Curry, a 6-11 center from South Holland-Thornwood, Ill., signed with DePaul Blue Demons over Illinois.

Many NBA scouts project the 285-pound Curry to be one of the first five players chosen in next year's draft. He also considered Cincinnati and Memphis. As a junior, Curry averaged 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.8 blocks while leading Thornwood to a 25-4 record.

DePaul now has one pledge over the five-player signing limit, including Curry, forward Quemont Greer of Homestead, Fla.; guard Levar Seals, Chicago, Ill.; forward Sam Hoskin of Schoolcraft CC, Mich.; forward Kenny Adeleke of Brooklyn, N.Y; and guard Drake Diener of Fond du Lac, Wis.

A Top 10 forward from Duluth-East, Minn., Rickert signed with Minnesota after earlier committing to Arizona. Sought by nearly every major program and one of the top prospects in the nation, Rickert had delayed signing with the Wildcats. The Gophers have also signed center Jerry Holman of Minneapolis JC, Minn.; guard Maurice Hargrow of St. Paul-Highland Park, Minn.; forward O'Neal Mims of Austin-Reagan, Tex.; and guard Aaron Robinson of Rockford-Guilford, Ill.

"He said he was torn between the two," his mother, Susan Rickert, told the Associated Press while faxing her son's letter of intent to Minnesota coach Dan Monson. "There was good things about both of them, but it came down a lot to who he wanted to go to school with, and he wanted to stay closer to home." Rickert's signing should help Monson rebuild the program following a massive academic fraud scandal that resulted in numerous NCAA sanctions.

Earlier, one of the nation's top guards chose Kansas, while Missouri, Arizona and Georgia Tech each collected Top 100 prospects.

Top 100 guard Aaron Miles of Portland-Jefferson, Ore., committed to the Jayhawks over Arizona. Miles averaged 13 points, four rebounds, three steals and seven assists as a junior. Prep teammate guard Michael Lee and Top 100 forward Wayne Simien of Leavenworth, Kan., earlier pledged to Kansas.

Outstanding guard Keith Langford of Crowley-North Crowley, Tex., has also committed to Kansas. He also considered Cincinnati and Oklahoma after decommitting from Mississippi.

Najeeb Echols, an outstanding forward from Chicago-Morgan Park, Ill., is bound for Missouri. Echols, who also considered Illinois, Houston and DePaul, is a possible NBA candidate. The Tigers already received verbal commitments from center/forward Robert Whaley of Benton Harbor, Mich.; forward Jeffrey Ferguson of Benton Harbor, Mich.; guard/forward Duane John of Toronto, Ontario/Homestead-Berkshire School, Fla.; and forward Travon Bryant of Long Beach-Jordan, Calif./Maine Central Institute, Maine. Bryant, who signed with Missouri in Class 2000 but did not meet academic standards, has now qualified and expects to join the Tigers in December. He will count against last year's class and give Missouri one remaining scholarship.

Arizona gained guard Will Bynum of Chicago-Crane Tech Prep, Ill., who was also considering Georgia Tech, Miami (Fla.) and Mississippi State. He will join forward Dennis Latimore of Halstead, Kan., center Channing Frye of Phoenix-St. Mary's, Ariz., and guard Salim Stroudamire of Lake Oswego, Ore., giving the Wildcats one of the top recruiting classes in the nation.

Forward Anthony Vasser of Birmingham-Woodlawn, Ala., has signed with Georgia Tech over UAB, Auburn and Alabama. The Yellow Jackets now have five Top 100 prospects, including forwards Ed Nelson and Ismail Muhammed, guard Barry Elder and center Michael Southall.

Top 100 center Marcus Campbell of Albany-Westover, Ga., has signed with Mississippi State over Clemson, Charlotte, Auburn and Florida State.

Forward Terry Licorish of Durham-Mt. Zion, N.C., committed to Louisville, but may still visit other programs.

One of the top junior college prospects, guard/forward Gilson DeJesus of Sao Paulo, Brazil/Trinidad State College, Colo., signed with Kansas State. He was once linked to Oklahoma.

The fall signing period runs Nov. 8-15.

Top 100 forward Derek Stribling of Tallahassee-Rickards, Fla., will play for the Tennessee Vols over Georgia. He also considered Maryland and Georgetown. Forward Elgrace Wilborn of Springfield-South, Ohio, committed to the Vols in September.

Top 100 forward Jamaal Williams of Corona-Centennial, Calif., picked New Mexico over Tulsa, St. Louis and Pepperdine. He averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds as a junior. Williams is New Mexico's second recruit and will join center Chad Bell of Los Angeles-Westchester, Calif., in Albuquerque.

Forward Hakin Warrick of Philadelphia-Friends Central, Pa., is headed to Syracuse over Providence. The Orangemen earlier gained commitments from forward/center Mark Konecny of Waterbury-Holy Cross, Conn., over UConn, Seton Hall and Kentucky; forward/guard Josh Pace of Griffin, Ga., over Maryland, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami, Florida State and Alabama; Top 100 center Craig Forth of Albany-Columbia, N.Y., over Boston College, Duke, Wake Forest, UConn and North Carolina, among others; and Top 100 guard Billy Edelin of Oak Hill Academy, Va.

Ninety Top 100 Prospects have committed or signed. The Missouri Tigers and Georgia Tech have commitments from five Top 100 prospects. UCLA, Arizona and North Carolina State have four. Programs with three include DePaul, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina and Stanford.

Forward/guard Mike Grinnon of Oyster Bay-St. Dominic's, N.Y., signed with Maryland over Princeton, William & Mary, Yale, LaSalle, and Penn, among others.

MAC:
Forward Jamel Staten of Minneapolis-North Community, Minn., has chosen Northern Illinois.

Guard Ben Reed of Battle Creek-Central, Mich., has chosen Western Michigan.

Missouri Valley:
Guard Greg Alexander of Lincoln-Lincoln Community, Ill., picked Illinois State.

Guard Lamar Grimes of Chicago-Gage Park, Ill., decommitted from Loyola-Chicago and picked Indiana State.

Forward/center Paul Miller of Jefferson City-Blair Oaks, Mo., will play at Wichita State over Texas Tech and interest from Oklahoma. Guard Randy Burns of Houston-Booker T. Washington, Tex., earlier verballed to Wichita State.

Sun Belt:
South Alabama has a reported commitment from forward Adam Salow of Manchester, Ia.

Arkansas-Little Rock verballed forward Josh Jacobs of West Mesquite, Tex.

Ivy:
Guard Eddie Draughan of Lakewood-Mayfair, Calif., picked Yale over interest from Providence and Rutgers.

Atlantic 10:
Guard Mike Gansey of Olmstead Falls, Ohio, picked St. Bonaventure over Charlotte.

Guard Shaheem McNair of Brooklyn-Xaverian, N.Y., picked Duquesne over interest from Boston College, Boston University, Fordham, Marist and Pittsburgh.

Forward Anthony Lalor of Bronx-DeWitt Clinton, N.Y., has chosen George Washington.

Big West:
Long Beach State has commitments from forwards Anthony Davis of Compton-Centennial, Calif., over Louisville; and Chris Jenkins of Albuquerque-Sandia, N.M., according to Recruiting USA.

Center Scott Rainey of Astoria, Ore., has chosen UC-Santa Barbara.

Guard Ross Schraeder of Denver-East, Colo., has chosen UC-Irvine.

Midwestern Collegiate:
Guard Walt Chavis of Steelton-Highspire, Pa., has chosen Cleveland State.

Forward Brandon Bender of Louisville-Ballard, Ky., is considering West Virginia, Kentucky, Colorado and DePaul, among others. Probable spring signee.

Center Tony Key of Baltimore-Gwynn Lake Prep, Md., likes West Virginia and others. Probable spring signee.

Two-Sport Stars: Forward/tight end Marcus Spears of Baton Rouge-Southern Lab, La., likes Texas, Texas A&M, Miami (Fla.) and LSU. Guard/receiver Charles Frederick of Boca Raton-Pope John Paul II, Fla., is considering Florida State, Washington, Florida, Alabama, Miami (Fla.), Virginia Tech and Auburn. Both are expected to sign football scholarships in spring and also play basketball.

Guard Ernest Turner of Somerdale-Sterling, N.J., is deciding between UNLV and Villanova. Probable spring signee.

Forward Ousmane Cisse of Montgomery-St. Jude, Ala., is considering Louisville, Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Purdue, Memphis, and Arkansas. Probable spring signee.

Center DeSagana Diop of Mouth of Wilson-Oak Hill, Va., is considering Virginia and North Carolina. Probable spring signee.

Center David Harrison of Brentwood-Academy, Tenn., likes Vanderbilt, Colorado, Duke, North Carolina, UCLA, Tennessee, and Louisville. Probable spring signee.

Center Tyson Chandler of Compton-Dominguez, Calif.: Michigan, Memphis, UCLA or probable NBA. Probable spring signee.

Forward Karl Hollingsworth of Jonesboro-Mt. Zion, Ga., is considering Tulane, Tennessee and Yale.

Forward/center Emeka Okafor of Bellaire, Tex., is considering Rice, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. Probable spring signee.

Forward Isaiah Fox of Santa Monica-Crossroads, Calif., is considering California, UCLA, UConn, Georgia, Oklahoma, Louisville, New Mexico, UMass and Oregon. Probable spring signee.