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Rising Walton senior Glen Rice Jr., the 2008 Marietta Daily Journal/Cobb County Boys Basketball Player of the Year, made his verbal committment to Georgia Tech on Thursday at an AAU tournament in Orlando.

However, the Atlantic Coast Conference wasn't done with nabbing some of the Raiders' top talent from head coach Joe Goydish.

Ryan Harrow, a transfer student from the Cannon School in Concord, N.C., recently made his committment to North Carolina State. The 5-foot-11 point guard transferred to Walton during the 2007-08 season and sat out his sophomore year while practicing with the Raiders.

"Both of these guys are great people and they're great athletes," Goydish said. "(Georgia Tech coach Paul) Hewitt and (N.C. State) coach (Sidney) Lowe are getting some really talented players. They've played about 15 to 18 games together with the team this summer and they play really well together. Neither player is selfish, they love to pass and can score in bunches."

A 6-4 shooting guard, Rice, the son and namesake of the former NBA star, chose the Yellow Jackets over several top programs - including Florida State, Miami and Alabama - because of his relationship with the Georgia Tech coaching staff and for the school itself.

"I liked the people there and the environment and the academics," Rice said in a telephone interview following a game with his Georgia Stars AAU squad in Orlando. "I just felt ready to commit (Thursday) and I'm looking forward to signing."

If Rice does suit up for the Yellow Jackets as expected in 2009, he will follow in the footsteps of two former Cobb County standouts who signed Georgia Tech scholarships. Dion Glover played two years at Marietta before moving on to Cedar Grove and a season with the Yellow Jackets before moving on to the NBA. Brian Oliver graduated from the now-defunct Wills High School - which merged with Campbell in 1989 - and became one-third of the "Lethal Weapon 3" trio of himself, Dennis Scott and Kenny Anderson that led Georgia Tech to the Final Four in 1990.

"Now that it's over, it will make my senior season that much more enjoyable," Rice said. "I won't have to worry about recruiters and trying to impress and show off for people; I can just go out there and have fun."

"Georgia Tech is getting an unbelievable player," Goydish said. "(Rice) has a great upside. His basketball IQ is off the charts and he could be a very good college basketball player and possible NBA player if he develops.

"He has over a 3.2 GPA and is above 1100 on his SATs. Academically, (the Tech staff) felt he could handle the classroom and they loved his combination of brains and athletic ability."

Harrow, a scoring point guard and rising junior who is averaging around 25 points per game this summer for his Louis Williams Elite AAU team, chose the Wolfpack over Wake Forest, Auburn and Clemson among others.

"N.C. State was probably where he was going to go all along because he grew up loving the school," Goydish said. "He's from North Carolina and has lived in Raleigh before. He knows coach Lowe is a former NBA coach and knows a lot about the point guard position. N.C. State is just a great fit for him."

With two ACC-caliber players set to lead the Raiders' backcourt in 2008-09, Walton should be a team to be reckoned with this season.

"I think we'll be very, very good this year," Goydish said.

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