December 29, 1997 On Monday "Blue-Chip" running back Jonathan Wells' father told me that Jonathan has been to a number of Ohio State practice sessions in New Orleans. Wells' father said Jonathan has told the Buckeye coaching staff he wants to go to Ohio State. Wells has official visits scheduled to Ohio State January 9th, Notre Dame January 16th, and Auburn January 23rd. However, Wells' father said that if things go as anticipated on Wells visit to OHio State, he believes his son will cancel the other visits. Wells' father told me "I guess you could say Jonathan has verbally told Ohio State he is going there. Defensive back DuJuan Groce has verbally committed to Nebraska. Groce made an official visit to Ohio State but due to his academic situation the Buckeyes weren't sure if they could fit him into this recruiting class. He still needs to pass his test. In any event he has committed to Nebraska. Also committing elsewhere was linebacker Pat Cyrgalis. Cyrgalis had been hoping to commit to Ohio State, but the Buckeyes were not sure if they could fit him into this recruiting class as well because of the limited number of scholarships available, so Cyrgalis went ahead and verbally committed to Clemson. On the other hand offensive lineman Brady Washburn from Arkansas continues to have Ohio State as his leader. Coach Conley visited with Brady and his family last week and the visit went very well. Conley is going to go back to Arkansas shortly after the weekend of January 9th and has told Brady that hopefully John Cooper will accompany him at that point. The significance of the timing is that Brady's only other scheduled official visit is with Clemson the weekend of January 9th, and right after that Conley and perhaps John Cooper will visit with Washburn. His decision is down to Ohio State and Clemson with Ohio State still the leader. Ohio State wants to take two offensive lineman in this recruiting class and they already have Scott Kuhnhein, and Washburn they hope will be the other. But the The Buckeyeys are looking at one other offensive line possibility. LeCharles Bentley (6-3, 240, 4.8), from Cleveland St. Ignatious, has made official visits to Illinois, Michigan State, Boston College and Indiana and was offered a scholarship by all four schools. He was very close to committing to either Michigan State or Indiana, however the Buckeyes became more actively involved and coach Jacobs and several other Buckeye assistant coaches visited with him as about a week or so ago and convinced Bentley to hold off on his decision until he visits Ohio State the weekend of January 9th. So Bentley will visit the Buckeyes before he makes a decision. If Ohio State is able to land Washburn to go along with Scott Kuhnhein there is still a chance that they might be able to fit a LeCharles Bentley into this recruiting class. Linebacker James Cotton from City College of San Francisco is still waiting to receive a national letter of intent from Ohio State. Cotton talked with Bill Conley on Saturday and Monday. Conley called him from New Orleans and indicated that the Buckeyes still would like to sign Cotton but at this point Cotton has yet to receive the national letter of intent. The Buckeyes are still checking out everything academically as far as transcripts and credits to make sure that he can transfer to Ohio State. Providing he can the Buckeyes will sign him. Tight end Jason Baggett from Texas continues to say that Ohio State and LSU are his co-leaders. I spoke on Sunday with Baggett. He has already had home visits from LSU 's head coach, and UCLA's head coach which are the two schools that pose the biggest threat to Ohio State. John Cooper is going to visit with him in January. Baggett has visited Ohio State, LSU, and Iowa, and will visit UCLA January 9th and Miami January 16th. Defensive lineman Mike Collins, who is at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, is still planning to enroll at Ohio State next fall, but Collins still needs to pass his test. He had a great season for Fork Union and providing he passes his test he too will sign with Ohio State. Running back Christian Morgan from Massilon was called on Sunday by Fred Pagac. Morgan said that he would like to go to Ohio State, but is going to visit Minnesota the weekend of January 9th. The big question mark with Christian Morgan is still academics. He is an outstanding talent but still has a ways to go before he qualifies. If he does not qualify he is interested in going to Ohio State as a Prop, although the Buckeyes are still interested in him possibility going to Fork Union Military Academy for a year. December 24, 1997 Cotton had told me on Saturday that he was expecting a national letter of intent from Ohio State on Monday or Tuesday. However, as of Wednesday morning he still it. He is still hoping to receive the letter of intent today (Wednesday) or Friday, and he still plans to sign it, but at this point it has not come. A big part of that is likely that Ohio State is still making sure that all his credits are in order, and that he can transfer and get into Ohio State. Providing all that checks out, he plans to go to Ohio State and enroll in January. DuJuan Groce told me on Monday that he, his high school coach, and his parents were going to talk things over and that he was planning to announce a decision on Tuesday. However, when I spoke to he and his dad on Tuesday, they said that the meeting did take place with DuJuan, his high school coach and his parents, and they worked on things for nearly two hours but did not come up with a decision. In fact, DuJuan's father told me they were not even able to narrow things down, and at this point, DuJuan and his father both say they have not eliminated any of the five schools, Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska and Syracuse. They hope to have a choice and an announcement as quick as possible. They really want to do something by the end of this week. Pat Cyrgalis is still waiting to hear back from Buckeye coach Shawn Simms as to whether Ohio State can fit him into this recruiting class. The Buckeyes originally offered him a scholarship but space is even more limited now, so it is not certain if Ohio State can fit Cyrgalis into this class. He was hoping to hear something on Tuesday, but at this point has not. If Ohio State can fit him into this class, he is now not certain if he will commit to the Buckeyes or not, but he says that is definitely a possibility. His other choice at this point would be Clemson. It's finally official. Running back Terrence Howard from New Jersey has committed to Notre Dame. He made an official visit this past weekend to Miami, and upon returning, shortly thereafter verbally committed to Notre Dame over Miami and Ohio State. Defensive end Julius Yeast from Kentucky was visited on Monday by Buckeye head coach John Cooper. The visit went very well and Yeast is now saying that of the two schools he has visited, Ohio State and Kentucky, Ohio State was the better visit. That is significant in that obviously, the University of Kentucky is his home state school. However, Yeast says he has no clear-cut leader and will still visit Florida State and Tennessee. Tight end Jason Baggett made his official visit to LSU this past weekend and did not commit. He continues to say the Ohio State and LSU, in no particular order, are his top two choices. When I spoke with Baggett, he did not seem overly impressed with his trip to LSU, though he did say it was a good visit. Baggett said it would be very hard to say which school, Ohio State or LSU, would be his leader. Baggett also said he would take all five official visits before he would announce his decision. He has thus far been to Ohio State, Iowa, and LSU, and has January visits still scheduled to UCLA and Miami. A tremendous athlete that has now scheduled an official visit to Ohio State is quarterback Jason Thomas from Compton Dominguez High School in California. Jason Thomas is 6-5, 220, and runs a 4.5 40. He has qualified academically. He is also one of the top basketball prospects in the state of California, averaging 24 points per game as a junior. Jason scored 28 points in the state title game his junior season. He is now thinking more about football first in college, but is considering playing both sports. He does strongly prefer to play quarterback in college, but he is a tremendous athlete, so he could be a great safety, outside linebacker, or tight end. Jason Thomas originally committed to USC, doing so before mid-season. Thomas broke a bone in his leg and during his fourth game this season. When he was injured, he felt he should lock up a scholarship and committed to USC. However, with the coaching change at USC, Thomas says he is no longer a commitment to the Trojans. In fact, he says that at this point, he is only mildly interested in USC now. Jason Thomas visited Colorado December 12th, and will visit Ohio State January 9th, Nebraska January 16th, and Florida State January 23rd. His leader right now, he says, is Nebraska, but he is impressed with coach Spencer who is recruiting him for the Buckeyes. His junior season Thomas was 74 of 148 passing for 1500 yards, rushed for 900 yards (averaging 9 yards per carry) and had 5 interceptions on defense. He averaged 27 yards per return on punts and kickoffs. Linebacker Bernard Jackson from Kentucky told me on Sunday evening that he has now decided that he will not make an official visit to Ohio State. December 19, 1997 Linebacker Josh Thornhill from Michigan committed to Michigan State. Thornhill had made official visits to Michigan State, Michigan and Ohio State, and narrowed things down to Michigan State and Michigan before committing to the Spartans. Thornhill's father played for the 1966 National Championship MSU team, so it wasn't surprising that Thornhill picked the Spartans. Linebacker James Cotton from City College of San Francisco still wants to go to Ohio State. The first day for junior college players to sign letters of intent was Wednesday, December 17th. As of Thursday, December 18th, James Cotton did not have a letter of intent from the Buckeyes. That is in large part due to Ohio State needing to make sure that all of Cotton's transcripts and academics are in order so that he can transfer to Ohio State. As of right now James Cotton has not signed a letter of intent with the Buckeyes but still plans to do so. Linebacker Bernard Jackson from Kentucky did not make his official visit to Ohio State which was scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday December 17th and 18th. Jackson did not make the visit because of a busy basketball schedule. Jackson told me when I spoke to him on Wednesday night that he was still planning on visiting Ohio State, but he did not know exactly when. He will visit Kentucky this weekend. Bernard Jackson said that Michigan would be his slight leader, but quickly added that it was because Michigan was the only school he has visited so far. Wide Receiver Broderick Nelson from Florida, who visited Ohio State this past weekend, is currently on an official visit to Florida State. It is a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday visit to Florida State. Ohio State's chances seem slim to land Nelson, as he has made official visits to Michigan State and Ohio State and says he liked the visit to Michigan State better. QB Steve Matkins from South Carolina told me that he has decided against visiting Ohio State, or any other school for that matter at this point. Matkins told me that he has decided to stay with his verbal commitment to South Carolina. LB Shamar Finney from North Carolina is currently practicing for the Shrine Bowl, which is a week long event of practicing and ends in a game pitting the top players in North Carolina against the top players in South Carolina. Finney has decided on two of his remaining three visits. He has already visited Penn State and Florida, and he says he will visit Notre Dame and Florida State. He is not sure at this time if he will visit Ohio State, but it is definitely a possibility. Tennessee is also back in the running for that 5th official visit. Defensive End Dennis Johnson has eliminated Ohio State. Johnson has already made a visit to Kentucky and will visit Miami, Colorado, Notre Dame and Florida, all in January. Michigan landed a verbal commitment form Blue Chip receiver David Terrell on Wednesday. Terrell and his uncle spoke to Lloyd Carr on Wednesday, and told Carr Terrell was switching his commitment from Notre Dame to Michigan. It is not out of the question that this could end up helping the Buckeyes in that wide receiver Greg Moore, who is also one of the best wide receivers in the country, currently has Michigan as his leader. Also, WR/RB David Givens from Texas has Michigan as his leader. WR Marquise Walker from New York is seriously considering Michigan. Moore told me that Terell's decision to go to Michigan does not affect his thoughts on Michigan. However, he daid if Givens or Walker would also choose Michigan, that would affect his thinking. December 12, 1997 Some players that had been scheduled to visit Ohio State this coming weekend but will not are running back Marc Riley from New York. He has committed to Maryland. Offensive lineman Jeremy Wallace from California will not visit Ohio State this weekend. His visit has been moved to the week of January 9th. Another offensive lineman from California that will not be visiting Ohio State this weekend is Brandon McFerren. The Buckeyes have backed off recruiting him. Defensive back Rashaud Walker from Georgia also will not visit Ohio State this weekend but might in the future. WR A.T. Simpson has commited to Purdue but is still interested in visiting Ohio State at a later date. Running back Tony Fisher, from Euclid, who was unable to visit Ohio State last weekend, won't be visiting Ohio State this weekend either, but he has rescheduled his visit to Ohio State for the weekend of January 9th. Fisher also has a visit scheduled with Notre Dame January 16th. There is a possibility that his visit to Ohio State could be moved up to a mid-week visit around December 17th, but for now, Fisher is scheduled to visit Ohio State January 9th. One player who is going to make a mid-week visit to Ohio State December 17th is linebacker Bernard Jackson from Kentucky. Jackson will visit Michigan this weekend December 12th, and Kentucky the weekend of December 19th, and in between will visit Ohio State on Wednesday December 17 and Thursday, December 18th. One player that seems ready to commit to Ohio State is linebacker/fullback Pat Cyrgalis from New Jersey. However with the Buckeyes having a fewer number of scholarships available than normal, they will have to determine for sure if they can fit him into this recruiting class. Cyrgalis is going to visit West Virginia this weekend, December 12th, but he has Ohio State as his big leader. Another prospect that has Ohio State as his big leader is linebacker James Cotton from City College of San Francisco. Cotton has basically decided that he wants to go to Ohio State, but Ohio State must determine that he has all the transferable credit hours to get into Ohio State. Provided Cotton does have the credits, I expect him to be a member of this recruiting class. QB Keith Matkins is interested in Ohio State. Matkins is a 6-5, 205 pound signal caller from Charlotte West High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. Matkins threw for 3500 yards as a junior, and close to 2000 yards this season. He completed close to 60% of his passes this year. Matkins originally committed to South Carolina, but with the resignation of their quarterback coach is now thinking about some other colleges as well. Matkins tells me that Buckeye quarterback coach Tim Salem has been talking to him off and on for the past couple of weeks, and Matkins says he is planning to make an official visit to Ohio State. He also is looking at Clemson, North Carolina and Florida, and is still considering South Carolina. At this point he has not set up any of his official visits. With the announcement of Tom Osborne's retirement at Nebraska, a lot of people are wondering if Nebraska's recruiting effort will be affected this year. I spoke to a number of players last night who have been scheduled to visit Nebraska, and very few of those players are thinking about canceling their visits. The fact that Nebraska has already named a new coach and he is someone on the current staff will probably soften the blow that Osborne's retirement might have had on the Nebraska recruiting effort. They have quickly put a coach in place and more than likely the staff will stay generally intact, and that should be a positive for Nebraska recruiting. December 9, 1997 The Buckeyes also had a number of other prospects in for official visits last weekend that they have offered scholarships to. One is offensive lineman Brady Washburn (6-5, 275, 5.1) from Fayettville, Arkansas. Washburn has qualified academically and starts at both offensive tackle and defensive end, but will be an offensive lineman in college. Washburn has Ohio State as his big leader right now, but is planning to visit Clemson this weekend, December 12th, and then make his decision. Unless something happens to change his mind I expect Washburn to commit to Ohio State right after he visits Clemson. The Buckeyes also hosted Sheven Marshall from Florida last weekend. Marshall had a very good visit, but did not commit. However, he now says he might not take all five official visits. He is going to visit West Virginia this coming weekend, December 12th, and he has now moved Florida State up to the weekend of January 9th. Marshall says he might make a decision after those two visits rather than taking his other two to Auburn and Florida. Another player who visited Ohio State this past weekend was tight end Jason Baggett. Baggett had a great visit but continues to say that Ohio State and LSU are his top two choices. Both have offered him a scholarship. Pat Cyrgalis from New Jersey visited Ohio State. Things went well for him, but he did not commit and he will continue to take visits. Other players who visited Ohio State include WR Antonio Cooks (6-1, 186, 4.5) from San Francisco Washington High School. He says Ohio State is his top choice at this point, but he also has Washington scheduled for January 9th and Washington State for January 16th. Cooks took the SAT on Saturday Morning, then flew to Ohio State for a Saturday evening-Sunday visit. Also visiting Ohio State this past weekend was Ja'Mar Toombs (6-1, 235, 4.55). He is a running back/fullback from Kilgore Texas. Toombs says Ohio State is his top choice, however he is not yet qualified academically. The only other visit he has scheduled right now is to Texas Tech, January 16th. Toombs is also looking at Nebraska, Washington, Tennessee, and Florida State. Another player visiting Ohio State was DB Ziyier Walker (6-1, 195, 4.5) from Patterson Catholic High School in New Jersey. He is a very good strong safety prospect but the question mark is academics, as he must raise his test score to qualify. Also visiting Ohio State last weekend was LB Josh Thornhill from Michigan. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes Josh says that while he had a good visit to Ohio State, he felt more comfortable on his other visit, which was to Michigan State. Thornhill says that he has not completely ruled out Ohio State but he will visit Michigan this coming weekend and has Michigan and Michigan State as his top two choices. Two players that visited Ohio State this weekend that had previously committed were defensive end Kenny Peterson from Canton McKinley who moved his visit back up. He originally was going to visit this past weekend, then changed his visit to December 12, and then he moved it back up and visited Ohio State this past weekend. He remains committed to Ohio State, as does Willie "Cie" Grant, who also made his official visit to Ohio State this past weekend. DE Antonio Garay from New Jersey said he had a good visit to Ohio State this past weekend. Garay had previously committed to Boston College and says he remains commited to Boston College. In fact, Garay now says his decision is final. He will sign with BC. RB Tony Fisher from Euclid was scheduled to visit Ohio State last weekend, but did not make his visit. Tony's mother was ill over the weekend and there were also weather problems in Cleveland, so Tony decided to reschedule his visit for a later date. All total the Buckeyes had 13 players in for official visits this past weekend, landing two verbal commitments, Kuhnhein and Pickett. As far as prospects the Buckeyes are recruiting who visited elsewhere this past weekend, Ohio State did not lose anyone to another school, but some prospects did have outstanding visits elsewhere such as Mike Pearrson. The outstanding offensive line prospect from Florida had a great visit to Michigan and now says Florida and Michigan are tied for his top spot, but Pearson is still planning on visiting Ohio State this coming weekend, December 12th. Also RB Arlen Harris from Pennsylvania and DB Cato June visited Michigan as well. June in particular had a great visit. He has Michigan as his top choice. Both June and Harris are still planning to visit Ohio State this coming weekend. Terrance Howard, a running back from New Jersey, had a great visit with Notre Dame this past weekend and continues to say Notre Dame is his top choice, though he is still planning on visiting Ohio State this coming weekend. Tom Gholstin, the defensive lineman from Cincinnati, had a very good visit with Penn State this past weekend, and now says Penn State is his top choice, but Gholstin still plans on visiting Ohio State this coming weekend. December 5, 1997 Some players that will not be visiting Ohio State this weekend are WR Greg Moore from Florida who will take the SAT Saturday and will now visit Ohio State the weekend of January 9th . WR Broderick Nelson from Florida is still playing in the playoffs so he will reschedule his visit to Ohio State. WR/DB Antonio Cooks from California will take the SAT Saturday but does plan to visit Ohio State at a later date. DB Robert Cromartie from Georgia will visit Ohio State next weekend, the weekend of December 12th, as will DE Kenny Peterson from Ohio and FB Jamar Martin from Ohio. Osa Nosa, the DL from Florida, will not be visiting Ohio State. The Buckeyes have backed off recruiting him. Some of the players coming into Ohio State this weekend currently have Ohio State as their top choice or one of their top choices. Those players would include Tony Fisher, who has it down to three schools, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Michigan State, but I feel the Buckeyes are the team to beat. TE Jason Baggett from Texas has Ohio State and LSU as his top choices. OL Scott Kuhnhein from Kentucky tells me Ohio State is his leader over Notre Dame and Kentucky. DL Ryan Pickett from Florida has Ohio State as his leader, and LB Sheven Marshall from Florida also has Ohio State as his slight leader over Auburn. Finally LB/FB Pat Cyrgalis from New Jersey tells me Ohio State is probably his leader. In fact, his previous second choice, Virginia Tech, may now be out of the running because Cyrgalis feels Virginia Tech may not have academically what he needs. In addition to the players that are visiting Ohio State this weekend, the Buckeyes will need to be aware of players they are recruiting who are visiting elsewhere this weekend. Some of the more notable ones are Steve Bellisari who will visit Notre Dame this weekend. DL Tom Gholstin from Cincinnati will visit Penn State this weekend rather than Notre Dame. He will now not visit Notre Dame at all. I believe Gholstin's decision will ultimately come down to Ohio State or Penn State, so this will be a key visit for him. Gholstin will visit Ohio State next weekend, December 12th. DB Cato June, who is scheduled to visit Ohio State December 12th, is visiting Michigan this weekend, and that is also a key visit. June has Michigan and Florida State as his slight leaders over Ohio State right now, so the Buckeyes are certainly hoping that he doesn't commit to Michigan this weekend. A few other players to keep in mind who are visiting elsewhere this weekend are RB Terrence Howard from New Jersey. He is visiting Notre Dame and has the Irish as his leader with Ohio State number two. Arlen Harris, the running back from Pennsylvania, is visiting Michigan this weekend. Right now Harris says Ohio State is his top choice and is scheduled to visit the Buckeyes next weekend, the weekend of December 12th. December 2, 199 Here is the list of recruits who have told me they will be visiting the Buckeyes this weekend. TE Jason Baggett from Texas; LB Josh Thornhill, one of the nation’s premier linebackers, from Michigan; FB/LB Pat Cyrgalis from New Jersey; RB Tony Fisher from Cleveland; LB Sheven Marshall from Florida; OL Scott Kuhnhein from Kentucky; WR/DB Antonio Cooks from California; DB Willie Grant from Ohio; DE Antonio Garay from New Jersey, and DL Ryan Pickett from Florida. Two other prospects who might visit Ohio State this weekend are WR Greg Moore from Florida and DB Robert Cromartie form Georgia. Of those players, Jason Baggett, Josh Thornhill, Ryan Pickett, Pat Cyrgalis, Tony Fisher, Sheven Marshall, Scott Kuhnhein, Greg Moore, and Robert Cromartie have all been offered scholarships by Ohio State. WR Broderick Nelson from Florida will visit Ohio State at a later date. His team is currently still in the playoffs. DL Osa Nosa from Florida will not visit Ohio State this weekend. The Buckeyes have backed off recruiting him and cancelled his visit. DE Kenny Peterson and FB Jamar Martin from Canton McKinley will visit Ohio State the weekend of December 12 rather than this coming weekend. Antonio Garay (6-4, 260, 4.9) from Rahway N.J. is not as well known as some of the other players on the list for this weekend, but he is a fine defensive end prospect. He is qualified academically and made 113 tackles including 11 sacks this season. Garay has already made official visits to Ole Miss, Boston College, and Michigan State this past weekend. All three schools offered him a scholarship. Garay told me last Sunday night he wants to visit Ohio State this weekend before he makes a final decision. The Buckeyes have not yet offered him a scholarship. Antonio Cooks (6-1, 185, 4.5) is a WR/DB from San Francisco. Some think Cooks is the top DB in Northern California. He slightly would prefer to play wide receiver. He has not yet been offered a scholarship by Ohio State. Updating Tony Fisher, he made his official visit to Michigan State this past weekend. He told me he had a good visit, but not unexpectedly, did not commit to the Spartans. He is still planning to visit Ohio State this weekend, and will visit Notre Dame as well, but does not have a date for that visit as yet. TE John Day (6-5, 235) from Maryland has scheduled two of his official visits. He will visit Notre Dame this coming weekend December 5th, and Penn State the following weekend, December 12th. Day told me on Sunday night the other schools that he will probably visit are Ohio State, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech. Some very encouraging news for Ohio State is that running back Arlen Harris from Pennsylvania (younger brother of Penn State fullback Aron Harris) tells me that Ohio State is probably his leader. Arlen told me on Saturday that he has Ohio State and Virginia as his top two choices, with Ohio State probably in the lead. He is also going to visit Michigan, and all three schools have offered him a scholarship. Harris says that Penn State is still in the back of his mind, but he is not quite as interested in the Nittany Lions as he was a couple of weeks ago. Arlen will make his official visit this weekend to Michigan and will visit Ohio State the weekend of December 12th. Jason Bagget, the tight end from Texas, currently has Ohio State as his leader as well. November Posts by Bill Kurelic |