to the Marshall Thundering Herd, a C-USA program.

Cheatham is the fourth member of a solid 2011 recruiting class for first year Marshall head coach Tom Herrion. He joins 6'8 power forward Jamir Hanner of Notre Dame Prep (MA), 6'3 shooting guard Devince Boykins of East Rutherford (NC), and JuCo 6'7 power forward Dennis Tinnion of Kansas City Kansas CC (KS).

Note- photo on the top left is of Montrezl Harrell and is from http://www.ny2lasports.com/default.aspx; photo on the bottom right is of Jaqawn Raymond and is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/