Approximately 250 elite football prospects from several states convened at UNC on Friday to participate in the Nike Training Camp and display their skills.

In basketball and baseball, prospects have club teams and tournaments in which they can play and show their ability. Football is different.

Events such as this and the Shrine Bowl Combines allow football players an opportunity to display their physical potential.

Chapel Hill High School is fortunate to have two of the best-looking prospects at the camp on Friday. Jared McAdoo, 6 foot 2, 285 pounds, is a rising senior defensive tackle who has already made an oral commitment to play for North Carolina. Robert Crisp is a 6-8, 302-pound rising junior. He is still considering his options.

The two are key components of what should be a fine Chapel Hill High School football team this fall, as they have proven they are among the top prospects in the state of North Carolina.

"We're blessed to have those two, along with their teammates," Tigers' coach Issac Marsh said after watching his pupils work out against an elite group of prospects. "It's just a matter of making sure they are doing the right thing in the classroom.

"It's evident the ability is there. I just want to make sure they have the grades and are in good standing academically. They are definitely applying themselves in the classroom. They understand what they have to do."

Crisp won the MVP award Friday as the top offensive lineman at the Nike camp.

He faced a variety of big, fast defenders in one-on-one drills, but those future college rushers could not get around the big man. He just latched his long arms on them and kept them at bay.

"It feels good to have the respect of a senior as a sophomore," Crisp said. "It feels good to be an offensive MVP, to be a sophomore and get it over the seniors."

The NCAA did not allow officials at the camp to time the players in the 40-yard dash Friday, but at a recent combine of top prospects from North Carolina, McAdoo ran the 40 in 4.96 seconds after being timed by multiple stopwatches.

Given his size, that kind of speed is quickly making McAdoo one of the prize recruits in North Carolina.

"It feels good to know you have accomplished something," McAdoo said of his time.

McAdoo committed to the Tar Heels early. Given the recognition he is getting, he could have chosen any school in the country, and he could have waited until signing day in February 2009 to announce his decision. But he said that he has bonded with UNC head coach Butch Davis and defensive line coach John Blake.

"We've built a great relationship," McAdoo said. "They are like two fathers to me."

The third mentor is Marsh, who talked McAdoo and Crisp into trying football. Both kids moved to Chapel Hill when they were in the eighth grade, and each had set their focus on basketball. McAdoo came from Maryland, Crisp from Burlington.

After a little persuasion from Marsh, the two tried football and soon found that was where their best hopes for a future in athletics lay.

"I just started playing football my freshman year," McAdoo said. "Coach Marsh got me to start playing."

At 6-8 and with a reach of at least 7-1, basketball seemed like a natural for Crisp.

"I switched last year," Crisp said. "I was playing football, but I wasn't getting as much playing time as I thought I would. I started to work every day and realized this is my sport. When I wasn't doing as good in basketball as I thought I would be, I realized which sport was my bread and butter."

Since their conversions, Marsh said, his two pupils have dedicated themselves to improvement and to becoming the best football players and leaders they can be.

"McAdoo (has) a lot of raw talent we took from his freshman year and molded," Marsh said. "Coach (Jon) Evans has done an excellent job with him, his footwork, drills in practice. You could see the ability was there with McAdoo. It was just a matter of getting him to come out and play football.

"I told him, 'Give me a chance to coach you.' He has done everything we have asked of him. He is working hard in the weight room. He has a weight-lifting class in the mornings, and then he comes in after school and lifts. He is out on the field running. He is continuing to do the things to get better. He is not content. He wants to get better at everything he is doing.

"Rob is our left offensive tackle, and that is where he is being recruited, at left offensive tackle," Marsh said. "The thing I'm impressed with Rob is he can play on both sides of the ball. He and McAdoo have done a good job of pushing one another to get better."

While McAdoo has already chosen Carolina, Crisp mentions a list of other schools when he talks about his favorites, beginning with Florida and N.C. State. But he also admits that his best friend, McAdoo, is recruiting him for the Tar Heels.

"We're almost like brothers," Crisp said, smiling.

This fall they will be brothers in arms, and that makes Chapel Hill High a lucky group of Tigers.

"Next year is going to be crazy," Crisp said. "I plan on going undefeated."