By DAN BISER

Greg Elleby made everything official this morning when he affixed his signature to a national-letter-of-intent to play football for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.

The 6-foot-5, 280-pound Elleby had verbally committed to Coach John Bunting’s UNC program last May. This past fall, he earned all-conference, all-county, all-region and all-state honors after helping pace the South Columbus Stallions to the Waccamaw Conference championship and an 11-2 record.

He was selected the 2005 News Reporter Columbus County Football Player of the Year.

Elleby’s size, quickness and strength in the Stallion defensive line have drawn raves from college scouts since his sophomore season at SCHS. He has carried the nickname “Beast” since his freshman year.

“He loves to play and loves to win,” said SCHS head coach Joey Price. “He gave us a tremendous amount of leadership during his senior season. He has all the tools and he should develop into a strong college player.”

Elleby, the son of Larry and Bobbie Elleby of Tabor City, becomes the second South Columbus player in as many years to sign with the Tar Heels. Last year, standout back Bryan Dixon signed with UNC and he spent this past fall as a freshman red-shirt. Dixon is projected as defensive back for the 2006 Tar Heel squad.

“Bryan is a real good friend of mine and I’ve always felt like Carolina is where I would want to play college football,” Elleby said. “Playing football in college has been a dream of mine since I was a very small child.

“I am very, very thankful to be receiving this opportunity,” he added.

Elleby, who also plays basketball at SCHS, is projected for a defensive tackle position at UNC. He said he will start working on a program to increase his strength and body weight.

“I feel I can get up to 300 or 310 and still play comfortably at that weight,” he said.