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RALEIGH (AP) - With his program continuing its steady rise, East Carolina coach Skip Holtz no longer must desperately recruit to fill immediate needs. Instead, the Pirates are bringing in balanced classes with plenty of in-state talent.

The Pirates unveiled a 20-player recruiting class in Greenville on Wednesday that includes two junior college transfers and an invited walk-on. Fourteen of the players are from North Carolina, giving Holtz the foothold he wants in high schools across the state.

"Being a state school, I think we have an obligation to start here," Holtz said in a telephone interview. "I'd like to do it with all North Carolina players. We're going to make our evaluations in the state and our offers in-state, then whatever needs we don't fill, we're going to go out of state for."

Holtz hopes to redshirt most of the players to let them develop physically and mentally for play in Conference USA and the Pirates' rugged nonconference schedule. It's a better scenario than what he faced when he first arrived, when he had to merely hold on to recruits who had committed to his predecessor and rebuild recruiting ties in the state.

Things have steadily improved in recruiting as they have on the field, with the Pirates coming off their first conference championship season in three decades.

In 2006, Holtz's 23-player class featured only nine in-state recruits. The next year, 21 of his 26 signees were in-state players, followed by 11 of 19 in 2008.

Last year, the emphasis was on building depth on the offensive and defensive lines. This year, there wasn't much of a focus on specific positions; four were linebackers, three were receivers and three were tight ends. Holtz figures players at those positions have the best chance to get on the field in the 2009 season.

"That's the sign of a stable community at East Carolina," said Miller Safrit, a regional recruiting analyst for Scout.com. "They're not having to take 25 or 30 players. These are guys that are able to come in and redshirt. By the time they need to play, they'll be big enough and fast enough to play in Conference USA."

Scout.com rated three of the signees - Atlanta quarterback Rio Johnson, linebacker Lamar McLendon of Fayetteville and running back DaMonte Terry of Laurinburg - as three-star prospects. In addition, defensive tackle Michael Brooks made The Associated Press All-State prep football team for North Carolina in December. So did punter Matt Millisor, who is an invited walk-on.

Holtz said 13 of the 14 in-state recruits attended the Pirates' summer camp last year, allowing the coaching staff to evaluate them directly.

"This group committed early," Holtz said. "They came to camp, we offered, they committed early and they stuck with us."