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Bill Kurelic's March 2001 Posts March
29, 2001 The other prospect at Brookhaven that likes OSU is Shawn Zeigler. Zeigler is a 6-1, 200 pound linebacker who runs a 4.65 40. He plays middle linebacker for Brookhaven and has started in the middle since his sophomore season. As a junior, he made 174 tackles including three sacks. He has a 2.5 GPA and says that he likes Ohio State, Notre Dame, Illinois and Indiana. He plans to attend OSU's football camp this summer and will also probably stop in to see a spring practice session or two of the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes would love to land outstanding LB prospect Mike D'Andrea and the Buckeyes are certainly in the running, but Nebraska seems to have an edge right now. I wouldn't be surprised if the decison would ultimately come down to either Nebraska or Ohio State for D'Andrea. However, he also is looking at Michigan as well as Notre Dame and Michigan State. Blue-Chip QB prospect Justin Zwick says that Ohio State and Michigan are probably his top two choices right now, but he also has Pitt in the mix and some other schools are in the running as well such as Kentucky and others. Zwick has been a varsity starter since his freshman season when he was at Orrville High School. WR Jimmy Riley from Youngstown Ursaline High School is a 6-3, 190 pounder with 4.5 40 speed who had an outstanding junior season and is drawing attention from colleges all over including Ohio State. Riley caught 58 passes as a junior for over 1400 yards and averaged 25 yards per catch. Riley scored 18 times. This fine athlete is also a starter on his school's basketball team and high jumps as well as runs the 400 and 4 x 400 on the track team. Riley tells me that he is interested in Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan, Maryland, Illinois, Oklahoma, Missouri, Pitt, Kent, West Virginia and North Carolina among others. Riley says that he will probably go to Ohio State's football camp this summer, as well as camps at West Virginia and North Carolina. DB/LB prospect Rick Brown from Cincinnati Elder High School will likely camp at Ohio State this summer. Brown is a 6-2, 228 pounder with 4.6 40 speed. He plays a combination strong safety/OLB for Elder High School, and could play either position in college. He is drawing comparisons to former Elder standout Rocky Boiman who went to Notre Dame. Brown has a 4.0 GPA and made over 90 tackles as a junior. He is drawing interest from many schools in the Big Ten and has a scholarship offer on the table from one school outside the Big Ten, Duke. He is looking at Duke, as well as Michigan, Ohio State and others. He has already made unofficial visits to Duke, Vanderbilt and Bowling Green and will probably camp this summer at Ohio State, Michigan, or both. Linebacker A.J. Hawk from Centerville is a 6-2, 230 pounder who is certainly interested in Ohio State. Hawk, who runs a 4.6 40, is the younger brother of quarterback at Miami of Ohio Ryan Hawk. A.J. says he is looking at the Big Ten in general. Hawk, who has been a varsity starter since his freshman season, has a 3.0 GPA. He says he would be very interested in playing in the Big Ten, though he also is drawing interest from many other schools around the country. Hawk says some of the schools he is interested in include Ohio State as well as Miami of Ohio and a number of other Big Ten schools. Right now, OSU has not offered him a scholarship as it is an outstanding year for linebacker talent in the Buckeye state. Offensive lineman Guy Goodlow from Detroit Renaissance High School in Michigan is drawing interest from the Buckeyes, and Goodlow has Ohio State as one of the schools he is interested in. He is a 6-3, 250 pound offensive lineman who played some on the varsity as a freshman before starting as a guard as a sophomore and last season as a junior. Goodlow has a fine 3.6 GPA, and among the schools that are showing interest in Goodlow are Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan, and he is interested in all three of those schools as well as a few others. In Indiana, DE/OLB Quinten Wilburn from Indianapolis Ben Davis High School is interested in Ohio State. Wilburn is a 6-4, 205 pound DE who may end up as an OLB in college. He also plays basketball and runs track, and has a 2.5 GPA. This season as a junior, he made 75 tackles including three sacks. He told me that among the schools that he is interested in are Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois, and Boston College. The opening of spring practice for Ohio State is now just around the corner, and of course it will be the first spring practice under Jim Tressel. One thing that will not change is that the Buckeyes will host outstanding junior prospects on unofficial visits at their spring practice sessions. In past years, Ohio State has been successful in landing commitments from juniors at spring practice sessions and the Buckeye staff is hopeful that the same thing happens this season. The Buckeyes would love to get a commitment from tight end George Cooper Jr. (6-5, 250) from Westerville North High School, and with him being in the Columbus area, it would not be difficult for him to get down to a spring practice session or two for Ohio State. Cooper caught 17 passes this past season for 300 yards. He has a 3.3 GPA. Ohio State is one of Cooper's top choices, along with Miami of Florida and Purdue. He is also interested in schools such as Michigan, Tennessee and Penn State. Another fine junior the Buckeyes would like to have in to a spring practice session is linebacker Bobby Carpenter from Lancaster. Carpenter, like Cooper, has already been offered a scholarship by the Buckeyes. Defensive lineman Eric Fritz from Dublin Coffman is another top junior prospect from central Ohio that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to that could make it to a spring practice session or two. Also, the Buckeyes are also very interested in defensive lineman Tim Schaffer from Upper Arlington High School. Schaffer played the DE spot opposite Simon Fraser on his high school team, and Schaffer has outstanding potential. Schaffer runs a 4.9 40 and has a 3.7 GPA. Schaffer says he is interested in OSU as well as Boston College, Michigan and perhaps Penn State. He is hearing from all of those schools plus many others. Another player in central Ohio the Buckeyes are interested in is OL Andy Wills from Columbus De Sales High School. He will be one of the top offensive linemen in central Ohio this season. Rick McDole from Marysville is a huge offensive lineman that the Buckeyes are interested in. The Buckeyes are also definitely interested in QB Jimmy Skinner from Chillicothe High School. Anthony Hollins is a tight end prospect in Ohio that the Buckeyes definitely have an interest in. Hollins is from Cleveland John Hay High School and made an unofficial visit to one of Ohio State's home games last season. He is a 6-3, 235 pound tight end who runs he runs very well with 4.6 40 speed. He has been the starting tight end at John Hay since his sophomore season. Hollins caught close to 20 passes as a junior, averaged 15 yards per catch and scored seven times. He has a 2.5 GPA but will need to get stronger. He currently bench presses 270 pounds. He is looking at Ohio State, Michigan, Akron, Toledo, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Maryland and Rutgers among others. He is planning to attend OSU's football camp this summer. He also says he will probably attend Maryland's camp, and maybe Youngstown State's. The Buckeyes have not yet offered him a scholarship. One of the recruiting priorities for the Buckeyes this next season will be on the offensive line. Unfortunately, it is not a great year for offensive line talent in the state of Ohio. Doug Datish is the top offensive line prospect in the Buckeye state, and he is an outstanding one and the Buckeyes have offered him a scholarship. There are about a dozen other offensive linemen in the state of Ohio that are going to draw interest from Ohio State an other Big Ten schools and it will depend on their senior seasons as to how heavily they are recruited. In Pennsylvania, it will not be a particularly strong year for offensive line talent in that state either, though there are a couple of standout offensive linemen that the Buckeyes will certainly be interested in. In Michigan, however, it is a little bit better, with a fairly good amount of depth on the offensive line in Michigan. In Illinois, it is not a particularly good year for offensive line talent, so when you look at the Midwest in general, it is not going to be a banner year for offensive line talent. The Buckeyes will pursue what linemen there are in the Midwest, but the Buckeyes will also recruit hard in Florida this year, and there will be some outstanding offensive linemen in the Sunshine State this coming season. One of them is Chris Hutchins from Tampa. Hutchins is a 6-6, 325 pound offensive lineman at Tampa King High School. Another OL in Florida that the Buckeyes will pursue is Anthony Wollschlager. He is a 6-6, 300 pounder at Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas High School. Another is Maxau Jean-Gilles from North Miami Beach High School. Bill Conley, recruits the Miami area for Ohio State and you be sure the Conley will be taking a look at the 6-3, 300 pound Giles. The Buckeyes signed wide receiver Angelo Chattams in this past season's recruiting class. Chattams is from Dayton Chaminade High School. His younger brother, Andri Chattams, is going to be drawing interest from recruiters this coming season, including recruiters from Ohio State. He is a 6-0, 180 pound WR who runs a 4.4 40 and will be one of the better WR prospects in the state of Ohio this coming season. Chattams caught 25 passes as a junior for over 500 yards and scored nine times. Chaminade use quite a bit of four wide receiver sets and Andri and Angelo were of course two of those four wide outs. Chattams has a 2.5 GPA and told me that he schools he is most interested in are Ohio State, Indiana and Purdue. He said he plans to go to OSU's football camp this summer. LB Brian White from Mansfield Senior High School is a 6-2, 240 pounder who likes Ohio State. He runs a 4.8 40 and started at outside linebacker as a sophomore and played middle linebacker this past season making 120 tackles including 10 sacks. White has a 3.88 GPA and told me that he is interested in Ohio State, Penn State, Akron and Notre Dame. He has been to junior days at Ohio State and Penn State. He said that his coaches indicated that Akron might offer him scholarship in April. White said he plans to go to Ohio State's camp this summer as well as camps at Penn State and Notre Dame and that those are probably his three favorite schools. Two-way lineman Derrick Markray from Detroit Cody High School is getting mail from virtually all of the schools in the Big Ten. He is a 6-4, 295 pounder who starts at tackle on both sides of the ball. Markray has a 2.8 GPA and could play on either side of the line in college. Of course the Buckeyes are searching the nation high and low for offensive linemen and Markray says he is open minded to all of the Big Ten schools including from the Buckeyes. March
17, 2001 Another defensive back in Ohio that OSU is interested in is Donnie Johnson from Cincinnati North College Hill High School. He is a 6-0, 195 pounder with 4.45 40 speed. Johnson has been a varsity starter at both defensive back and on offense since his freshman season. As a freshman, he started at wingback as well as in the defensive backfield. As a sophomore, he started at cornerback and tailback, the same positions he played as a junior. Johnson's biggest season was his sophomore season when he rushed for 1800 yards and picked off six passes. As a junior, he missed half the season with an ankle injury but still had an interception and rushed for 900 yards. Johnson has 10 career interceptions. Films have been sent out to virtually every school in the Big Ten and some in particular that are showing quite a bit of interest in him are Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan, as well as Pitt, South Carolina, Notre Dame, Cincinnati and Kentucky. The Buckeyes are interested in defensive end Anthony Montgomery from Cleveland John Kennedy High School. He is a 6-6, 270 pounder who started at quarterback this past season and played some defensive end, but will likely be a defensive end in college. Montgomery has a 2.7 GPA. Among the schools that he says he is interested in are Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wake Forrest, Missouri and Georgia Tech. He is going to Penn State's football camp this summer and says the Lions might well be his favorite. OL Matt Hollingshead from Wellston, Ohio is a 6-5, 335 pounder who is interested in Ohio State. He has been a varsity starter at offensive guard since his sophomore season. He bench presses 400 pounds and squats close to 600. He has a 3.6 GPA. He has already visited Notre Dame and he is also looking at Ohio State, Marshall and Ohio University. Linebacker Jim Davenport from Lima Senior High School is a 6-4, 225 pounder who will be one of the top linebacker prospects in the Buckeye state this coming season, and Ohio State is certainly very interested in landing him. Davenport runs a 4.7 40 and has been a varsity starter since his freshman season when he played inside linebacker. The past two seasons, he has played outside linebacker. As a junior, he averaged eight tackles per game and came up with three sacks. Davenport has a 2.4 GPA and says he is interested in Penn State, Miami of Florida, Ohio State, Pitt and Michigan among others. He said he always really wanted to go to Miami, however, he said that even though he never really wanted to go to Ohio State, since he has seen more of the program now, he really is impressed with what he has seen. In fact, Davenport said that he has gone more toward Ohio State and Michigan of late. He said that Miami, Ohio State and Michigan are probably his three favorites and Davenport said that the Buckeyes and Michigan have offered him a scholarship. OL Nick Mangold from Kettering Alter High School is a 6-4, 270 pound center who runs a 5.15 40. Mangold has started at center and defensive tackle on the varsity since his sophomore season. He has a 3.25 GPA, bench presses 300+ pounds and was his league's offensive lineman of the year as a junior. Mangold has already been to basketball games at Illinois and Notre Dame and he is talking about possibly visiting unofficially Ohio State and some others. Among the others are Penn State, Boston College, Auburn, Stanford, Clemson and Wisconsin. He really was impressed with what he saw at Notre Dame and he may go to camp this summer at Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State. DE/OLB prospect Larry Tumblin from Oberlin High School in Ohio is a 6-4, 270 pounder who runs a 4.75 40. He made 128 tackles last season including eight sacks. He has a 2.3 GPA. As a sophomore, he played inside linebacker and as a junior played outside linebacker. He could be a defensive end or outside linebacker in college. He is drawing interest from Ohio State, Illinois, Purdue, Central Michigan, Toledo, Penn State, Michigan and others. WR Josh Williams from Cincinnati St. Xavier High School is a 6-1, 200 pounder who runs a 4.5 40. Williams had a huge junior season, catching 48 passes in 10 regular-season games. He averaged 17.3 yards per grab and scored 12 times. Among the schools that are showing interest are Ohio State, Michigan State, Illinois, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. The Buckeyes already have commitments from two running back prospects, Maurice Clarret and Drushaun Humphrey. However, it is such a great year for running back talent in Ohio that the Buckeyes certainly are still looking at other running back prospects in the Buckeye state as well. One of them is DeShawn Wynn from Cincinnati Reading High School. Wynn is a 6-0, 215 running back with 4.35 40 speed. He helped lead Reading into the playoffs last season. Wynn rushed for 2,116 and 30 touchdowns, averaging close to nine yards per carry. He rushed for those yards in ten games as he sat out the first four games of the season because his school was being careful about his transfer from Lockland High School where he played as a sophomore. His school simply wanted to make sure that everything was in order before they played him in a game so there would be no chance that Reading would have to forfeit any games. When he did start playing this past season, he was spectacular. As a freshman he scored 36 times, but missed most of his sophomore season with an achilles tendon problem. He has a 2.3 GPA and already has scholarship offers on the table from Pitt, Miami of Ohio and Cincinnati, and the Buckeyes are showing plenty of interest as is Tennessee. He is also drawing interest from many other schools across the country including UCLA, USC, Texas A&M, Florida and South Carolina. In Cleveland, RB Regis Edgerson is a fine one from Garfield Heights High School. He is a 6-1, 220 pound running back with 4.4 40 speed. Edgarson rushed for 1400 yards this past season despite battling shin splints. He has a 3.0 GPA and has an NFL type body. He is drawing interest from just about every school in the country including Ohio State, Michigan, Florida and Wisconsin, and I wouldn't be surprised if Regis Edgarson gets some early scholarship offers this Spring. RB Brad Young from Wellston, Ohio is another talented runner from the Buckeye state. As a sophomore, he rushed for over 1,000 yards, and this past season rushed for over 1,900 yards and scored 34 times. He also plays linebacker and some defensive back and is both strong and fast. He is going into his fourth year as a varsity starter. Young has a 3.0 GPA and is drawing attention from Ohio State, Indiana, Notre Dame, Duke, Wake Forrest, Marshall, Ohio University and many others. There is absolutely no question the Buckeyes hope to land super QB prospect Justin Zwick from Massillon Washington High School, and certainly the Buckeyes have a very realistic shot at landing him. He has told me that two of his top choices are definitely Ohio State and Michigan, and he is also pretty interested in Pitt as well. However, Zwick is not the only quarterback the Buckeyes are showing interest in. In fact, it is a very good year for quarterback prospects in Ohio. One fine prospect the Buckeyes are looking at is Jimmy Skinner from Chillicothe. He is a 6-5, 190 pound quarterback with 4.67 40 speed. He has a 3.4 GPA. As a junior, he missed the last three games with a broken finger on his right hand, but still had a fine season, throwing for approximately 1,400 yards and 18 touchdowns. Skinner moved into the starting lineup part way through his sophomore season and in his sophomore and junior seasons combined has thrown for 2,600 yards and 30 touchdowns, completing 61% of his passes. Skinner is drawing interest from among others, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan, Indiana and West Virginia. He has allured visited Michigan and Indiana and will visit Ohio State and West Virginia. OSU will also be looking at quarterback prospects outside the state of Ohio this year, and one of those is James Banks from Indianapolis Ben Davis High School. Banks is a 6-3, 190 pound QB with 4.6 40 speed. He passed for 1,741 yards as a junior and also rushed for 765 yards. Banks is a 3-5-7 step drop back quarterback, but he also runs some option and improvises and creates well. He will be one of the top prospects in the state of Indiana this coming season. Banks is already drawing interest from school all over the country. The Buckeyes are interested in a couple of players that were teammates of OSU signee Dustin Fox. T. J. Downing is a 6-5, 280 pounder who has started at offensive tackle since his sophomore season. Downing has a 3.0 GPA and was at Ohio State when OSU held a junior recruiting day the weekend of the Wisconsin basketball game, and Downing is definitely interested in Ohio State and Michigan. Another of Fox' former teammates is WR Joey Card. Card is a 6-1, 180 pound WR who runs a 4.5 40. He also played in the defensive backfield with Dustin Fox this past season. Card caught 34 passes for over 500 yards and scored four touchdowns. He has a 3.8 GPA and is interested in OSU. In central Ohio, Al Washington is a nose guard from Columbus Watterson that is interested in Ohio State. He is a 6-1, 260 pounder who runs a 4.95 40. Washington had an outstanding sophomore season. He also was having fine junior season, too, though he did miss five games with an injury. Washington is the son of former Ohio State Buckeyes Alvin Washington. Al Washington is drawing interest from Ohio State, Wisconsin, Boston College, Northwestern and many MAC schools. RB Sean Miller from Solon, Ohio will be one of the top runners in the Buckeyes state this coming season. Miller is a 5-11, 205 pounder with 4.45 40 speed. He is the son of former Cleveland Browns fullback Cleo Miller. Sean helped lead Solon to the big school state championship game where they lost to Upper Arlington High School. He has a 3.2 GPA and rushed for close to 1,100 yards this season, scored 21 times, and averaged seven yards per carry. Miller told me that he is looking at Ohio State, possibly Michigan, possibly Wisconsin. He said he is trying to stay open minded on his choice of colleges. Another Ohioan that is interested in OSU is Rick McDole, a huge offensive lineman from Marysville, Ohio. He is a 6-6, 325 pound offensive tackle who runs a 5.5 40. McDole has a 3.3 GPA and will be one of the top OL prospects in central Ohio this coming season. He bench presses over 300 pounds and has pretty good feet. He will, however, have to keep his weight down and lower his 40 time, but if he is able to do that he is a chance to be a Big Ten recruit. He is hearing from plenty of big-time programs, including Ohio State, Penn State, West Virginia, Pitt, Boston College, Northwestern and South Carolina. He is very definitely interested in Ohio State. March
11, 2001 The Buckeyes will be searching the country for offensive linemen for the next recruiting class, and expect Ohio State to show plenty of interest in Joseph Karaska (6-5, 315, 5.05)) from Southfield Lathrup High School in Michigan. He will be one of the top offensive line prospects in the state of Michigan and is hearing from just about everyone, including all of the Big Ten schools He has already been offered a scholarship by Michigan State and I expect him to get other offers in the not-too distant future. Karaska bench presses 400 pounds and has very good feet. He has a 2.7 GPA and I think he will take a look at Ohio State. Also, Karaska's teammate, DE Rondell Biggs (6-5, 265, 4.6, 400 BP) had seven sacks as a junior, caused six fumbles and knocked down four passes. He has a scholarship offer from Michigan State as well, and he too is hearing from all of the Big Ten schools. It is a great year overall for talent in the state of Ohio this year, but it is not a particularly great year for offensive linemen. However, there certainly are a number of offensive linemen the Buckeyes are taking a look at. They have offered a scholarship to one thus far, Doug Datish (6-5, 285, 5.0) from Warren, Ohio. Doug is the son of Mike Datish who of course played at OSU from 1973 through 1976. Datish has offers from OSU, Michigan and Colorado and also is interested in Nebraska and Miami. He has made an unofficial visit to OSU. A couple of other huge offensive linemen that the Buckeyes are taking a look at are Tyler Spears (6-6, 345) from Washington Court House, Ohio and Tyler Toombs from Waverly, Ohio. Spears is an offensive tackle who has a 3.0 GPA and is a fine run blocker. Spears has some development to do, but he is a fine one that the Buckeyes are looking at. In fact, Spears' high school coach has sent tape to Ohio State, Pitt and Notre Dame. He is looking at those three schools, and is also interested in some other Big Ten schools and some MAC schools as well. Toombs is a 6-5, 345 pound OT who played quite a bit on the varsity as a sophomore before moving into the lineup on a full time basis as a junior. He has a 2.6 GPA and is a very good pass blocker. He has been to Indiana for an unofficial visit for football where he took in a basketball game, and he is also going to visit West Virginia. He is definitely interested in Ohio State, and his coach at Waverly High School has sent out tapes to Ohio State, Indiana and West Virginia. The Buckeyes will hope to sign about five offensive linemen in this recruiting class, and since offensive linemen are not as plentiful as they would like in Ohio this year, they will probably have to look out of state for offensive linemen. The bad news is that it is also not going to be a great year for offensive linemen in Pennsylvania this year either, though there are a couple of outstanding offensive linemen in the Keystone state. In Michigan, there is plenty of depth in offensive linemen, with at least four, five or six who could be Big Ten caliber recruits, but there are no Blue-Chip great prospects up there at this point. One prospect in Michigan that is drawing attention in Michigan is Tom Berishaj. He is from Sterling Heights Stevenson High School in Michigan, and is 6-4, 295 pound OL prospect who runs a 5.2 40. He may end up moving to offensive guard in college. He has a 3.2 GPA and has good strength and technique wise is very sound. He is drawing interest from many of the Big Ten schools and has a chance to be a top level lineman, though he is not there yet. Another out of state offensive lineman the Buckeyes will be taking a look at is Jim Martin (6-8, 295, 5.1) from Indianapolis. He started at guard this past season, but has also played offensive tackle. He is a starter at basketball as well and has a 2.8 GPA and a 1200 on the SAT. Expect the Buckeyes to take a good look at him, as well as OL Andrew Burk (6-5, 265, 5.0) also from Newburgh Castle High School in Indiana. He has a 3.0 GPA and starts at tackle on both sides on the ball but may end up as an offensive lineman. He is drawing interest from many Big Ten schools and don't be surprised if OSU takes a good look at him as well. LB Mike Kudla (6-4 335), from Medina Highland High school is interested in Ohio State. Kudla started on the Highland Varsity as a freshman at running back, and the past two season he has started at inside linebacker. Kudla says that most of the mail he is getting is from Big Ten schools, in particular Purdue, Michigan, Ohio State, Northwestern and Penn State. He has already visited Purdue, Northwestern and Notre Dame this past weekend for Notre Dame's junior recruiting day. He said he wasn't all that high on the Irish on this point. He also mentioned that he is going to go to Michigan's camp this summer and maybe a day of camp a Purdue and Northwestern. RB Greg Pruitt Jr. (5-10, 195, 4.3) from Shaker Heights High School is drawing attentions from recruiters, and why not. He is the son of former Oklahoma great Greg Pruitt Sr. Greg Jr. will be one of the top running back prospects in the state of Ohio next season. He rushed for 701 yards on just 87 carries this past season, scored 13 times and also played on defense at cornerback. He does, however, prefer offense, and not surprisingly Oklahoma is one of his favorites. He plans to go to camps at Oklahoma and Michigan this summer. Troy Smith 6-1, 200, 4.6) from Cleveland Glenville High School is a fine QB/Athleted who will play his senior season at Cleveland Glenville. Smith, as a junior, played for Lakewood Saint Edwards, but has transferred and is currently enrolled at Cleveland Glennvile. As a junior, he passed for over 1400 yards and rushed for over 550. He is an outstanding all around athlete who runs the option and drops back into the pocket. He has a 3.0 GPA and told me that he is looking at Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Missouri and Georgia Tech. He attended the Ohio State Michigan game at the end of this past season, and also attended the OSU vs. Miami of Ohio game at the beginning of the season. Also in Cleveland, DB Antoine Rose from East Cleveland Shaw High School is interested in Ohio State. He is a 5-10, 175 pound DB who runs a 4.5 40. He played at Cleveland Benedictine as a sophomore and this year at East Cleveland Shaw he started at conrerback. He made 50 tackles and had two interceptions last year and has a 4.0 GPA. He and his teammate, QB Denayne Dixon, are planning to go to Ohio State's football camp this summer. Rose also says he is looking at Notre Dame, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and Duke. The Buckeyes of course already have two verbal commiments in this recruiting class, and they are both from running backs. Maurice Clarett from Warren Harding High School and Drushaun Humphrey from Toledo Rogers High School. They will be two of the country's top running back prospects this season. They are both tremendous talents, but the Buckeyes are still continuing to recruit other running back prospects. Arguably the top running back prospect in Wisconsin, RB Brian Calhoun says he is hoping to make an unofficial visit to Ohio State sometime this Spring. He is a 5-11, 190 pound running back from Oak Creek, Wisconsin. He runs a 4.3 40, has run a 10.6 100 meters in track, and a 21.5 200 and also is a high jumper and long jumper. He is a starting point guard in basketball as well. He rushed for 1500 yards and 17 touchdowns as a sophomore, then this past season rushed for just under 2000 yards and 40 touchdowns. He will be one of the top running back prospects in the Midwest this coming season. He told me that he is looking at mainly seven schools; Tennessee, Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Notre Dame and Purdue. Thus far Wisconsin, Iowa and Purdue have offered him a scholarship. He has already made unofficial visits to Wisconsin, Iowa, Notre Dame and Nebraska, and says he is going to try and visit Ohio State and Michigan State sometime around the time of the Spring game. He says that right now he does not have a favorite and is not sure when he will make a decision on his college. Eric Tolbert from Shaker Height High School near Cleveland, Ohio is a 6-4, 290 pounder with 4.9 40 speed is interested in Ohio State. He starts at both offensve tackle and defesive tackle but will be an offensive lineman in college. He has potential though he does need to work on his academic situation. Tolbert told me yesterday that he is going to go to Ohio State's football camp this summer, and he is looking at Ohio State, Penn State, Central Michigan and Akron. Also in the Cleveland area, DB Sherman Vaughn from Cleveland Glennville High School is a 5-8, 190 pounder who runs a 4.5 40 and has a 3.0 GPA. He made 134 tackles this past season playing linebacker and also was a backup tailback. I see him moving into the defensive backfield in college. Among the schools that Vaughn has mentioned are Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Iowa and Notre Dame. March 3, 2001 The Buckeyes certainly are working very hard on the state of Ohio, as the it's going to be a great year for talent in Ohio this coming season, and three players that Ohio State is interested in might be visiting elsewhere this weekend. OL Rob Sims from Macedonia Nordonia High School, a 6-4, 290 pounder, is a player that the Buckeyes are interested in. In fact, Simms had previously told me that Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin are all recruiting him, and that those are his three favorites. Simms, though, may be visiting Notre Dame on Sunday, and Notre Dame is having a big junior recruiting day, where close to 100 prospects could be in attendance. Simms is one of the prospects from Ohio that might be making that visit. DB E.J. Underwood from Hamilton, Ohio, a 6-1, 175 pounder, who is one of the top defensive back prospects in the state, might also visit Notre Dame on Sunday as well. He had previously told me that some of his favorite schools are Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Pitt and Virginia. Underwood went to the OSU vs. Wisconsin basketball game when the Buckeyes had a junior recruiting day back in mid-February. Keep in mind that LB Mike D'Andrea (6-3, 230, 4.55) from Avon Lake is going to make an unofficial visit to Ohio State next weekend. D'Andrea has pretty much narrowed things down to four schools, Ohio State, Nebraska, Michigan and Notre Dame, all four of which have offered him a scholarship. D'Andrea has visited all four within the past month, but he is planning to visit OSU again next Saturday, March 10th. D'Andrea wants to make a decision on his college if possible by sometime this summer at the latest. D'Andrea has a 3.6 GPA. As a sophomore he made 97 tackles, and as a junior DE/TE he was his team's leading tackler with 122 including 9 for losses. He also graded out at 86% blocking efficiency and caught 23 passes. As a sophomore, he was second in the state of Ohio in the shot put. In Michigan, a fine WR says he is hearing from OSU. Deion Washington from Detroit Cooley High School is a 6-1, 185 pound WR/DB who prefers offense. Washington runs a 4.45 40 and caught 31 passes this season for almost 900 yards, averaging almost 30 yards per catch. Washington says that he is receiving mail from Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Georgia Tech, Missouri, Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue, Penn State, Notre Dame and many others. The Buckeyes are hoping to sign a quarterback in next year's recruiting class, and certainly they would love to land super prospect Justin Zwick from Massillon Washington High School in Ohio. They have offered him a scholarship and he is very much considering Ohio State, but the Buckeyes are not putting all of their eggs in one basket. Certainly they are looking at other quarterbacks as well. It's going to be a very good year for quarterback talent in the state of Ohio over this coming season, and certainly they are looking out of state as well. In fact, a very good quarterback from the state of Michigan has now added OSU to his list. Drew Stanton from Farmington Hills, Michigan is a 6-4, 215 pound QB who had a huge junior season. He completed 70% of his passes for 25 touchdown and just four interceptions. Stanton threw for almost 2000 yards. His father is an MSU graduate, so certainly it is not surprising that Stanton is interested in the Spartans, but he also in interested in a number of other schools. In fact, his sister goes to Oregon, so while he was on vacation in Oregon recently, he stopped in to make unofficial visits to both Oregon and Oregon State. Stanton is looking at those two, as well as Michigan State and Northwestern who have both offered him a scholarship already, and he has UCLA, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Notre Dame on his list as well. In addition to Justin Zwick there are a number of other prospects in Ohio who Ohio State has already offered a scholarship. Here are their names. LB Mike D'Andrea from Avon Lake, DL Eric Fritz from Dublin, Coffman, OL Doug Datish from Warren, Ohio, George Cooper, a TE from Westerville North High School, DL Quinn Pitcock, LBs Bryan Andrews and James Davenport at Lime Senior High School., LB/RB Bobby Carpenter from Lancaster, and RBs Maurice Clarett and Drushaun Humphrey, both of whom are committed to the Buckeyes. In the case of Humphry, the offer is pending his qualification academically and he is working very hard to do just that. Also, Humphry is committed to OSU as long as the Buckeyes recruit as a running back. He also is a fine linebacker/strong safety prospect, but he prefers to play running back in college. DL Quinn Pitcock from Piqua is certainly one of the targets for this recruiting class. He is a 6-4, 285 pounder with 4.9 40 speed. As a sophomore, he stared on the varsity at defensive tackle and he started at defensive tackle again this past season and played some tight end as well. Pitcock helped lead Piqua to a 12-3 overall record, including a berth in the Division II state championship game. He has a fine 3.5 GPA and was one of the many juniors who attended the Buckeyes' junior recruiting day in mid-February. Pitcock told me this week that right now, Ohio State is his main interest, but he said he is not really close to making a decision. He said that at one point Michigan State was one of his main interests too, but not as much any more. He said that thus far, Ohio State, Michigan State, Pitt, Duke, Vanderbilt and Northwestern have all verbally offered him a scholarship, and OSU and Vandy have also offered in writing. Pitcock plans to attend some football camps this summer, but he's not sure which ones, and will also go to some spring games as well. LB Antonio Reynolds and his teammate, WR Dave Vickers, from Akron are two fine juniors that the Buckeyes have an interest in, and both were in State College this past weekend for unofficial visits to Penn State. Reynolds is a 6-4, 215 OLB who made 107 tackles as a junior. He is looking at OSU, Penn State, Michigan, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Boston College and Pitt. Vickers is a 6-1, 180 pound WR with 4.4 40 speed. Vickers caught 32 passes this season and averaged over 28 yards per catch. Vickers said that the visit was good, but neither were offered a scholarship by Penn State. TE R.J Coleman from the state of West Virginia is a 6-6, 250 pounder who will be one of the top prospects in the state of West Virginia this coming season, and he is interested in Ohio State. In fact, Coleman has already visited OSU and certainly the Buckeyes are hoping to land at least one tight end in next season's recruiting class, and certainly Coleman is a possibility. The top prospect in the state of West Virginia for next season will likely be RB Tank Tunstalle from Wyoming East High School. He is a 6-2, 210 pound RB/FB prospect who already has scholarship offers on the table from several schools, including West Virginia. He is drawing interest from schools all over the country, and certainly he is a name to keep in mind. In California, and outstanding prospect the Buckeyes are interested in is LB/FB Brandon Hancock. He is a 6-2, 235 pounder with 4.5 40 speed from Clovis West High School. He will be one of the top prospect in California next season. He starts on both sides of the ball and already has scholarship offers from both UCLA and USC. Hancock was at Michigan and USC's football camps this past summer. Among the schools that he is drawing interest from are Michigan, USC, UCLA, Ohio State, Penn State, Florida State, Miami and many others. LB Devon Collins from Fort Lauderdale, Dillard High School in Florida is a 6-3, 210 pounder who the Buckeyes will have an interest in. Collins is of course from the same school as Chris Gamble as well Quinton Thomas and Thomas Mathews. Collins had 14 sacks as a junior. Also, his junior teammate, LB Vincent Davis, is a 6-2, 200 pounder, and Collins and Davis actually started at DE opposite each other for Dillard, but both will almost certainly be linebackers in college. Davis had 16 sacks last year and has been a starter since his sophomore season for the fine Dillard program. He has an older brother, Jason, who is a defensive end for West Virginia. QB Denayne Dixon (6-3, 195) is a very good one from East Cleveland Shaw High School who is interested in Ohio State. He has 4.6 40 speed, and made an unofficial visit to one of Ohio State's football games this past season. He was also at the OSU junior recruiting day in February. Dixon moved into the starting lineup this past season and passed for over 1,800 yards and rushed for 235 yards. Dixon completed 70% of his passes, connected for 19 touchdowns and was intercepted just six times. He told me that he is looking at Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin and Missouri among others. He said that OSU is his favorite and he is supposed to go to Ohio State's football came this summer. There could be another WR headed to Ohio State, this one as a preferred walk on. Paul Cronnin from Green High School in Green Ohio is a 6-3, 185 pounder with 4.55 40 speed. He had a fine senior season, catching 35 passes for over 600 yards. He has a 3.4 GPA and a 23 on the ACT. He had drawn interest from a number of schools, but decided that he really wanted to play big time college football, so he is looking to possibly go to Ohio State, Penn State or West Virginia as a preferred walk on. He recently made an unofficial visit to Penn State and he also is interested in Ohio State as well as West Virginia. WR Brandon Horn at Detroit Country Day School is a 6-1 205 pounder with 4.5 40 speed. Horn has been a varsity starter as both a sophomore and junior. Last season, he caught close to 30 passes and averaged over 15 yards per catch. He has a 2.8 GPA and also is a starter in basketball. He will captain the football team next season. He is getting mail from all of the Big Ten Schools, as well as Stanford, Missouri and many others. He has been to a number of basketball games for unofficial football visits, including the OSU vs. Wisconsin game. Horn has attended the OSU football camp for the past three consecutive summers, and may return again this summer. OSU has not as yet offered him a scholarship. (c)2001 The O-Zone,
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