Alabama could suffer a huge disaster as forward Mario Austin of Montgomery, Ala., has switched from the Crimson Tide to Mississippi State. Alabama may also lose top forward prospect Gerald Wallace of Childsburg, Ala., to entrance problems and the NBA.

Forward Justin Reed of Jackson-Provine, Miss., switched from Auburn to Mississippi.

UConn could also have trouble as guard Taliek Brown will now wait until spring and forward Caron Butler is still considering UNLV.

Guard Imari Sawyer of Chicago-King, Ill., chose DePaul over Miami.

The remaining uncommitted Top 10 prospect, forward Darius Miles of East St. Louis, Ill., has DePaul, Minnesota, St. John's, Saint Louis and Kentucky on his list. The NBA is an option. He is expected to sign near the end of the period with St. John's. Guard Omar Cook of Middle Village-Christ the King, NY., looking at St. John's, Kentucky and Miami, could also sign with The Red Storm and move St. John's past Big East rival Seton Hall and become the nation's top recruiting class.

Many top programs are struggling. Kentucky will likely have only one early signee. Duke has missed on several top prospects.

Remaining top forwards:
A.J. Moye of Atlanta-Westlake, Ga., plans to announce on Nov. 12 between Indiana, Georgia, Ohio State and UMass.

Darius Rice of Jackson-Lanier, Miss., looking at Mississippi State, Miami, Kentucky and Arkansas. He may wait until spring.

Trevon Bryant of Long Beach-Jordan, Calif., is down to Kentucky, California, Kansas and Missouri.

Abdou Diame of Mouth of Wilson-Oak Hill, Va: Auburn or Maryland, probable spring signee.

Omar Weaver of Compton-Centennial, Calif.: Missouri or Wyoming.

Modibo Diarra of Fitchburg-ND, Mass.: Boston College, Villanova, Massachusetts, Clemson.

Remaining top centers:
Chris Wilcox of Raleigh-Enloe, N.C.: N.C. State, Maryland, Tennessee, West Virginia.

Neil Fingleton (7-6) of Worcester-Holy Name, Mass., is deciding between UNC, Wake Forest, and Boston College.

Andrew Zahn of Redondo Beach-Redondo Union, Calif.: Washington State, USC, Oregon State. Waiting until spring.

Remaining top guards:
Demetruis Smith of Hogansville-Callaway, Ga,: Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky.

Eddie Starks of Miami-NW Christian, Fla.: Miami, St. John's, Rutgers.

Luke Ridnour of Blaine, Wash.: Oregon, Gonzaga and Utah.

Early recruiting-class leaders, based on commitments, are headed by Seton Hall. Developments will change the list.

Connecticut: F Caron Butler, G Taliek Brown, F Scott Hazelton.

Michigan State: G Marcus Taylor, F Zach Randolph.

DePaul: F Andre Brown, Imari Sawyer.

Missouri: G Rickey Paulding, F Arthur Johnson, G Wesley Stokes.

North Carolina: F Jason Parker, G Brian Morrison, G Adam Boone.

Texas: F Brandon Mouton, C Brian Boddicker, C Jason Klotz, F James Thomas, C Chris Wright, G Freddie Williams.

Indiana: F Jared Jeffries, G Andre Owens, F Mike Roberts.

Iowa: C Jared Reiner, F Glen Worley, G Brody Boyd, F Courtney Scott, F Sean Sonderleiter.

Clemson: G Dwon Clifton, F Deon Dixon, F Chris Hobbs, G Tony Stockman.

Texas A&M: F Nolan Butterfras, F Nick Anderson, F Brennan Martin, G Trayvean Scott.

Oklahoma State: F David Anderson, F Terrance Crawford, G Ellis Kidd, C Jack Marlow and F Ivan McFarlin.

St. John's: F Kyle Cuffe, C Mohammed Diakite, F Eric King, G Willie Shaw.

Oklahoma: F James Wright, F Johnnie Gilbert, F Aaron McGhee, F Daryan Selvy.

Iowa State: G Jake Sullivan, C Andrew Skoglund, C Ernest Brown, F Shane Power, F Tyray Pearson.

Houston: F Alton Ford, F Cedric Taylor, F Patrick Okafor, C Chris Booker.

Marquette: F David Holmes, F Jason Benton, G Terry Sanders, G Odartey Blankson, G Dwayne Wade.

Tulane: C George Brown, F Wayne Tinsley and G David Hawkins.

Cincinnati: F Jerome Harper, G Field Williams.

Alabama: F Gerald Wallace, C Dan Banko.

Louisville: F Luke Whitehead, F Simeon Naydenov.

New Mexico: F Malcolm Battles, F Jamal Brown, C Patrick Dennehy, G Cliff Hawkins.

North Carolina State: F Michael Bell, F Marcus Melvin and G Scooter Sherrill.

Purdue: F Brett Buscher, C Kevin Garrity, G Austin Parkinson.

Georgia: F Stephen Thomas, F Chris Daniels, G Rashad Wright.

Colorado: G Chevis Brimmer, G Justin Harbert, F Jamie Lloreda, F Blair Wilson.

Baylor: G Chad Elsey, F Logan Komalski, G Caro Nobles, G Matt Sayman.

Utah: C Jon Godfread.

Auburn: F Kyle Davis, G Brandon Robinson.

Mississippi State: F Mario Austin.

Kansas: G DeShawn Stevenson.

Duke: G Chris Duhon.

UCLA: F T.J. Cummings.

Virginia: G Maurice Young.

Michigan: G Avery Queen, F Bernard Robinson.

Syracuse: G James Thues.

Forward Mario Austin of Montgomery, Ala., switched from Alabama to Mississippi State. Alabama, meanwhile, will add center Dan Banko from Nashville-Montgomery Bell Academy, Tenn. Martin Schnedlitz, a center originally from Austria, is expected to sign with Vanderbilt. Schnedlitz, who picked Vanderbilt over Rice and Penn, has played at Houston-Episcopal, Tex. Forward/center Rolando Howell of Hopkins-Lower Richland, SC., will play for South Carolina. Forward Michael Jones of Little Rock-Parkview, Ark., committed to Arkansas after considering Arkansas State and Arkansas-Little Rock.

Forward/guard Robbie Owens from Columbus-Brookhaven, Ohio, has given a commitment to Ball State. Forward Bryan Bedford from Racine-Case, Wis., chose Kent State. Eastern Illinois has forward Ryan Kelly of Arlington Heights-John Hersey, Ill., over Wisconsin-Green Bay and Northern Illinois. Guard Cortney Jones of Detroit-MacKenzie, Mich., picked Akron over Canisius, San Diego State, Eastern Michigan and Albany. Center Lee Biddlecome of Carson City-Carson, Nev., is reportedly headed to Bradley.

Top junior college forward recruit Patrick Okafor of Baytown Lee CC, Tex., switched his commitment from Baylor to Houston. The Cougars also received a commitment from center Chris Booker of Fort Worth/Diamond Hill-Jarvis, Tex. Booker, who was the District 9-4A player of the year as a junior, averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 assists He chose Houston over TCU and Kansas State. David Hawkins a guard from Washington, D.C.-Archbishop Carroll, committed to Tulane over Temple. Hawkins averaged 24 points, 10.3 rebounds and four assists as a junior. Forward Eric Batchelor of Northeast Mississippi Community College, has committed to Alabama-Birmingham over Purdue, Mississippi, Cincinnati and Tennessee, among others. SMU junior guard Chad Elsey from Flower Mound-Marcus, Tex., will transfer to Baylor. National-quality forward James Wright of Winchendon-Winchendon School, Mass., has committed to Oklahoma. Wright, orginally from Milwaukee-Vincent, Wis., also considered Rhode Island and Marquette. Guard Trayvean Scott of Baton Rouge-Southern Lab, La., picked Texas A&M, giving the Aggies a promising class, and will join outstanding prep teammate forward Nick Anderson, who committed earlier.

Colorado State won the recruiting battle for guard Jonathan Sanders of Westminister-Belleview Christian Academy, Colo., over Texas Tech and Saint Louis. Center Derrick Dawes of Salt Lake City-Cottonwood, Utah, committed to BYU. Dawes chose the Cougars over Arizona State, Ohio State and San Diego State. UTEP gained forward Nick Enzweiler of Moraga-Campolindo, Calif. Montana gained a verbal from forward Spencer Allred of Salt Lake City CC, Utah.

North Carolina State has a verbal from kicker Austin Herbert of Cary, N.C. Offensive lineman Derrick Brantley of SW Mississippi JC has recommitted to Clemson after considering South Carolina, Tennessee and Central Florida. Clemson also has one of the top junior college quarterback propects in Chad Elliott of American River JC, Sacramento, Calif. Elliott, who spent two seasons at Arizona State before entering American River, also had offers from West Virginia, Kansas State, LSU and Syracuse.

Linebacker/running back Donnie Lowe of La Vergne, Tenn., has switched his commitment from Vanderbilt to Alabama. Arkansas picked up defensive lineman/tight end Jason Peters from Queen City, Tex., who picked the Razorbacks over Florida State, Oklahoma, Miami, UCLA, Nebraska and LSU. Mississippi has its third verbal in receiver Bill Flowers of Pelham, Ala., whose chose the Rebels over Florida State, Auburn and Oklahoma. His brother plays at Duke. His father, Richmond Jr., played at Tennessee and later for the NFL Dallas Cowboys.

Offensive lineman Kelly Butler of Grand Rapids-Union, Mich., decided for Purdue over Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota and Notre Dame. Minnesota reportedly landed running back/tight end/defensive lineman Chad Redmann of Apple Valley, Minn.

Iowa State has landed its sixth commitment in running back Todd Miller of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Oklahoma added tight end Lance Donley of Weatherford, Okla., who decommitted from Oklahoma State, and linebackers Gayron Allen of Orange/West-Orange Stark, Tex., and Charles DuPree of Oklahoma City-Millwood, Okla.

Quarterback Jeremy Thompson of Avon, Ind., has committed to play football for Miami (Ohio).

Arizona State has a verbal from defensive lineman Paul Glass of Bakersfield CC, Calif. Linebacker/defensive lineman Chris Linderman of Issaquah, Wash., chose California over Oregon.

National-quality running back/defensive back Chris Howard of Wilmington-Banning, Calif., will play for USC. Others were Notre Dame, Arizona State, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas A&M. Nebraska, Michigan and Ohio State were also interested. Howard rushed for 2495 yards and 34 touchdowns as a junior. He also caught 40 passes for 536 yards and two touchdowns.

Mike De La Grange, an offensive lineman from Grants Pass, Ore., is the 4th commitment for Oregon. Defensive lineman Scott Scharff of Wisconsin Rapids-Lincoln, Wis., picked Stanford.