Report: Jones to Sign With North Carolina : Recruiting: Thousand Oaks High standout to run track, play basketball for Tar Heels, according to Raleigh, N.C., newspaper.

Marion Jones of Thousand Oaks High, a national class sprinter and standout basketball player, reportedly will sign a letter of intent with North Carolina today or tomorrow.

The News & Observer of Raleigh published a story today saying that Jones will play basketball and compete in track for the Tar Heels.

Jones, who finished fourth in the 200 meters and fifth in the 100 at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in June, would neither confirm nor deny the report Tuesday night, but she did say that she expects to sign a letter of intent within the next two days.

Today marks the beginning of the NCAA’s weeklong early-signing period.

According to the story, Jones chose North Carolina primarily for two reasons.

First, Curtis Frye is the women’s sprint coach. Secondly, Jones should find extensive playing time as a freshman in a basketball program that is showing steady improvement.

Frye, a former assistant at North Carolina State and Florida, has worked with several outstanding sprinters, including Dennis Mitchell, the 100-meter bronze medalist in last summer’s Olympic Games in Barcelona.

North Carolina (22-9) advanced to the second round of the women’s NCAA basketball tournament last season after finishing third in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings with a 9-7 mark. The Tar Heels have won four of the last five ACC titles in women’s track.

Jones, 17, is the national junior (age 19 and under) and high school record-holder in the girls’ 200 (22.58 seconds), and her personal best of 11.14 in the 100 is only .01 seconds shy of the national high school record set by Chandra Cheeseborough of Ribault High in Jacksonville, Fla. Jones is three-time defending state champion in the 100 and 200, and a two-time All-Ventura County selection in basketball.

On the baseball front, at least seven area players are expected to sign letters with NCAA Division I schools.

Last year was the first that the NCAA allowed baseball players to commit during the early-signing period. Many from the region are expected to jump at the chance.

They include: Jeff Suppan of Crespi High (UCLA), Brad Fullmer of Montclair Prep (Stanford), David Lamb of Newbury Park (Pepperdine), Andy Dominique of Alemany (Nevada), Chris Garza of Notre Dame (Nevada), Dan Cey of El Camino Real (California) and Justin Siegel of Taft (North Carolina State).

The area’s most highly recruited boys’ basketball player, swingman Monte Marcaccini of Notre Dame, remains undecided. He is considering offers from Indiana, Virginia, UCLA, USC and UC Santa Barbara. Adam Jacobsen of Crescenta Valley will sign with Pacific. Jacobsen, a transfer from Glendora, shares the Southern Section record for three-point baskets with 288.

Water polo standout Jim Toring of Harvard-Westlake, one of the best players in the nation, will sign with UCLA.

Mike Lees, an outside hitter from Crespi, has accepted a volleyball scholarship from Cal State Northridge. Notre Dame middle blocker Tom Stillwell has narrowed his choice to Northridge or UCLA.

David Coulson contributed to this story.