Bill Kurelic May 2002
Posts
May 20, 2002
The Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to one of the country's top
WR prospects Ruben Jackson from Sparkton Edison High School
in California. Jackson is listing OSU among the schools he is interested
in. Jackson, 5-10; 170, 4.4, caught 43 passes for almost 1,000 yards
during his junior season and scored six times. Schools from coast
to coast have offered him a scholarship. He is interested in OSU as
well as Miami, Maryland, Cal, Oklahoma, Michigan and Nebraska. All
of those schools have offered. At this point he says that Miami is
his favorite but the Bucks are very much on his list.
Speaking of WRs, the Bucks have offered Devin Jordan from Massillon
Washington. Jordan, 6-3 190, caught 101 passes during his junior year.
Jordan continues to consider OSU very highly though he is not ready
to make a commitment. He is looking at Michigan, Tennessee and a number
of others but I think the Buckeyes have just as good a shot, or perhaps
a better shot, than anybody does at landing Jordan.
OSU has offered TE Louis Irizarry, another outstanding Ohio
receiver, who the Bucks are hoping will soon announce his commitment
to OSU. The 6-5, 235 TE has the Bucks as his top choice and I tend
to think he will announce a commitment to OSU either later this month
or in early June.
One of the top backs in the Georgia is from Ohio and he is definitely
interested in the Buckeyes. Jason Evans from Kennesaw Harrison
High School in Georgia, 6-1; 194; 4.45, has been a varsity starter
since his freshman year playing RB all three years. As a sophomore
and junior he also started at CB but says that he prefers offense.
Evans, who has a 3.7 GPA, rushed for 1,350 yards during his junior
season, averaging 10.5 yards per carry and scored 15 times. He has
run a 10.8 100 meters in track. He tells me that he is looking at
OSU, Stanford, Texas A&M, Boston College and Penn State. He says
Georgia and Ga. Tech are still in the mix as well. So far Stanford,
Texas A&M, BC and Penn State have offered a scholarship. Evans
said the Georgia schools have said they will offer as well. Evans
lived in Ohio for about eight years. He was born in Toledo than moved
to Columbus. He then moved to Michigan before moving to W. Va. and
then Georgia. Evans said that OSU is a great school with a good football
program. He went to an OSU-Michigan game many years ago and says he
is definitely interested in the Buckeyes.
OL Mike Byrd from Temperance Bedford High School in Michigan,
6-5, 300, is interested in OSU. Bird who starts at tackle on both
sides of the ball, has a 3.3 GPA and a 20 on the ACT. He tells me
he is looking at Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana, Toledo and South Carolina.
He used to live in South Carolina playing football there his sophomore
season. Bird says that Michigan and OSU are his favorites. His grandfather
he said was offered a scholarship by Ohio State though he did not
end up in Columbus.
Landing OLs will once again be a priority for OSU. This past recruiting
season OSU signed five OL prospects and once again the Bucks will
try to sign several OLs since the depth is still a bit shallow. With
that in mind let's take a look at a couple of out-of-state OLs that
the Bucks are showing interest in. It's not going to be a great year
for OL talent in Ohio so they are looking every where for OL talent.
In the Pennsylvania Kevin Cimador says that he has an interest
in OSU. He is a 6-5, 300 OL who runs a 5.3 40. He is from Pittsburgh
Baldwin High School who has a 3.4 GPA and has played both OG and OT.
I see him as an OG in college. He tells me that he is looking at Pitt,
W.Va., Syracuse, OSU, N.C. State, Northwestern, Iowa and Maryland.
None of those schools have offered a scholarship yet. Pitt has indicated
that it will likely offer this summer.
OSU OL Coach Jim Bollman has been to Naperville North High School
to check on Jarrett Lassa, 6-5; 290. Lassa, who plays left
OT tells me that recruiters have visited his high school from OSU,
S. Illinois, Central Michigan and N. Illinois that he knows of. Lassa
said that he is concentrating primarily on Midwest schools though
he is drawing interest from BC to San Diego State. Lassa mentioned
Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin and that OSU had been to his school.
He said that right now he doesn't have a clear-cut favorite.
LB Jim Presley from Highland Milford High School in Michigan
says the Bucks were at his school late last weekend and offered him
a scholarship. Presley, 6-3, 225, 4.5, bench presses 375 and squats
over 500. As a junior playing FB and DE he was spectacular, rushing
for 1,300 yards and doing an outstanding job on the defensive side
of the ball. He will play on defense in college but as an OLB. He
has a 3.0 GPA and a 19 on the ACT and he told me that OSU assistant
coach Mark Dantonio was at his school a few days ago and after seeing
him at track, offered a scholarship. He said that he now has offers
from OSU, MSU, Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green. He says that he
is planning to soon visit OSU in the next week or two. He plans a
number of visits over the summer. Presley says that he is wide open,
listing a number of Big Ten schools including OSU, MSU, Michigan,
Penn State, Wisconsin, Iowa and Purdue. Another school he mentioned
was Notre Dame. He said that coaches from all of those schools except
Michigan have been out to his high school and the UM will be there
later in the week.
Another out-of-state prospect the Buckeyes have offered is DB/WR
Ryan Mundy from Pittsburgh Woodland Hills in Pennsylvania. Mundy,
6-2, 200, 4.4, starts at SS and WR and says that he is being recruited
for either position but says that his primary position seems to be
as a DB. He said that he could play SS, FS or CB in college but is
also being recruited as a WR. He has a 2.8 GPA and an 830 on the SAT.
He made 84 tackles and picked off seven passes during his junior year.
He also caught close to 15 passes and averaged 19 yards per carry.
He says that he is interested in just about every school that is recruiting
him. Those at the top of his list are Michigan, Pitt, Penn State,
MSU, Northwestern, Florida and Miami. All of those except Florida
and Miami have offered a scholarship. He says that he also has been
offered by the likes of OSU, Iowa, W. Va. and Toledo. Mundy says that
he has visited all of those schools including OSU with the exception
of Toledo, Iowa, Miami and Florida.
Another WR prospect that's interest in OSU is Ohioan Doug Penno.
From Kettering Alter, he is 6-4, 200 and plays RB but will likely
be a WR in college. As a junior he rushed for over 1,000 yards and
had close to 2,000 all-purpose yards. He caught 16 passes. He has
OSU on his list and has visited OSU, Northwestern and Notre Dame.
He went to spring practices at NW and ND and he took in a Buckeye
spring scrimmage session. He says that he's looking at OSU, Northwestern
and Notre Dame and he is also looking at Purdue, Iowa, Louisville,
Oregon and Stanford. He says his two favorites right now would probably
be Northwestern and Notre Dame.
May 9, 2002
One of the top two-way linemen in Ohio, Mike DeLuca (6-4,
270, 5.0) from Chardon Notre Dame Cathedral Latin High School says
that Ohio State and Michigan are his two favorite schools. DeLuca
has been a varsity starter since his freshman season when he played
defensive end. The past two seasons he has started at tackle on both
sides of the ball. I see him as an offensive lineman in college. DeLuca
told me that he has visited Ohio State, Michigan and Pitt and has
been to spring practices at Ohio State and Michigan and a junior day
at Pitt. Pitt has offered him a scholarship. He says he is also looking
at Miami of Florida. He has also been offered a scholarship by Toledo.
Coaches from Ohio State, Michigan, Pitt, Miami of Florida and Bowling
Green among others have already been to his school.
One of the top athletes in the state of Illinois
says Ohio State is among his top choices. QB/Athlete Tommy Zbikowski
(6-0,
185, 4.4) from Buffalo Grove, Illinois has a number of scholarship
offers on the table. He is being recruited as a QB/Athlete. He is
also a nationally ranked boxer. He passed for over 1,200 yards last
season and rushed for over 1,000. He has a 2.8 GPA and a 21 on the
ACT and had been rumored to have committed to Nebraska, but he told
me directly that he has not committed to anyone. He says OSU, Nebraska,
Notre Dame and Iowa would be the short list that would be his top
choices, but he is also interested in others such as Northwestern,
Purdue and Stanford. He says he has six offers now including Nebraska,
Iowa, Illinois, Northern Illinois, Northwestern and Bowling Green.
He mentioned that coaches from five schools were at his high school,
including coaches from Ohio State, Purdue, Northwestern, Bowling Green
and Illinois. He added that Nebraska and Michigan came earlier. He
says he does not have a favorite right now.
WR Rodney Slappy from Beaver Falls,
Pennsylvania attended OSU's spring game. He is a 6-0, 170 pounder
with 4.49 40 speed who has been a varsity starter since his freshman
season when he played cornerback. The past season he played WR and
safety. As a sophomore he played RB and cornerback. He caught 49 passes
for 800 yards his junior season, scored 15 times and picked off two
passes while playing defense. He says he is most interested in Pitt,
Virginia and West Virginia, but he is also looking at Ohio State,
Iowa, Michigan State and Northwestern. He attended spring games at
Ohio State and Pitt. He says he plans to be in Columbus this summer
to attend the OSU football camp, as well as camps at Pitt, Virginia,
West Virginia and Michigan State.
One of the top DB prospects in New Jersey,
Ira Guilford from Hoboken, New Jersey, was at the Buckeyes' spring
game. Guilford is a 5-11, 185 pounder with 4.45 40 speed. He picked
off three passes and made 86 tackles including four sacks and also
caused six fumbles during his junior season. He also rushed for 1,000
yards and scored 9 times. He could play on either side of the ball
in college but says he is getting recruited more for defense. He says
that he is looking at Ohio State, Rutgers, Boston College and Miami,
that those are his top few right now, though he also has an interest
in Michigan, Illinois, Penn State and Syracuse. Rutgers has offered
him a scholarship. He attended OSU's spring game and said he liked
it a lot. He said it was his first time at Ohio State and he liked
the whole atmosphere. He said with 40,000 people in the spring game
there was a lot of excitement and he's never been to a spring game
like that before. He also mentioned liking the OSU coaching staff.
He will be back in Columbus this summer to attend OSU's football camp.
It is a great year for DBs in the state of
Ohio. Prescott Burgess (6-3, 210, 4.6), who could play SS or
LB in college is a super prospect that I have as my number one prospect
in Ohio. Donte Whitner (5-11, 175, 4.3) is another super prospect
that the Buckeyes would love to land. Whitner will play cornerback
in college. Also Dareus Hiley (6-1, 180, 4.4), who is a teammate
of Donte Whitner, is a super athlete that I see playing at the defensive
backfield at the next level. The Buckeyes also have a commitment from
one super DB from Ohio, that being Tony Gonzalez (6-0, 187)
from Cleveland St. Ignatius. Gonzales is an outstanding prospect at
either corner or WR, but he is expected to at least begin his career
at OSU on the defensive side of the ball. Brian Jones (6-1,
180, 4.4) from Avon Lake is another fine defensive back who has outstanding
speed.
Trevor Laws (6-3, 285) is arguably the
top DL prospect in the state of Minnesota. Laws says he intends to
visit Ohio State sometime this month. Laws already has offers from
Michigan, Notre Dame, Minnesota and Iowa among others, however his
mother is from Ohio. She lived in Ohio for a time and Laws' grandmother
and uncle still live in southern Ohio. Laws said his mother is going
to call Ohio State and set up a visit with the Buckeyes sometime this
month.
Perhaps the top OL prospect in the state of
New York, Ryan Poles, says Ohio State is his favorite. He is
a 6-5, 290 pound OT who helped lead his team to an 11-1 record last
season. He tells me that Syracuse has already offered him a scholarship
and that a coach from Georgia has visited his school and indicated
to his coach that Georgia was verbally offering a scholarship. He
says he is looking at Tennessee as well as Georgia, and that Maryland
is very interested and also mentions Ohio State, Boston College, Penn
State, Iowa and Pitt. He says OSU probably at the top of his list.
He said he visited OSU for a spring practice not too long ago and
said that OSU has great facilities and that Jim Tressel is a real
good guy. OSU has not yet offered a scholarship.
May 3, 2002
The Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to offensive lineman Joel
Holler from Lancaster McCaskey
High School in Pennsylvania, and Holler told me recently that he is
definitely interested in the Buckeyes. Holler is a 6-6, 230 pound
offensive tackle who has been a varsity starter since his freshman
season. He has a 4.0 GPA, bench presses 300, and told me that he is
interested in OSU, Penn State, Pitt, Maryland, Miami, Michigan State
and Michigan. He said all of those schools except for Michigan have
already offered a scholarship. Holler said that Miami verbally offered
earlier this week. Other schools have offered as well, though those
are the ones he is most interested at this point. Holler says he does
not have a favorite, but did say the likes Ohio State's football tradition,
the style of play at Ohio State and the Big Ten.
Chris McKillop is a linebacker
from Kiski Area
High School in Pennsylvania. McKillop is a 6-4, 230 pound OLB
who runs a 4.7 40. He has a 2.9 GPA, made 40 solo tackles and had
35 assists during his junior season. McKillop had 25 of his tackles
for losses. McKillop says he is really interested in Ohio State and
Pitt. He says he likes Ohio State a lot. Other schools on his list
include Youngstown State, Toledo, Penn State, Kent and Virginia. He
says OSU and Pitt are his top two. He attended OSU's spring game and
said it was unbelievable, that the Woody Hayes Facility was unbelievable,
that the campus was great and he really liked the Ohio State coaches.
He is looking forward to attending OSU's football camp this summer.
Adam Muzika
(6-3, 240, 4.8) is a linebacker/defensive end from Uniontown
Pennsylvania who attended OSU's spring game. He is a middle linebacker
who has a 3.9 GPA and made 86 tackles during his junior season. He
said he has now been to Ohio State, Penn State, Duke, West Virginia,
Pitt and Virginia. He said that of those schools, he would go with
Penn State, Ohio State and Duke as his favorites. He said he really
enjoyed OSU's spring game, that it was unreal to see a spring game
with that many people, that is was amazing to see a crowd like that
at a spring game. He said that at Duke's spring game there were about
2,00o people in attendance. He added that it was an awesome feeling
to walk out on the field before the spring game. Yet another prospect
from PA who attended the spring game was Rodney
Slappy.
Slappy is a WR/DB type prospect from Beaver
Falls Pennsylvania.
The Buckeyes have not
had a lot of success recruiting the state of Pennsylvania in recent
years but they are certainly trying to change that. OSU certainly
has a shot at landing TE Jon
Stupar from State College
Pennsylvania. The 6-5, 245 pounder has been offered a scholarship
by OSU. He was going to attend the Buckeyes' spring game but could
not due to his prom, but he does say that he will visit Ohio State,
most likely in early June and he is definitely interested in the Buckeyes.
OSU is one of about a dozen schools that have already offered him
a scholarship.
DE Shawn Crable from Massilon Washington
was in attendance at OSU's spring game. Crable has been offered a
scholarship by OSU. There have been rumors and reports that Crable
has been heavily favoring Michigan, but he says that is not accurate,
that he is not leaning to the Wolverines, and that Ohio State and
Michigan are both very high on his list. Also, TE Marcel Frost
attended the spring game. Frost has also has been offered a scholarship
by OSU. Frost was a teammate this past season with WR Roy Hall. Hall
of course signed with the Buckeyes in February. Frost is one of the
top prospects in the state. He has scholarship offers from OSU, Maryland,
Boston College and Vanderbilt. He is looking at all those schools
as well as Florida. He says that right now it is probably between
OSU, Maryland and Boston College. He is 6-5, 235. Also in attendance
at the spring game was DL Sian Cotton from Akron. Cotton is
a 6-4, 290 pounder with 4.9 40 speed. Cotton said he liked it at OSU's
spring game, that he thought it was nice and there were a lot of fans
there for a spring game. He said the game was good, and the defense
was excellent, which is important to him because of course he is a
defensive player. Cotton said that he likes Ohio State a lot. He said
a lot of schools have come aboard lately but he still likes OSU a
lot. Cotton says he is looking at OSU, Miami of Florida, Michigan,
Tennessee and Pitt. Ohio State and Pitt have offered a scholarship.
Cotton says the plans to camp at OSU, Michigan, Tennessee and Miami
of Ohio this summer.
Among the high school football players attending
the OSU spring game were DB Brian Jones (6-1, 180, 4.4) , one
of the best in Ohio from Avon Lake, as did DB Eric Thatcher (6-0,
170, 4.5) from Cincinnati Moeller. Thatcher is a highly recruited
player who the Buckeyes are interested in. QB John Ferguson
(6-6, 215, 4.8) from Reynoldsburg was at the game, as was WR Brian
Williamson from Thomas Worthington. From out of state, huge offensive
lineman Jake Long from Lapeer Michigan was at the game. Long
will be one of the top line prospects in Michigan. He spent time before
the game speaking with OSU OL coach Jim Bollman. Also OL Chad Albright
from Charleston Capital High School in West Virginia was at the game,
as was Victor Abiamiri, a 6-5, 240 pound defensive lineman
from Baltimore Gilman High school that the Buckeyes would love to
land. That's the same high school of Stan White. Abiamiri was accompanied
by his teammate DB Ambrose Wooden (6-1, 180, 4.4) who is also
a standout prospect. The two were in attendance with Stan White Jr.
and his father, Stan White Sr.
DL Brandon Maupin (6-6, 270) from West
Chester Lakota High School in Ohio will be one of the top defensive
line prospects in Ohio this coming season. Maupin did not make it
to OSU's spring game, but does remain interested in the Buckeyes.
Maupin did make it to Notre Dame's spring game and that he is currently
looking at Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee, Purdue, South Carolina
and Northwestern. South Carolina, Purdue and Northwestern are among
the schools that have offered him a scholarship. He says that as of
now he does not have a favorite.
One of the top linebacker prospects in the
Washington D.C. area is Kory Gedin, and Gedin is interested
in Ohio State. Gedin is a 6-2, 230 pound linebacker who says he is
interested in Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Florida State and
North Carolina among others. Gedin said that none of those schools
have offered him a scholarship yet, though all are showing interest.
He did say that he feels like Penn State is getting close to offering.
Justin Valentine (6-2, 205, 4.45) will
be one of the top RB prospects in the state of Ohio this year. Valentine
rushed for 1,200 yards during his junior season. Valentine told me
that he really enjoyed OSU's spring game, that while at the game he
got to talk to the coaches, that he met some former players like Shawn
Springs and he talked with many recruits, including players OSU signed
in February such as Justin Zwick, Mike Kudla, Jay Richardson and Troy
Smith. Valentine also attended Michigan's spring game. He was going
to go to Notre Dame's junior recruiting day but did not make it. He
says he is looking at OSU, Michigan and Notre Dame, and he has talked
to Tennessee and Maryland is also on his list. He said though that
he does not have a favorite right now.
In news relating to the last recruiting class,
I spoke with OL Derek Morris at the spring game, and Morris
says he is confident he will qualify academically, though he has not
made it yet. He took the ACT recently and is awaiting the results.
He said that if he does not make it on this try, he still has two
more tries available, but he says he feels very confident that he
made it on this attempt.
Bill
Kurelic March and April 2002 Posts