Top 100 prospect Ekene Ibekwe of Carson, Cal., one of the nation's most promising forwards, is headed to Maryland and coach Gary Williams over the USC Trojans.

Ibekwe, who averaged 19.7 points and 10 rebounds as a junior, also considered Kansas and Arizona, among many others. The Terps earlier gained Top 100 forward/center Hassan Fofana of Conkary, Guinea/Worcester-Holy Name, Mass/Hargrave MA, Va; Top 100 guard Mike Jones of Braingtree-Thayer Academy, Mass; Super Prospect center WIll Bowers of Hanover-Archbishop Spaulding, Md; and Super Prospect guard Darryl Strawberry of Santa Ana-Mater Dei, Cal.

Louisville, Maryland and Kansas lead the Early Top Classes.

Top 100 center Julius Lamptey of Oklahoma City-Northeast, Okla/New Hampton Prep, NH., has committed to Arkansas. He signed with Georgia in Class 2002, but did not qualify.

Guard Tyler Smith, a Top 100 prospect from Laurel, Md/Baltimore-Douglas, Md/Philadelphia-Lutheran Christian, Pa., has committed to DePaul over interest from Charlotte and Georgetown. Smith averaged 28 points as a junior.

Sophomore guard Rashaad Carruth of College Park, Ga/Oak Hill Academy, Va/Kentucky, has been dismissed from Oklahoma for breaking a team rule, according to coach Kelvin Sampson. Carruth, a former Top 100 prep, joined the Sooners last summer after transferring from Kentucky, where he averaged 5.5 points in 26 games as a true freshman.

More Basketball News:

Colorado State has a commitment from forward/center Steve Verwers of Weatherford-Christian Academy, Tex. He also had interest from Arkansas, Texas Christian, Southern Methodist, Texas, Texas A&M, Kansas and Oklahoma State.

Guard Eric Henkel of Missoula-Sentinal, Mont., chose Eastern Washington.

San Francisco has a commitment from forward Alan Wiggins of Poway/San Diego-Horizon, Cal.

Guard Vincent Camper of Oxford, Miss., who averaged 17 points as a junior, has committed to Tulane. Forward Dan Fitzgerald of Mendota Heights-St. Thomas Academy, Minn., recently picked Tulane over interest from Boston College, Bowling Green, Rice, Stanford, West Virginia, Marquette, Minnesota and Notre Dame.

Hartford pledged forward Zakee Boyd of Philadelphia-Lutheran, Pa.

Manhattan gained a pledge from forward Christano Johnson of Nassau, Bahamas/Laurinburg-Charter School, NC.

Cal State-Fullerton pledged forward Hardy Asprilla of Columbia/Whittier-LaSerna, Cal/Lon Morris CC, Tex/College of the Sequoias, Cal.

Sophomore center Clay McGowen of Westerville-North, Ohio, is transferring from Old Dominion to Ohio. He averaged 5.3 points and 5.2 rebounds during 2001-02. He appeared in all 29 games and started 12. The Bobcats recently gained commitments from guard Whitney Davis of Ann Arbor-Pioneer, Mich., and center/forward Eric Clemons of Cincinnati-Mariemont/Reading.

Guard Demetruis Johnson of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, committed to Kent State.

Bowling Green pledged forward Isaac Rosefelt of St. Paul-St. Thomas Academy, Minn., over Boston University, Drake, Furman and Lamar, among others. The Falcons recently gained guard/forward Reggie Harwell of East Cleveland-Shaw, Ohio, over Marshall; and center Matt Lefeld of Coldwater, Ohio, over Air Force, Drake, Buffalo, Evansville, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Bucknell.

Fresno State has a pledge from center/forward Rodney Timmerman of Paso Robles, Cal.

Fairfield gained a verbal from guard Mike Van Schaick of Glens Falls, NY.

Utah State pledged forward Jason Williams of Santa Rosa CC, Cal.

BYU has a commitment from guard Michael Rose of Houston-Spring Woods, Tex., over offers from Fordham, St. Louis, Kent State, Holy Cross, Utah State, Colorado State, University of San Diego, Houston and TCU.

Class 2003:
*Search the list of Prospects/Commitments.
*Post-Summer list of Top 100 Prospects/Commitments/Remaining Top 100 Prospects.
*Top 100 Prospects by Position: Centers/Forwards/Guards.
*More players projected to make an impact: Super Prospects.
*Check out the Early Top Classes.
*Check out the Early Top 100 JC Prospects.
*Early Top 100 JC Prospects by Position: Centers/Forwards/Guards.
*Basketball Signing Periods: Early: Nov. 13-20; Regular: Apr. 16-May 15.

Class 2004:
Search the early list of Junior Prospects/Commitments.

Basketball Commitments/Signings:
OCSN: Main Recruiting Page.
Class 2004 Men: Database.
Class 2003 Men: Database/Top 100/Women: Database.
Class 2002 Men: Database/Top 100/Top Classes/ Women: Database.
Class 2001 Men: Database/Top 100/Top Classes/Women: Database.
Class 2000 Men: Database/Top 100/Top Classes/Women: Database.
Class 1999 Men: Database/Women: Database.
Class 1998 Men: Database/ Top Classes/Women: Database.
*McDonald's All-American Game stories/Rosters for 2002, 2001, 2000
*USA Men's Junior National Team.
*The NBA selected only one high school and a single junior college prospect during the 2002 draft: Center/forward Amare Stoudemire of Orlando-Cypress Creek, Fla., was taken 9th in the first round by Phoenix, while Portland took forward Qyntel Woods of Northeast Mississippi CC, Miss., at No. 21 in the first round. The NBA passed on three other high school/prep school prospects and seven JC players (List).

Bill Hodge is the executive editor and director of recruiting coverage at CollegeSports.com. For daily columns on prospects, commitments and signings, plus databases, go to CollegeSports.com's Recruiting Page.