Basketball's early signing period begins!

College programs are checking fax machines and the mail as over 545 prospects have made verbal commitments or signed scholarship papers. The early period runs Nov. 13-20 and the late period from Apr. 16-May 15.

Top 100 guard Ronnie Brewer of Fayetteville, Ark., has chosen Arkansas over Oklahoma, UConn and Oklahoma State. Brewer, whose father, Ron, played at Arkansas, averaged 26 points and nine rebounds as a junior.

Completing an outstanding recruiting class, new coach Stan Heath and the Razorbacks had earlier gained Olu Famutimi, a Top 100 guard/forward from Flint-Northwestern, Mich; Top 100 center Julius Lamptey of Oklahoma City-Northeast, Okla/New Hampton Prep, NH; and forward Vincent Hunter of Little Rock-Fair, Ark.

Louisville, Maryland, Illinois, Kansas and Arizona lead the Early 2003 Top Classes. Remaining Top 100 Prospects (4): C-Darryl Watkins; F-Brandon Bass, Linas Kleiza; G-LeBron James.

More Basketball News:
Georgia pledged forward Marcus Jackson of Chicago, Ill., and center Cassiano Matheus of Brazil. Both prospects play at South Plains CC, Tex.

Texas pledged guard Edgar Moreno of Columbia/Lon Morris CC, Tex., over South Carolina, Washington State, UNLV and East Carolina. He averaged 12.8 points during 2001-02.

Guard Rashaad Carruth of College Park, Ga/Oak Hill Academy, Va/Kentucky/Oklahoma, is headed to Indian Hills CC, Ia.

Miami-Ohio added forward Monty St. Clair of Cincinnati-Roger Bacon, Ohio.

Morehead State gained guard Josh Reed of Liverpool, Ohio.

Valparaiso added center/forward Moussa Mbaye of Senegal/Burlington-Life Center, NJ.

Denver verballed guard James Lane of Colorado Springs-Palmer, Colo.

Holy Cross pledged forward Joe Young of Rockville-Montrose Christian, Md.

University of San Diego gained center/forward Abdoulaye Ndiaye of Senegal/Louisville-Moore, Kty.

Lehigh has guard Kyle Neptune of Brooklyn-Friends, NY.

Youngstown State pledged forward John Barber of Detroit-Renaissance, Mich; guard Curtis Ingram of Youngstown-Cardinal Mooney, Ohio; and forward/guard Craig Anderson of Mt. Prospect-Prospect, Ill.

Guard Craig Johnson of Crockett, Tex., decommitted from Liberty.

Guard Grant Gibson of Bloomington-South, Ind., committed to Lafayette. Lafayette recently pledged forward Jamaal Douglas of Miami-Palmer Trinity, Fla.

Forward Mike Popoko of Owings Mills-McDonogh, Md., committed to Stony Brook.

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/Top Classes/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.