Cody Zeller, a rising Indiana high school senior and brother of UNC’s Tyler Zeller, has narrowed his choices for college to Butler, Indiana and North Carolina.

Zeller, announcing the finalists Thursday, says it will come down to the coaches, his comfort with teammates, the quality of the business school and the facilities.

All three coaches are excellent: Indiana’s Tom Crean, which has turned that program around; Butler’s Brad Stevens, one of the best young coaches; and Roy Williams, who is one of the winningest coaches of all time. Edge? Probably UNC. Williams has the most stature, experience and the highest ranking on various online polls.

As for teammates, it depends on if he means talent or guys who he can relate to and enjoy being around. If he’s talking about talent, then the edge goes to UNC again. The Heels have the most talent of the three. But if he means comfort as far as being able to relate, Butler would have a slight edge over Indiana. Butler has nine players from his home state of Indiana and eight of them are white like Zeller. Indiana has five players from the state of Indiana and four of them are white. Except for whatever walk-ons make the Tar Heels roster, there is only one white player and only one from Indiana on the Heels squad and that’s his brother Tyler. With Butler having enough talent to make the final two last year, I’d give the edge to Butler.

While mentioning Indiana having a good business school, it’s actually Carolina’s Kenan Flagler business school that ranks highest of the three by Businessweek magazine. UNC comes in 14th while Indiana is 19th. Butler’s business school in not ranked in the top 50. The ranking and educational reputation of UNC should give the edge here to Carolina.

As for basketball facilities, the bigger schools of UNC and Indiana would have the edge here. Since Indiana is picked more often in the top five for atmosphere in the arena itself, I’d give a slight edge to Indiana here.

Unless he really wants to stay in the state of Indiana, the overall edge would have to go to Carolina. Tyler Zeller would be playing his senior year during his brother’s freshman year. A final decision is expected in November. By the way, the oldest brother Luke Zeller played at Notre Dame.

The ACC’s two top awards are actually named for sports writers, with the Anthony J. McKevlin Award going to the top male athlete and the Mary Garber Award going to the top female.

And this year, Duke lacrosse player Ned Crotty deserved the McKevlin, in an honor that continues Duke’s fast-forward thrust past the negative issues of the past. The Blue Devils broke through and won the national championship this year behind classy coach John Danowski, and Crotty won the Tewaaraton Trophy as the nation’s top lacrosse player. Crotty had 23 goals and 63 assists in Duke’s 16-4 season.

Winning the Garber Award was North Carolina’s Whitney Engen, the soccer national player of the year who led the Tar Heels to the NCAA title. She won the Honda Award as the nation’s top player and paced a Carolina defense that led the Heels to a 23-3-1 record.

Every year, voting for the award is intense, but Crotty and Engen are deserving winners – two national players of the year who led their programs to national titles.

And as for McKevlin? He was a former News & Observer sports editor; Garber was one of the pioneers in sports writing as a reporter for the Winston-Salem Journal.

How would you like to be able to drive to the Super Bowl? NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell seemed to indicate Wednesday, during a visit to Redskins Park, that Washington’s FedEx Field could be a host of an upcoming Super Bowl.

But it could be a while. Goodell says the NFL will wait to see how the Super Bowl goes in New York City first but he expects the 2014 Super Bowl in New York (New Jersey actually) to be a success. Both stadiums are open air and are in cities that are cold that time of year.

Unlike most coaches (apparently) in the NFL, Goodell says he likes the idea of playing football in the elements. I do too. A great team should be able to play in all sorts of weather, not just a climate-controlled dome. Plus, it makes for a more interesting game.

“The fans here are terrific, and I have no doubt that it would be successful,” Goodell said. “We took a big step this year in awarding the Super Bowl to New York.”

Redskins owner Dan Synder, evidently a budding meteorologist, is pushing to host the Super Bowl and says that the weather will be fine in New York for the Super Bowl. “I think people will be surprised by the weather,” he said. “It’s not going to be a problem.”

It wouldn’t bother me if it snowed but I know they like to have a fun experience for the fans the days leading up to the Super Bowl. But frankly, FedEx Field, which is actually in Landover, Md., doesn’t have a lot around it. Baltimore would actually be better as far as people being to walk from their hotels and walk to eat, etc.

But much of the push is related to two things – the fact that Washington is our nation’s capital and that Washington was the other city most affected by 9/11.

Regardless of that, I’d rather see all football games in open-air stadiums. Talk about old school.

(As a reminder, the Triangle area of North Carolina, as proven by a DirecTV study, has the biggest contingent of Redskins fans outside the D.C. area. So, you’ll see me chat about the Redskins on occasion even though they aren’t physically located in the Triangle. By the way, the photo above is former Redskins’ coach and NC native Joe Gibbs hoisting the Super Bowl XVII trophy, one of three he earned with the Skins.)

Taylor Zarzour, on his Sports Drive radio show Tuesday, asked his listeners to give their favorite golf course in North Carolina. And one listener called in and said, “Sequoyah.”

Sequoyah? I’d never heard of it. But all you have to do is go to the website, sequoyahnational.com, and you’re like, “Ah, I get it.” Sequoyah is located near Cherokee, in the Smoky Mountains, and mountain golf courses are just great.

Sequoyah, 45 minutes west of Asheville, is a Robert Trent Jones II course that measure 6,600 yards and is a par 72. Summer rates aren’t exactly cheap – $85 per round Monday through Thursday and $110 Friday through Sunday.

My favorite is a mountain course, Linville Ridge. And while I’m not much of a golfer, one look at Sequoyah makes me want to go grab the clubs.

Zarzour’s list of favorites, by the way, is 1, Grandfather Golf and Country Club; 2, Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte; 3, Pine Needles Golf and Lodge in Southern Pines; 4, Pinehurst #4 at Pinehurst Resort; and 5, Raleigh Country Club.

This isn’t good. Receiver Hakeem Nicks is missing practice time with the New York Giants because of a hyper-extended right knee, The New York Times reports.

Nicks, the former North Carolina star, injured his knee in practice Tuesday, and the Giants are waiting for the results of an MRI. He was already recovering from a toe injury, The Times reported.

Nicks had 47 catches for 790 yards and 6 touchdowns last season as a Giants rookie.

During a previous chapter in my life, today would have been busier than anyone could imagine.

From 1997-2001, I worked for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss., as the New Orleans Saints/NFL beat writer. The Saints were my main responsibility. But Brett Favre was responsibility 1a since The Sun Herald was Brett’s hometown paper and had covered him since high school.

Back to today. The Saints are in training camp, coming off their first Super Bowl win. Favre is pondering retirement. Get the picture?

I offer no first-person insights to No. 4 today, but I can offer some perspective. The AP reported today that Favre had informed the Vikings that he wasn’t returning. Other news outlets, Fox, ESPN and others, have reported that Favre sent text messages to friends saying his body isn’t ready for him to play this season.

My former colleague and still friend, Al Jones, has known Favre for decades. Al still writes for The Sun Herald and posted this story to their website today that Favre’s family says no decision has been made one way or the other.

I lean toward that being true. We all know that Favre is a classic waffler and giving up football is the hardest thing he’s been through. (And that says a lot, considering the sudden death of his father, his wife’s battle with breast cancer and his own demons — Vicodin and alcohol.)

Back when Favre retired the first time from the Packers, I contributed to a book The Sun Herald put together on his career from youth football to the NFL. As part that, several reporters who dealt personally with him were asked to give their opinions of him.

I wrote that Favre was real, recalling a conversation I had with him on his property near Hattiesburg, Miss., one May day. He was sitting on a tractor, having just moved some trees that a tornado had felled earlier in the week. I challenge anyone to name another millionaire who would do such work himself on a sweltering, humid south Mississippi day.

I still believe he’s the genuine item, even today after all this retirement, unretirement business. Football is all Favre has known. Giving it up would mean he has to take a hard look at himself and redefine who he is so he can enjoy the rest of his life.

And, for the record, I still think he’ll throw a pass for the Minnesota Vikings this season.

Russell Wilson is turning from baseball to football as fall drills start at N.C. State, but the Wolfpack should consider using him at a position other than quarterback at least in some situations.

Wilson is a brilliant college quarterback, and led the ACC in touchdown throws last year with 31. But he’s just not likely to make the NFL as a quarterback at 5 feet 11.

It’s true, as Wilson pointed out to reporters Monday, that Drew Brees is a top NFL quarterback and stands only 6 feet. But Brees was a pocket passer at Purdue and overcame any questions about his height once he arrived in the NFL.

Wilson is an efficient passer and has a great arm, but he still does much of his damage when moving out of the pocket. He won’t do that in the NFL, with 235-pound linebackers just as quick as him flying into the pocket. Or if he does it, he won’t do it long. You can’t dodge NFL defenses for 16 games.

What’s surprising about Wilson, when you stand next to him, is how strong he is across the shoulders and arms. He has the strength and explosive ability to convert to cornerback, where his size would be a natural fit in the NFL. And he might be able to make the transition to receiver as well.

Years ago, UNC moved running back Torin Dorn to defense and he wound up playing in the NFL for seven seasons. More recently, former Carolina star Ronald Curry was switched to receiver by the Oakland Raiders, and he played seven seasons in black and silver and caught 193 balls.

UNC’s Darian Durant, meanwhile, stayed at quarterback – and stayed in the CFL. Durant, now 27, is the starting quarterback for Saskatchawan, and you can bet the NFL isn’t beating down his door.

And of course, Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards is switching to receiver with the Carolina Panthers this season.

The rise of Mike Glennon gives N.C. State some options at quarterback. If State wants to get both Glennon and Wilson on the field, it’s worth considering Wilson at another position, even if it is only in special situations. Wilson could be tried as a slot receiver or nickel back on defense.

It might sound far-fetched, but it’s not. Giving Wilson some experience at other positions may well be in his best interest.

ACC NEWS RELEASE – Led by the Atlantic Coast Conference’s all-time career rushing leader in NC State’s Ted Brown, Georgia Tech’s only three-time first-team All-America in Randy Rhino, and one of only five players in ACC history to have been named ACC Player of the Year twice in Clemson’s Steve Fuller, the ACC Tuesday announced its Class of 2010 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game Legends.

The Legends will be honored at this year’s Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game weekend. They will be honored at the ACC Night of Legends event on Friday, Dec. 3, will also be recognized during ceremonies at Bank of America Stadium for the 6th Annual Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship, which has a 7:45 p.m. kickoff on Dec. 4 and will be nationally televised by ESPN.

Joining the three mentioned above as 2010 ACC Legends this year are Boston College’s Tony Thurman, one of the leading pass interceptors in college football history; Maryland’s Darryl Hill, a standout wide receiver who was the first African-American football player in the Atlantic Coast Conference; and a trio of some of the best defensive linemen to ever play college football in Florida State defensive end Peter Boulware, the 1996 ACC Defensive Player of the Year; Miami defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy, an eight-time NFL Pro Bowl performer; and Virginia Tech defensive end Cornell Brown, who was named National Defensive Player of the Year in 1995 by The Football News.

Completing this year’s Legends Class is a quartet of running backs any coach would love to have on their team in Duke’s Jay Wilkinson, the 1963 ACC Player of the Year; North Carolina’s Ethan Horton, chosen by the Associated Press as the ACC’s 1984 Player of the Year; Virginia’s Barry Word, the 1985 ACC Player of the Year; and Wake Forest’s Larry Hopkins, who led the Deacons to the 1970 ACC Football Championship and then led the ACC in rushing in 1971.

You heard it here first – and it’s been verified by Durham-based Baseball America’s archives – Roberto Martinez, the winner of the Bachelorette “competition,” apparently is 29 years old and not 26 as promoted on the show and as listed in all the stories you see.

Martinez, the suave Latin lover, was picked by bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky, 25 (we think), on last night’s finale of ABC’s Bachelorette TV show. Martinez is moving from his adopted hometown of Charleston, SC to San Diego to live with Fedotowsky.

Roberto Martinez is not the younger Roberto Martinez who played for the San Francisco Giants a couple of years ago. While both Robertos are Dominicans, this Roberto Martinez was born May 2, 1981 in Bonao, Dominican Republic. Both were pitchers but this older Roberto Martinez is a right-hander and didn’t get closer to the majors than the Savannah (Ga.) Sand Gnats of the Class A South Atlantic League.

Martinez, who played in the Dominican Summer League for the Devil Rays organization in 2000 before being cut, was drafted twice – once by the Rockies in 2001 and then by the Twins in 2002 – but the later-round pick chose to continue playing for the University of Tampa (Fla.) He eventually wound up in the Expos organization but after pitching in 17 games for Savannah in 2003 and posting a very high ERA at 8.03, his baseball career ended.

He was working as an insurance agent in Charleston when he became a contestant on the show, which is supposed to lead to marriage between the Batchelorette and one of the 25 men vying for her heart.

“Ali” was giddy from the beginning as the studly Martinez exited the limo to meet her. He got the “first-impression rose” with his good looks – plus his foreign language and salsa dancing skills – and it was an uphill battle for the other 24 poor souls as Ali thought he was “hot.”

Not sure what the over-and-under is on how long they’ll be together but the track record isn’t all that good for those shows. Inevitably it seems, the contestants are drawn together by physical attraction and romance while leaving the more solid, dependable and deeper person on the sidelines.

Good luck to them but the guy who came in second, Chris Lambton, 33 (yes, I checked), a Red Sox fan from Massachusetts, seemingly would have been a better choice. One online poll before the finale showed that only 25 percent thought Ali should pick Roberto.

Well, if a guy will lie about his age, what else is he lying about?