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Bill Kurelic November 2000 Posts November 28, 2000 TE/OL Joe Toledo (6-6, 290) from Carlsbad, California has scheduled an official visit to Ohio State. He is one of the top overall prospects in the state of California and told me yesterday that he will make an official visit to Arizona this weekend. He also will visit Washington December 8th, and has Ohio State scheduled for January 5th. Toledo said that the other schools he is considering are Colorado, USC and Kansas State. All six schools have offered him a scholarship, and he said that his decision is down to those six and he is no longer looking at UCLA or Arizona State. He says he doesn't have a favorite right now and will take at least three if not more official visits before he makes a decision. OL Robert Bergman (6-5, 280) from Bakersfield, California is very much considering an official visit to Ohio State. He is going to leave on Saturday morning to Miami. He also has Michigan State December 8th, but has dropped Arizona State with the coaching change there. Bergman says the schools he is considering are Ohio State, Notre Dame and Washington, and all the schools have offered him a scholarship. He said he will probably visit Ohio State in January and don't be surprised if it would work out that he would also visit Ohio State the weekend of January 5th, the weekend as Joe Toledo. The Buckeyes are making an in-home visit this week with WR Kevin Noel (6-3, 190) from Naperville Central High School in Illinois. He is one of the top WR prospects in the Midwest. He had a fine senior season, catching 38 passes for 650 yards and averaged 17 yards per catch. He has already made an official visit to Purdue. He will visit Michigan State this weekend and Georgia Tech December 15th. He also says he will visit Kentucky, though he is not sure when, and if he takes a fifth visit, it will be to Ohio State, and I think there is a decent chance the Buckeyes will be able to convince him to make an official visit to Ohio State. Noel has been offered a scholarship by all of the schools on his list. This is an official visit weekend for the Buckeyes, and number of the OSU verbal commitments will make their visits, though one, DE Simon Fraser of Upper Arlington, won't because his team is playing for the big school Ohio State championship. His teammate, RB/DB Jeff Backes also will not make his official visit to OSU this weekend. He is planning to make the visit to the Buckeyes the same weekend as Simon Fraser. Those scheduled to visit this weekend in addition to the current Buckeye commitments are from California Austin Jackson, a linebacker and Jaja Riley, a running back. Also, LB Kevin Adkins from Virginia as well as LB Will Jones from Florida. Two super RB prospects, Maurice Hall from Columbus Brookhaven and Eric Shelton from Kentucky are also scheduled to make their official visits to OSU this weekend. Buckeye recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach Bill Conley is in Florida this week, and one of the prospects he is visiting is WR prospect Jomo Fagan (6-2, 175) from Fort Lauderdale Saint Thomas Aquinas High School. Fagan has already visited Michigan State and Purdue and he has scheduled Miami for December 15th unless his team goes to the state finals. If they do go to the state finals, he will move Miami to January 13th. He also said he will probably visit Ohio State and then either Tennessee or Virginia Tech for his other official visit. Fagan has been offered a scholarship by all of the schools but he still says he does not have a favorite. WR Dallas Baker (6-3, 180) from Florida told me that with his team still in the playoffs, he has not yet begun to set up his official visits. Baker said he is still considering Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Clemson and South Carolina. All the schools have offered him a scholarship. He said he really doesn't know exactly who he will schedule official visits with. He did say that he didn't think that any of the coaches from the Midwest schools would be visiting with him this week. TE Tyree Spinner (6-7, 235) , who is also a DE from Fairfax, Virginia told me recently that he is planning to schedule an official visit to Ohio State. Spinner said he has not scheduled any of his official visits yet, but he said he knows who he will visit. Those schools are Miami, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Ohio State and probably Maryland. All but Maryland have offered him a scholarship. He said he is not sure when he will visit Ohio State. One prospect the Buckeyes are very interested in could commit to the Buckeyes this week after making an official visit elsewhere. That would be WR Chris Vance from Kansas. Vance is scheduled to make a visit to Colorado the weekend of December 1st, but says that OSU is his big leader and it certainly wouldn't be a huge shock if he ended up committing to the Buckeyes after he makes the Colorado visit, as this is the last official visit he has scheduled. The Buckeyes certainly want to help themselves out at running back in this recruiting class, and they certainly could do just that. Super RB Eric Shelton says the Buckeyes have a lead over second-place Florida State at the moment. Certainly Shelton would be a great addition to this recruiting class. Also, the Buckeyes have the lead or are at least the co-leader for Jaja Riley from San Diego, California. Riley is a talented athlete that could play WR or DB in college, though he is thinking RB right now. Riley says that OSU is at least his co-leader or maybe even his leader over Oklahoma. Of course, right here in Columbus is Maurice Hall who the Buckeyes would love to land and certainly have a very realistic shot at doing so, and also keep in mind right here in Columbus is Jeff Backes, and while he is projected more as an athlete who would perhaps play in the defensive backfield in college, keep in mind that he has just run wild this season and certainly you can't rule him out at a possible running back positioning college. Backes now has OSU and Virginia as his favorites, and the Buckeyes seem to have a light lead for his services as well. A couple of other running backs that could end up at Ohio State include Ryan Grant (6-2, 200) from New Jersey. Grant is a very talented prospect that will make an official visit to OSU the weekend of December 8th and then there are a number of other prospects are scheduled to make official visits to Ohio State including Tremaine Hall from Florida. Hall is going to be visiting the Buckeyes the weekend of January 5th and is a talented athlete. Also out there is Domique Anderson from Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas in Florida who has OSU as one of his favorites. Then of course Kelley Baraka is now in the picture with the Buckeyes, though I do think Baraka will choose between Michigan and Notre Dame, though you never know. There are others, including Lydell Ross from Florida and J.R. Lemon from Georgia to mention just a few. November 22, 2000 OL Zach Strief from Milford, Ohio (6-8, 320) made an unofficial visit to Ohio State on Saturday to see the OSU vs. Michigan game and there was a rumor going around that perhaps Strief might be in position to select the Buckeyes. However, that is not the case. Strief has not been offered a scholarship by OSU and told me last night that Northwestern is still his top choice. He is going to visit Northwestern December 1st. He has Georgia Tech January 12th and Wisconsin is still in the picture. All three of those schools have offered him a scholarship, but he Buckeyes have not. OL Dale Williams (6-6, 300) from Erie Cathedral Prep in Pennsylvania still has Ohio State on his list but just barely. He has scheduled Pitt for a January 5th visit, and Syracuse for a January 26th. He said he is also looking at Virginia, Harvard, Duke, Columbia, Princeton and Ohio State just slightly. The Buckeyes have not offered him a scholarship. Joining Kelley Baraka to visit the Buckeyes on January 5th will be DB Eric Shyne from California, TE/OL Joe Toledo from California, DE Sean Cody from California and DL Raymond Tago from California. Also scheduled to visit the Buckeyes that weekend are RB Lydell Ross from Florida as well as LB/DE Thomas Carroll from New Jersey. This past weekend LB Matt Sinclair (6-3, 235) from Missouri and WR Chris Vance from Fort Scott Community College in Kansas made official visits to Ohio State. Sinclair was hosted on his visit to OSU by Ben Hartsock. Sinclair said he had fun at Ohio State and that it was really neat. He said the crowd was unbelievable and he liked the players a lot at OSU. He said that his mom, who accompanied him on the visit, was amazed with the crowd at OSU and that she liked Ohio State quite a bit. Sinclair said that the atmosphere at Ohio State was very similar to the atmosphere at Notre Dame, but the the schools are two totally different types of schools. He said he did not have any one clear-cut favorite. With Sinclair, I think the Buckeyes certainly have a very realistic shot at landing him. In fact I think the Buckeyes have as good or better shot than anybody at landing Sinclair, but he still has not made a decision. He has visited Ohio State and Notre Dame and still plans to visit Illinois December 1st and UCLA December 8th. However, I think the Buckeyes have edged ahead of the fighting Irish and now they just have to beat out UCLA and Illinois for the services of Sinclair, though he has not said that Notre Dame is out of the running. Sinclair says he grew up watching Andy Katzenmoyer and the Buckeyes have long been one of, if not his favorite school. On the other hand, WR Chris Vance (6-2, 195) continues to have Ohio State as his clear leader, though he too has not yet made a decision. Vance still has an official visit to Colorado for December 1st, and then he plans to decide between Ohio State, Minnesota and Colorado. All three of which have offered a scholarship, but Vance continues to have OSU as his favorite. Vance had a great official visit with Ohio State and said he like everything about Ohio State, the coaches, the players all get along, and everything he saw in Columbus. Vance is originally from Fort Meyers, Florida and will finish up at Fort Scott CC in Kansas in December and enroll at whatever college he picks in January. Vance was hosted by Darnell Sanders on his official visit to Ohio State. He caught 43 passes his first year at Fort Scott, and 37 this season. Two outstanding prospects from the State of Florida have now scheduled visits to Ohio State. LB Willie Jones (6-2, 200) from Miami Florida who set a state record this season for sacks with 33 has scheduled an official visit to OSU for the weekend of December 1st. Jones has already made an official visit to Boston College, and in addition to Ohio State he is also looking at Florida State, Clemson, Oklahoma and North Carolina State. The Buckeyes have offered Jones a scholarship as has Boston College and the other schools, and the good news is that Jones that Boston College and OSU are his two favorites, and keep in mind that he has already visited Boston College and still has his Ohio State visit yet to go. That certainly would bode well for the Buckeyes. DB Antrell Roll (6-0, 200) from Homestead Florida who is one of the country's top cover corner prospects has also scheduled a visit to Ohio State. He will make a visit to Notre Dame December 1st, Ohio State December 8th, and then Miami December 15th. He also is looking at Florida State, Florida and North Carolina State. All the schools have offered him a scholarship. He now says that Miami is probably his favorite, with either Notre Dame or Florida next, but certainly it's encouraging that he has added Ohio State not only to his list but has scheduled an official visit with the Buckeyes. As of a week or so ago, he did not even have Ohio State really on his lists, so certainly the Buckeyes have moved up with Antrell Roll. RB/WR/DB Jaja Riley from San Diego, California made an official visit to Oklahoma this past weekend and said of his visit "It was great." He said that Oklahoma did once again offer him a scholarship but he told the Sooners that he wants to wait until December or maybe even January to make his decision. Riley said he is still planning to visit Ohio State December 1st and Kansas State December 8th. He has previously made an official visit to Arizona State. Riley had last week said that he was heavily favoring Ohio State and that he might commit to the Buckeyes when on his official visit, but now says that OSU is still his favorite, them and Oklahoma, he said. He said it is hard to say if Ohio State is a clear favorite over Oklahoma or not as his visit with the Sooners went that well. LB Austin Jackson (6-3, 23, 4.7) from Gardena, California visited Colorado this past weekend and Jackson said it was a "good, successful trip," as he put it, to Colorado, but he did not commit. He will next visit Ohio State December 1st, and he has Arizona State December 8th and probably Oregon December 15th. He said he will probably also visit USC in January. All the schools have offered him a scholarship and he says that right now his two leaders are probably USC and Colorado. DE Kevin Vickerson (6-6, 265) from Detroit M.L. King High School in Michigan remains committed to Michigan State and will make an official visit there the weekend of December 1st. However, Vickerson told me that he is trying to get something set up for an official visit to Ohio State and also one to Minnesota. He said he also could possibly visit Miami of Florida. He said that he is, at least for now, committed to Michigan State, but he is at least at this point, planning to make an official visit with OSU. LB/DE Thomas Carroll from Lakewood, New Jersey did not make his unofficial visit to Penn State last weekend as he had planned. He said that his ride to Penn State was cancelled at the last minute, so he didn't get to go to the Penn State - Michigan State game. He has made an official visit to Boston College and has Miami scheduled for December 1st, North Carolina State December 8th, Tennessee December 15th though he might have to move that visit to sometime in January, then Ohio State January 5th. Carroll said that Boston College and Miami continue to be his leader, with North Carolina State and Ohio State tied just behind B.C. and Miami. WR Larry Fitzgerald from Minnesota did not make an official visit to Ohio State this weekend as he had said he would. He did not make it to Columbus for the game against Michigan. Making unofficial visits to the OSU vs. Michigan game were RB Eric Shelton from Kentucky, WR Fred Lee (5-10, 170) from Harrisburg, Pennsylvainia, TE Ryan Hamby from Cincinnati, DL NaShan Goddard from Dayton, kicker Mike Nuggent from Centerville, WR Brian Pickard from Dublin, Ohio, WR Josh Anderson from Canton and LB Trent Cole from Xenia, among others. In the junior class, super quarterback prospect Justin Zwick from Massillon, Drushaun Humphry from Toledo, A.J. Hawk, James Davenport, Tyler Everett, Eric Fritz and Mike Donaldson were other fine current junior prospects that made it to the OSU - Michigan game. November 17, 2000 WR Larry Fitzgerald, one of the country's top WR talents, is going to be making an official visit to Ohio State this weekend as well. He is a 6-3, 210 pound WR with 4.4 40 speed from Richfield Holy Angels Academy in Minnesota. Fitzgerald caught 54 passes as a junior, and this season caught 73 more passes for almost 1,300 yards and 16 touchdowns receiving. He had 18 touchdowns total this season. He told me that he would be leaving on Friday for an official visit this weekend to OSU. He has previously made an official visit to Pitt. He said he is looking forward to seeing the OSU - Michigan game, and is also is probably going to take an official visit to Georgia Tech and is also looking at Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin as well, but has dropped Penn State and Purdue form is list. Fitzgerald, who is a ball boy for the Minnesota Vikings, said that Robert Smith, Corey Stringer and "CC" as he said (Chris Carter) talk to him about Ohio State every time he sees them and he is looking forward to this official visit with the Buckeyes. He has been offered a scholarship by all of the schools on his list and is a tremendous talent. The only question mark will be whether he qualifies academically or not, but he is a great prospect. Also scheduled to visit this weekend is wide receiver Chris Vance from the junior college ranks. Vance is from Fort Scott Community College in Kansas. Vance is a 6-2, 195 pounder who has already made an official visit to Minnesota and in addition to Ohio State this weekend, also has a visit scheduled to Colorado for December 1st. Vance caught 37 passes this season. He is originally from Fort Meyers, Florida. The Buckeyes have a good shot at landing Vance, though it remains to be seen if he would commit this weekend or not. Also, there is a chance that Jacob Stewart, the DB prospect from Michigan who has already committed to Ohio State could possibly visit, though I tend to think the Buckeyes will probably have him wait and make his official visit sometime in December. Two players that were scheduled to visit Ohio State this weekend but have rescheduled those visits are RB Dominick Anderson and WR Jomo Fagan. Anderson visited Iowa last weekend and is also looking at Clemson, Boston College, Florida and maybe Northwestern. All the schools except for Florida have offered him a scholarship. Fagan has already visited Michigan State and Purdue and also could possibly visit Tennessee, Miami or Virginia Tech. All the schools have offered him a scholarship. Fagan and Anderson are teammates at Fort Lauderdale Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Florida. The two have decided that since their team has made the playoffs that they have to postpone their visit to OSU. Fagan said that he would reschedule for sometime in January. Anderson said he will also definitely reschedule his visit to OSU as well. The Buckeyes are also concerned with prospects that they are recruiting who are visiting elsewhere this weekend, most notably RB/WR/DB JaJa Riley (6-3, 195) from San Diego Mission Bay High School in California. Riley has told me that he is about 95% sure that he is going to end up signing with Ohio State. Riley, however, is making an official visit to Oklahoma this weekend and the Sooners have offered him a scholarship. Certainly the Buckeyes are hopeful that he would not commit to Oklahoma this weekend. He has a December 1st visit scheduled to Ohio State and a December 8th visit scheduled to Kansas State, but he says that he;s figuring he might commit to Ohio State while on his official visit with the Buckeyes and then cancel that Kansas State visit. Riley has played running back this season and his team is 10-0. He has rushed for over 1,000 yards and scored 16 times. While he could be a running back in college, this talented athlete could also play WR or DB. Also keep in mind that not only will Ohio State be hosting players on official visits this weekend, but there will be a huge turnout of players on unofficial visits to see the big Ohio State - Michigan game. One of those prospects planning on to make it to the game is Blue-Chip running back Eric Shelton (6-3, 230) from Kentucky. He has an official visit scheduled to Ohio State for December 1st, Florida State December 8th, and Tennessee December 15th. He also has a January 12th visit scheduled to Florida. The Buckeyes would certainly love to land a commitment from Shelton this weekend, but that is very, very unlikely. He continues to say that he plans to take all five official visits before making a decision. He says that as far as his top choice, it is very close right now between Ohio State, Florida State and Tennessee. Shelton says that he is considering Texas, Boston College, LSU and Georgia Tech for his 5th official visit. RB Maurice Hall from Columbus Brookhaven High School, I expect him to be at the Ohio State game on Saturday for an unofficial visit as well. Hall has set up official visits to Ohio State December 1st, Northwestern December 8th, Penn State December 15th, Georgia Tech January 5th and Florida State January 12th. He continues to say that he does not have a favorite. Also making an unofficial visit for the OSU - Michigan game will be WR Fred Lee from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Lee told me that he will be leaving around 2:00 AM Saturday morning to drive to Ohio State. It is about a seven-hour drive and they want to arrive at around 9:00 AM on Saturday morning. Lee said he is definitely interested in scheduling an official visit to Ohio State though he has not done so yet.. He has already made an official visit to Colorado. He is looking at Ohio State, Florida, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech, and Michigan State, and all the schools except Florida have offered a scholarship. Lee said that Florida will likely offer a scholarship as soon as coach Spurrier sees a tape. Lee says he does not have a favorite right now. LB Willie Jones from Miami, Florida tells me that his two favorites right now are Ohio State and Boston College. However, he is going to make an unofficial visit to Florida State this weekend, and Florida State has offered him a scholarship. Certainly the Buckeyes are going to be hoping that he would not commit to the Seminoles this weekend. I tend to doubt that that would happen since FSU is not one of his top two at this point, but you never know. Jones is a 6-2, 200 pound linebacker and does have one official visit scheduled thus far, that being to Clemson December 1st and he already has made an official visit to Boston College. He is planning to schedule an official visit to Ohio State though he has not worked out an exact date. Oklahoma and North Carolina State are also possibilities for official visits. Jones has a 3.7 GPA and an 800 on the SAT. All the schools on his list have offered him a scholarship, and he said that coach Cooper called him right before the Illinois game. He made 136 tackles this season including a state-record 33 sacks. A linebacker from the state of California that the Buckeyes would love to land is Austin Jackson (6-3, 230) from Gardenia, California. Jackson will be making an official visit to Colorado this weekend, and has Ohio State scheduled for December 1st and Arizona State for December 8th. He also is looking at USC and Oregon, and all five schools have offered him a scholarship. Jackson says that right now he does not have a leader, but he did say that he likes the tradition at Ohio State as well as the style of defense the Buckeyes play. He said Ohio State's defense is very aggressive and the linebackers make plays. The Buckeyes are making a strong bid for DB/RB Jeff Backes (5-11, 180) from Upper Arlington High School in Ohio. Backes has rushed for 3,000 yards this season as his team is currently 12-0 and headed to the third round of the state playoffs. He has already made an official visit to Virginia and told me that he is probably going to visit Ohio State the weekend that teammate Simon Fraser does. He also said that he might visit Northwestern and possibly Notre Dame and Duke. However, Backes told me "I really like Ohio State and Virginia." He said those two might be out ahead with the Buckeyes having the slight edge. LB Kevin Atkins (6-3, 230) from Richmond, Virginia, another player the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to, says that Ohio State has moved into the lead for his services. Atkins made 139 tackles this season. He has Ohio State scheduled for December 1st and Michigan State for December 8th. He is also in the process of setting up an official visit to Marshall, and those are the three schools left on his list. November 13, 2000 RB Kelly Baraka from Portage Northern High School in Michigan is a super back that the Buckeyes offered a scholarship to some time ago made an official visit to Michigan this past weekend. He did not commit to the Wolverines but seems very close to doing so. He says that he is no longer thinking about visiting Ohio State. Super junior quarterback Justin Zwick (6-4, 205) from Massillon Washington High School who Ohio State has offered a scholarship to already made an unofficial visit to Michigan this past weekend and saw the Michigan win over Penn State. He has been to an Ohio State game earlier this year for an unofficial visit. Zwick is considering Ohio State and Kentucky, both of whom have offered him a scholarhip, and also has Michigan on his list as well as some others. Yet another super junior quarterback that the Buckeyes are very interested in landing is Tyler Palko from Pennslvania, and Palko also made an unofficial visit to Michigan this past weekend to see the Michigan vs. Penn State game. Like Zwick, Palko also did not commit to the Wolverines. Scott Wolf (6-4, 225), a DE/OLB from St. Thomas Aquinas Fort Lauderdale High School in Florida made an unofficial visit to Michigan State this weekend. Going into this weekend, he had said that the school he likes best is Ohio State, however the Buckeyes had not offered him a scholarship while schools such as Michigan State, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, Virginia and Boston College already have offered a scholarship. He has also made an official visit to Boston College and says his three favoirtes are Ohio State, Michigan State and Boston College. DE Troy Banner (6-5, 280) from Pittsburgh Penn Hills High School in Pennsylvania has not scheduled his official visits as definites yet, but he says that he has a plan of how he might be doing some of those visits. Banner's team is still in the playoffs, but he says it is his plan right now to visit Maryland December 8th, Temple December 15th, and North Carolina State either January 5th or 12th. He also says he will visit Pitt in January, then Boston College, Ohio State, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech are the other schools that he is considering. Banner says that all of the schools except for Ohio State have offered him a scholarship and Pitt is his leader. OLB Justin Laforgia (6-5, 210) from New Jersey is a teammate of RB Ryan Grant who has been offered a scholarship by OSU. LaForgia has not yet been offered a scholarship by OSU but is very interested in the Buckeyes. He is looking at Cincinnati who he has scheduled a visit with for December 8th, Ohio State, Penn State, Syracuse, Iowa's, Wisconsin and New Hampshire. Thus far, Syracuse, Cincinnati and New Hampshire have offered him a scholarship. He wants to visit Ohio State, though the Buckeyes have not yet asked him to make an official visit. DE Devon Clark (6-4, 265) from Patterson Catholic High School in New Jersey is a player the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to and says that Ohio State is now one of his top two choices. He says he is planning to visit Ohio State, Penn State, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Miami. He said he thought those would be his five visits, but he is also still looking at Florida and Maryland. All of the schools have offered him a scholarship except for Notre Dame. He says that Syracuse and Ohio State are the two schools that he likes best. He was at OSU when he went to a Buckeyes game. He is from the same high school as former Buckeye Stan Jackson, and he went to see the Buckeyes and Jackson and has been impressed with Ohio State ever since. DL Orion Harris (6-4, 270) from Delaware is another of the country's top defensive line prospects is considering Ohio State. He tells me that he will likely visit Miami and Florida State sometime in December and the other schools he is considering are Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Tennessee, Florida and Penn State. All the schools on his list have offered him a scholarship. He says that other than Miami and Florida State, he has not decided on his official visits and that right now he does not have a favorite. WR Fred Lee (5-10, 170, 4.4) from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is planning to make an unofficial visit to Ohio State next weekend to see the Ohio State vs. Michigan game. Lee had been scheduled to make an official visit to Michigan State this past weekend to see the MSU vs. Purdue game but did not because he participated in a high school all star game instead. Lee says he will reschedule that visit with MSU. He has already made an official visit to Colorado. He is looking at Ohio State, Florida, Clemson and North Carolina State. LB/DE Thomas Carrol (6-4, 225) from Lakewood, New Jersey says he will make an official visit to Ohio State the weekend of January 5th. He has already made an official visit to Boston College and he will visit Miami December 1st and North Carolina State December 8th. He tells me that he has also just set up a visit with Ohio State for the weekend of January 5th. He is also looking at Tennessee and Penn State. He is planning on making an unofficial visit to Penn State the weekend of November 18th to see the Penn State vs. Michigan State game. All the schools on his list except Tennessee have offered him a scholarship and that right now Boston College would be his favorite but mostly because that is one school that he has made his official visit with. Top RB prospect Tremain Hall from Florida has set up an official visit with Ohio State for January 5th as well. He will visit North Carolina State on December 8th, Florida State on December 15th, and then visit the Buckeyes on January 5th. He has a number of other schools he is considering including Notre Dame. Hall has scholarship offers from schools all over the country. A player the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to is Dallas Baker from New Smyrna Beach Florida. The 6-3, 180 pound Baker tells me he is considering Ohio State. He is looking at Ohio State, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech South Carolina, Central Florida Clemson, Michigan, Notre Dame and Missouri. Baker has not yet set up any of his official visits yet and all the schools on his list have offered him a scholarship. One player that says he definitely will visit the Buckeyes is TE Quan Domineck from Georgia. The 6-5, 240 pounder with 4.7 40 speed tells me that he will make official visits to Ohio State, Auburn and Middle Tennessee. He says the does not yet have exact dates yet for those visits, but expects to start scheduling soon as his season ends this weekend. He says he is also considering Georgia, Georgia Tech, South Carolina and Clemson and he says all the schools on his list have offered him a scholarship. He says that he will probably take all five of his official visits before making a decision, and that Coach Salem has been calling him and tells him that the Buckeyes are definitely hoping to add to their tight end supply. DE/OL Mike Steggaman (6-5, 255) from Illinois says he is still considering Ohio State. In fact, he saw the Buckeyes play last weekend when the Illini took on the Buckeyes. He says he is looking at Illinois, Notre Dame, and those two have offered him a scholarship, and then Purdue, Miami, Texas A&M and Ohio State are the other schools on his list. LB Michael Craven from California, one of the country's top linebacker prospects, is not going to be able to make an official visit to Ohio State for the OSU vs. Michigan game. He had said that when he scheduled the visit because of the potential of going to an awards banquet that he might have to re-schedule the visit, and he has been selected as one of the finalist for the award so he will be at a banquet the weekend of November 18th rather than at OSU for an official visit. What is worse is that Craven is not sure if he will reschedule his official visit or not. He seems to be leaning right now against rescheduling that official visit. November 8, 2000 WR Rodney Carter (6-1, 170) from Columbus Brookhaven High School has committed to Ohio State pending his qualifying academically. Carter has helped Brookhaven to a 10-1 record and a berth in the second round of the state playoffs. He has caught 18 passes thus far this season, but has averaged 23 yards per catch. Carter is planning to make his official visit to Ohio State in December and says it will probably be the same weekend that teammate Maurice Hall visits Ohio State, the weekend of December 1st. Carter says that he is confident that he is going to pass his test and qualify academically. If that happens, he would sign with Ohio State. RB Tim Murphy (5-10, 210) from Akron, Ohio has committed to Pitt. However, he says that he probably will make an official visit to Ohio State. Murphy has led his team to a 10-1 record and a spot in the second round of the state playoffs as he has rushed for 1,505 yards. He says that he is going to make an official visit to Pitt December 8th and is still committed to the Panthers, but he says he is still hearing from Ohio State and even though the Buckeyes have not offered him a scholarship he said that he would probably make an official visit to Ohio State, though he did reiterate he is still committed to Pitt. WR Jamison Evans from Shaker Heights High School, a 6-4, 210 pounder, had a fine senior season as he caught 53 passes. His team was 10-0 during the regular season before losing in the first round of the state playoffs. Evans had a 17 yard average per catch and scored 10 touchdowns. He originally committed to Purdue and will make an official there the weekend of November 18th and says he is still a Boilermaker commitment. He also said that he might take more than just the official visit to Purdue. Evans said that Ohio State is still recruiting him though the Buckeyes have not offered him a scholarship. He said that there is a chance that he might make an official visit to Ohio State. Offensive lineman Chris Napoli (6-3, 290) from Fort Lauderdale Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Florida is a player that the Buckeyes are certainly still interested in is likely going to make an official visit elsewhere this coming weekend. Napoli says the is pretty sure he is going to make an official visit to Minnesota this weekend. He says he is pretty excited about the visit with the Gophers, and he said he will also probably visit Northwestern January 5th and probably Purdue in January as well. Napoli says the other schools he is looking at are Ohio State, Maryland, Auburn, and maybe Nebraska, but Napoli says that Ohio State is still his top choice. He said that he talked again with coach Conley recently and he has sent more film to Ohio State and is hoping to schedule an official visit with the Buckeyes though nothing definite has been set just yet. The Buckeyes are still certainly still interested in tight end Ryan Hamby (6-5, 225) from Cincinnati Moeller High School. Hamby told me last night that he just got an offer recently from Illinois. He caught 52 passes this year and is looking at Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, West Virginia, Miami of Ohio and Minnesota. All of the schools on the list except for Ohio State have offered him a scholarship. Hamby said that coach Heacock talked to him in the past week, and that he has sent more film to Ohio State and the Buckeyes are supposed to get back to him in the near future. Hamby says that of the schools that have offered him a scholarship, Illinois and Indiana would be his favorites but he said he likes Ohio State a lot too. DE/LB prospect Trent Cole (6-3, 220) from Xenia, Ohio told me last night that he is basically looking at three schools, Ohio State, Michigan State and Miami of Ohio. Cole said that Miami has already offered a scholarship and that Ohio State and Michigan State have indicated that they too would likely offer a scholarship if he gets his test score up. Coles said that he is basically down to those three schools, but he said that right now he does not have a favorite. FB Kyle Koester (6-1, 235) from Cincinnati Elder has now rushed for close to 1,700 yards and scored 21 touchdowns this season as his team is now headed to the second round of the state playoffs. Koester told me last night that he is going to wait until after the playoffs are over to schedule his official visits. He said he is still looking at the same four schools, Ohio State, Indiana, Boston College and Michigan State. MSU and Indiana have offered him a scholarship and that Boston College is trying to decide whether they too will offer him. Koester said that he does not have a favorite. WR Sean Coffee (6-5, 215) from East Cleveland Shaw High School had an outstanding senior season as he caught 33 passes and averaged over 20 yards per catch. Coffee told me last night that he is looking at Central Michigan, Ohio State and Miami of Ohio, those are his top three choices, but he also has an interest in Penn State, Virginia and Purdue. CMU and Miami have offered him a scholarship. Coffee said he is trying to schedule his official visits around basketball but as of yet does not have any exact dates for visits. RB Maurice Hall from Columbus Brookhaven was in attendance at the OSU vs. MSU game last Saturday, and has been a constant visitor at Ohio State's home games this season. When I spoke to him last night, he told me that he has now gone ahead and decided to visit Northwestern December 8th rather than Notre Dame. Hall has rushed for 2, 889 yards in 11 games thus far this season, and has his team ready for another playoff game this coming weekend. He is going to visit Ohio State December 1st, Northwestern December 8th, Penn State December 15th, Georgia Tech January 5th and Florida State January 12th. He says that he still does not have a favorite and that all five schools are pretty even on his list and all have offered him a scholarship. TE Darius Swain (6-4, 250) from Tucker, Georgia is a player that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to and he has now put Ohio State back on his list. Swain is one of the top TE prospects in the South had been interested in Ohio State early on, but not too long ago said that he was no longer looking at the Buckeyes. Now, Swain says that he talked with OSU last week and he is now re-interested in the Buckeyes. Swain made an official visit to Pitt this past weekend and said it went pretty good. He said "I know if I go there, I can play right away." He said he likes coach Walt Harris, but he did not commit to the Panthers. Swain says he will visit LSU December 8th, Miami December 15th, and Mississippi State sometime in January. He said the Georgia is still on his list and Ohio State is back in the picture now too. All of the schools have offered him a scholarship. He says that right now, Miami would be his favorite. WR Jeff Webb (6-2, 185) from La Quinta, California at one point said Ohio State was one of his top choices but the Buckeyes are no longer actively pursuing Webb. There are academic question marks and it looks like Webb will probably end up at Michigan State. Webb says he has narrowed things down to MSU, San Diego State and Oregon State with MSU his big leader. Speaking of wide receivers, Matt Kneuven (6-2, 200) from Cincinnati LaSalle High School caught 46 passes and averaged 16 yards per catch told me that he is currently looking at Ohio State, Miami of Ohio, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, and Duke. All of those schools are calling him, though none have offered him a scholarship. He said that right now his two favorites would probably be Miami of Ohio and Vanderbilt. WR Brian Piccard (6-3, 185) from Dublin Scioto High School has a very good senior season as he caught 42 passes for 1,050 yards and also made 70 tackles and had six interceptions on the other side of the ball. Piccard tells me that Ohio State and Notre Dame are talking to him about a possible official visit, and that he is currently looking at Ohio State, Notre Dame, Kentucky and Miami of Ohio. He said that none of the schools at this point have offered him a scholarship. He did say that he will probably make an unofficial visit to Ohio State to see the OSU vs. Michigan game. There was a good group of recruits in attendance at the big OSU win over Michigan State. DB Danny Upchurch (5-9, 170) from Columbus Brookhaven was in attendance and he is interested in Ohio State, as well as Pitt and he is also looking at some other schools such as Toledo and Kent State. DL Neshaun Gottard (6-5, 250) from Dayton Dunbar High School was at the MSU game as well. He has one official visit scheduled thus far, that being to Georgia Tech December 1st. He says that Georgia Tech and Ohio State are his two favorites though he is also looking at Miami of Florida, Michigan State and Wake Forrest. Thus far Georgia Tech and Wake Forrest have offered him a scholarship. DL Jamie Wimmer (6-4, 255) from Avon, Ohio was at the Ohio State win on Saturday. Wimmer is looking at Ohio State as well as Michigan State and a number of MAC schools such as Ohio, Toledo, Akron and Kent who have all offered him a scholarship. Mike Nuggent, the kicker from Centerville who I consider to be the top kicker in Ohio, was also in attendance. A number of OSU's verbal commitments were in attendance for the MSU game, including safety Jacob Stewart. This was Stewart's first visit to an OSU home game this season. An impressive group of juniors were in attendance at the OSU vs. MSU game on Saturday, including one of the country's top running back prospects for next season, Maurice Clarett from Warren Harding High School. Clarett, who rushed for close to 1,000 yards this season despite playing in just six games due to ankle surgery, tells me that he already has scholarship offers on the table from the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame and Michigan State. There has been plenty of talk that he is favoring Notre Dame, but he told me that he is not particularly close to making a decision and at this point wants to continue to look at schools. His teammate, DB Prescott Burgess, who is a fine safety prospect also took in the game on Saturday, as did QB Mike Phillips, also a junior at Warren Harding. TE George Cooper from Westerville North High School is another outstanding prospect that will be one of the better prospects in Ohio next year, and was in attendance at the OSU vs. MSU game. Cooper's father played fullback for OSU during his college football career. E.J. Underwood (6-1, 175), a DB from Hamilton High School also made it to OSU's game. Underwood will be one of the top corner back prospects in Southern Ohio next season. QB Denayne Dixon (6-3, 195) from East Cleveland Shaw High School was in attendance at the Ohio State win on Saturday. He is already drawing interest from Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and many others. Another QB in attendance was Rocco Moragas from Canton, McKinley High School. He told me that among the schools that he is drawing interest from are Ohio State as well as West Virginia and some others. OL Ronnie Lunford (6-5, 320) from Jacksonville White High School in Florida tells me that he will also make an official visit to Ohio State. Lunford is one of the top offensive line prospects in the South and said that he is looking at Florida, Florida State, Miami, Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Auburn, and perhaps a few other schools. He did sat that there are three schools that he knows he is going to make official visits to, and those are Florida State, Miami, and Ohio State. All the schools on Lundord's list have offered him a scholarship, but right now he is not scheduled any exact dates for official visits. The Buckeyes definitely would love to land Lunford as they want to replenish the offensive line in this recruiting class and right now they don't have a great number of outstanding offensive line prospects that they have a shot at, so Lunford is certainly one that they would like to add to this class. TE Tyree Spinner (6-7, 235) from Fairfax Paul VI High School in Virginia tells me that he is still considering Ohio State. He said that he is looking at Virginia, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Maryland and Miami. All of those schools have offered him a scholarship except Maryland. He said he does not have a favorite right now. WR Dontes Sanders, the younger brother of OSU TE Darnell Sanders is a 6-1, 190 pounder from Bedford, Ohio has helped lead his team into the playoffs. His team is currently 9-1. Sanders says he has three official visits set up. He will visit Wisconsin December 8th, Indiana December 15th, and Pitt December 22nd. Those three have offered Sanders a scholarship, but Sanders says that he is interested in two other schools as well, Ohio State and Purdue. Sanders said that right now, Wisconsin is probably his favorite, but I think that would probably change if the Buckeyes would offer. DB Jabril Raymo who the Buckeyes had offered a scholarship to has committed to UCLA. Raymo off and on again said he would likely commit to the Bruins, but he had had an interest in Ohio State and had had an official visit scheduled with the Buckeyes for the weekend of December 1st. Raymo's mother had said she was very impressed with Ohio State and might even prefer the Buckeyes but Raymo himself seemed all along to prefer UCLA and he has committed to the Bruins. TE Marcus Spears from Baton Rouge Southern High School in Louisiana, without question one of the country's top tight end prospects says he is going to make an official visit to Ohio State. Spears, a 6-5, 265 pounder with 4.8 40 speed, says he will make an official visit with the Buckeyes either the weekend of December 8th or the weekend of January 5th. Spears is considering Ohio State very highly, they are one of his top choices, and is also interested in UCLA. Miami of Florida, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Alabama, Clemson, Texas and Michigan. He has scholarship offers from all of the schools on his list, but the Buckeyes are definitely one of his top choices. QB/Athlete Ingle Martin from Nashville Montgomery High School in Tennessee is a 6-4, 205 pounder and is an outstanding all-around athlete that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to. He tells me that he spoke with Buckeye assistant coach Chuck Stobart this week and that he is thinking about visiting Ohio State but nothing is definite at this point. Martin says that he has one official visit scheduled thus far, to Georgia December 8th, and he says he also plans to schedule visits to Tennessee and Florida. After that, the rest of his visits are up in the air, and that Ohio State could get one of them. He is also looking at Clemson, Mississippi, Virginia, Purdue, and Michigan, and all of those schools have offered Martin a scholarship. Martin would like a shot at playing quarterback in college, but if that doesn't work out he would have no problem switching positions and would move to a safety spot. RB Kelly Baraka from Portage Northern High School in Michigan, a 6-1, 185 pounder, is still considering Ohio State as one of his official visits. Baraka has already an official visit to Purdue and will make an official visit to Michigan the weekend of November 11th when Michigan plays Penn State. Baraka also has a December 1st visit scheduled to Notre Dame and he is also considering Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Nebraska for his last two visits. All of the schools have offered him a scholarship. Baraka is without question one of the top running back prospects in the nation and he says right now Purdue, Michigan and Notre Dame remain his top three choices. TE James Moses from Houston North Shore High School in Texas, a 6-3, 220 pounder, told me last night he is considering Ohio State. Moses caught 26 passes as a junior and has an official visit to Colorado for January 19th. He says he is also looking at Tennessee, as well as Oklahoma, Miami, Texas, Arizona, Ohio State and Penn State. Moses said that most of those schools have offered him a scholarship, though the Buckeyes have not offered to this point. November 2, 2000 Also, WR Matt Shelton from Tennessee, another player the Buckeyes had offered a scholarship to, has also committed elsewhere. He has committed to Notre Dame. Shelton said the Notre Dame just felt like the best fit for him and he feels like he is already part of the family from talking to the Notre Dame coaches over the phone. He had been planning to make an official visit to Ohio State the weekend of December 1st, but that visit has been cancelled. One of the country's top running back prospects, Ryan Grant (6-2, 200) from New Jersey, has told Ohio State that the Buckeyes are going to be one of his official visits. He had been favoring Michigan for some time, but the Wolverines are filling up on available space in their recruiting class, and it's not certain now that Michigan could fit him in their class despite his enormous talent. Grant says that Michigan is no longer his favorite, that he doesn't have a favorite anymore, but he has told three schools that he will make official visits. Those three are Ohio State, Florida and Virginia. Grant has narrowed things down to six schools. He has taken Boston College off of his list, and says that his decision is down to Ohio State, Virginia, Florida, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and Michigan. All of those schools at one time or another have offered him a scholarship, though it is not certain if Michigan could fit him in their class as of now. Grant says he will likely take all five of his official visits before making a decision. Grant rushed for 1500 yards as a junior. Of course the Buckeyes have already landed a verbal commitment from top DE prospect Simon Fraser from Upper Arlington High School in Columbus. Keep in mind that the defensive end that plays opposite Fraser, Tim Schaffer, is only a junior and he is going to be one of the top prospects in the state of Ohio next season, and he is interested in the Buckeyes. He is a 6-5, 245 pound defensive end and tells me that the is already taking a look at Ohio State, as well as Michigan and Miami. He has made unofficial visits to a couple of Ohio State home games this season. DB Jacob Stewart from Ypsilanti, Michigan has firmed up his verbal commitment to Ohio State and says he is not planning to visit any other schools. Stewart committed to Ohio State long ago, but has been saying that he would probably still visit both Michigan State and Iowa. However, Stewart now tells me that he is not planning to visit either one of those schools and that he is solid on his Ohio State commitment. Stewart will make his official visit to Ohio State either the weekend of November 18th or the weekend of December 1st. He will also make an unofficial visit to the Ohio State/Michigan State game. WR Larry Fitzgerald from Richfield Holy Angels Academy in Minnesota, a tremendous talent, says that he is interested in the Buckeyes. He is a 6-3, 210 pound WR with 4.4 40 speed. There is absolutely no question about his talent. The only question mark is academics. As a freshman, he was a varsity starter a freshman, as a sophomore started at free safety and then as junior started at WR and strong safety. His junior season he caught 54 passes. Fitzgerald tells me that he is considering Purdue, Ohio State, Penn State, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin and Pitt. He has already made an official visit to Pitt. All of the schools have offered him a scholarship. He says he doesn't have a favorite right now, and he did indicate that former Buckeyes Chris Carter, Corey Stringer and Robert Smith have helped him get interested in Ohio State. He is a ball boy for the Minnesota Vikings and the Vikings/Ohio State trio of Carter, Stringer and Smith have told him plenty of good things about Ohio State. WR Kevin Noel, another top WR prospect, now has Ohio State back on his list. Noel is a 6-3, 190 pounder from Naperville, Illinois and was offered a scholarship by the Buckeyes long ago. He did at one point have Ohio State in his top five. Subsequently, he said he was no longer looking at the Buckeyes but now says that OSU is back on his list. He has already made an official visit to Purdue and has an official visit scheduled to Michigan State for December 1st. He said he will probably also schedule visits to Kentucky and Georgia Tech, and that his fifth visit would probably be between Ohio State, Florida and Miami. All the schools on his list except for Florida and Miami have already offered him a scholarship. DB Jeff Backes from Upper Arlington High School, a 5-11, 180 pounder, is having a great season at running back, but I think will end up playing defensive back in college. Backes made his official visit this past weekend to Virginia as scheduled. According to his sister, Backes did not commit to Virginia and is still unsure of his decision. Backes has a tentative date to visit Duke December 8th and has been working on making an official visit to Ohio State. Northwestern and Notre Dame are the other two schools that are still in the picture. Thus far, Virginia, Duke, Ohio State and Northwestern have offered him a scholarship. Backes is having a tremendous season playing both running back and defensive back, but he is really piling up the numbers on offense though many colleges see him as a corner back and return man. WR Jomo Fagan (6-2, 175) from Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Florida made an official visit to Purdue this past weekend for the Ohio State vs. Purdue game. Fagan has now made official visits to Michigan State and Purdue, and is scheduled to visit Ohio State for an official visit the weekend the Buckeyes play Michigan. Other schools that have been on his list include North Carolina State, Miami, Virginia Tech, Florida and Clemson, and all those schools except for Florida have offered him a scholarship. It doesn't look good for the Buckeye with DE Marquis Hill from New Orleans De LaSalle High School in Louisiana. The 6-7, 285 pound Hill, who is without question one of the top defensive end prospects in the country, has already scheduled official visits to LSU in November, as well as Michigan for December 1st, Georgia for December 8th, and Georgia Tech for December 15th. He also says that he is considering Ohio State for that fifth official visit, but he also is considering Florida State, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, Texas A&M, Texas and Miami for that fifth visit as well. Hill had said at one point that his favorite was Michigan with either Florida State or Ohio State second. He says that Michigan is still his favorite, but he has dropped both Florida State and Ohio State down because he looked at the depth charts for both teams at defensive end, and he thinks both Florida State and Ohio State have a lot of depth at defensive end so he has dropped those two schools down. Hill said that Georgia is now his second choice with LSU third behind his leader, Michigan. FB Iyo Saba from New Jersey, a 6-0, 255 pounder, is still very much interested in Ohio State. Saba has scheduled only one official visit thus far, that being to Kansas State December first. The other schools he is continuing to look at are Ohio State as well as Florida State, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Iowa and Tennessee. All of the schools on his list have offered a scholarship and while he does not have a definite favorite, he said that Ohio State, Kansas State and Florida State would certainly be high on his list. Dominck Anderson is a fine RB from Fort Lauderdale Florida and a teammate of Jomo Fagan. He is scheduled to make an official visit the weekend of the Ohio State/Michigan game. In the case of Anderson, I think the Buckeyes have a pretty good chance of landing him. He continues to say that Ohio State is his top choice, and the Buckeyes have already offered him a scholarship. The Buckeyes also, I think, have a pretty decent chance of landing Matt Sinclair, the fine linebacker from Missouri. Sinclair is also scheduled to make an official visit to the Buckeyes the weekend the Buckeyes play Michigan, and he continues to say that Ohio State is at the least one of his top choices, if not his top choice. Also scheduled for that same weekend is LB Michael Craven from California. However, in the case of Craven, I feel that while the Buckeyes have a shot, they will have a bit more difficult time landing Craven than they would landing Sinclair, Anderson of Fagan. Two of the top prospects in the state of California, and actually, two of the best on the West Coast, have scheduled official visits to Ohio State. DL Shaun Cody, one of the county's top defensive end prospects, has scheduled an official visit to Ohio State for the weekend of January 5th. Cody also has an official visit scheduled to Miami for the weekend of December 15th, and one to Notre Dame for the weekend of January 19th. All three of those schools, and many other schools, have offered Cody a scholarship. Cody says that right now, his top three would be UCLA, Notre Dame and Miami in no particular order, but certainly the Buckeyes are happy that he has scheduled an official visit to Ohio State. OL/TE prospect Joe Toledo has also now scheduled an official visit with the Buckeyes the weekend of the Ohio State/Michigan game, the weekend of November 17th. He also has Arizona scheduled for a December 1st official visit and Washington for a December 8th official visit. Toledo says that right now, he does not have a favorite and is looking at some other schools, but those are the three official visits he has scheduled thus far. DL Neshaun Gottard (6-5, 250) from Dayton Dunbar High School says that he will probably make an unofficial visit to Ohio State this weekend for the Ohio State vs. Michigan State game. Gottard has scheduled an official visit to Georgia Tech for December 1st, and he is also looking at Ohio State, Miami of Florida, Michigan State and Wake Forest. Georgia Tech and Wake Forest have offered Gottard a scholarship, however Gottard says that he likes Ohio State and Georgia Tech best. He had over 100 tackles this season and also had ten sacks included in that number. Also in Ohio, fullback Kyle Koester from Cincinnati, a 6-1, 235 pounder who has rushed for over 1,500 yards and 19 touchdowns during the regular season has not yet scheduled any of his official visits, but plans to make visits to four schools; Indiana, Ohio State, Boston College and Michigan State. He said that Indiana and Michigan State have offered him a scholarship, but that right now, he does not have a favorite. |