Bill Kurelic's August Posts August 27, 1999 4:30 PM Another player the Buckeyes are interested in from the State of Washington is tight end Willie Waldon, but perhaps the top target they have on its board at tight end is Brock Edwards from Fort Worth Christian High School in Texas. Edwards is arguably as talented as any tight end in the country. He is 6-5, 250 with 4.6 40 speed. Edwards says that Ohio State remains one of his finalist, and he continues to look at Ohio State as well as Texas A&M, Florida State and Michigan and all of those schools have offered him a scholarship. As to his official visits he has not began to set those up yet. He has not decided which ones and how many he will visit but he says one of those trips definitely will take him to Ohio State. The other outstanding tight end the Buckeyes are in pursuit of is Eric Knott from Michigan and Eric continues not to have strong interest in Ohio State as well. The Buckeyes also continue to pursuit Willie Roberts of Florida and Roberts is another outstanding tight end and that the Buckeyes certainly could land. Now moving to the state of Ohio, a fine linebacker that is not growing as much attention as the other linebacker prospects in Ohio, but is a good one none the less is Charles Terry from Pittsburgh. The problem with Terry is that academically he needs to work on his situation and and for that reason recruiters are taking a look at him but are waiting to see what happens. Terry has Ohio State as one of the schools on his list. Terry is a 6'2, 210 linebacker from Bedford Ohio who has a 4.6 40. He played outsider linebacker as a junior and was all over the field. He made 167 tackles as a junior. He has a 2.0 grade point average so he needs to work on things in the class room and he won't take his test until October so academics are definitely a concern. However Terry is still drawing interest from the likes of Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Pitt, Michigan, Purdue, and Illinois as well as everyone in the MAC. Terry says that he doesn't have any strong favorites but he might be leaning a little bit to Pitt. It is now down to five schools schools for blue-chip offensivse lineman Shane Olivea of Long Beach New York. Olivea, 6'5, 305 lbs., with 5.1 40 speed, is one of the countries top offensive line prospects. Olivea who has a brother who lives in Marietta, Ohio and has narrowed things down to just five schools and set up all five officials visits and the good news is the Buckeyes are one of the five finalists. Olivea, who qualified academically and has started at both sides at both sides of the ball his sophomore season, told me last night that he start his official visits with a trip to Ohio State the weekend of December 3rd. Olivea will then visit Syracuse December 10th. Previously he was going to visit Wisconsin that weekend , but he has now eliminated the Badgers. After visiting Ohio State and Syracuse in December he will then visit Nebraska December 17th. After that he has an official visit scheduled Georgia Tech for January 7th, and Iowa January 14th. All five schools have offered a scholarship. Olivea had previously been looking at three other schools , the three being Penn State, Wisconsin, and West Virginia, but all three of those schools are now totally out of the running. Olivea says he does not have a favorite and he has not yet seen all five. He has seen only two, Ohio State and Syracuse. He said when he visited those schools he only got to see the football facilities, and not the campus, so he wants to visit both schools again. Olivea had been planning to attend Ohio State's game this Sunday against Miami, but he now not going to be able to make it and will watch it on TV. Olivea is one of two linemen from out of state that may be visiting Ohio State the weekend of December 3rd. The other one is Calvin Barrett (6-2, 300) from Spring Valley Monta Vista High School in California who is a defensive tackle and might visit Ohio State that same weekend. Defensive back Matt Grootegoed from Santa Anna Mater Dei High School in California has still has not made his decision . Groetegoed has narrowed things down to Ohio State, Michigan, UCLA and USC. He has told me that he would like to make an announcement by the end this month or the first couple of days of September. Staying out there on the West coast, tight end Willie Waldon (6-8, 260, 3.75) from Vancouver Evergreen High School in Washington is an outstanding prospect that is interested in Ohio State. He caught 27 passes as a junior and scored five times. He has a 3.3 GPA and will take his test this fall. He told me he is being recruited a lot by Ohio State, but that he doesn't have a top five or top ten schools at this point. Waldon has not yet visited any schools and remains wide open on his choice of schools. He does say there are some schools he definitely wants to look at, among them are UCLA, Washington and Oregon, and all three have offered him a scholarship. He also mentioned Ohio State, Nebraska, Arizona State, Notre Dame and Michigan as schools that he will definitely take a look at. The Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to two wide receivers from the state of Illinois and have a legitimate shot at both of them. Ade Adeyamo (6-2, 190, 4.35) from Chicago Saint Rita High School in Illinois. He caught 27 passes as a junior and averaged 22 yards per catch. He has a 2.8 GPA and scored a 21 on the ACT. He told me that he right now he is mainly preparing for his first game of the season this Saturday night, but that he has been thinking some about colleges. In fact, he told me that Ohio State is very much on this mind. He said that he is looking at Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Michigan State and Tennessee, and that he has a three way tie for his top spot between Ohio State, Georgia Tech and Indiana. All three of those schools have offered him a scholarship. He said he is not necessarily close to making a decision, and that he has not yet begun to schedule any of his official visits. At one time he was mostly thinking about warm-weather schools, but now he is most definitely highly considering the Buckeyes Wide receiver Jerome Collins (6-3, 205) from Wheaten Warrensville South High School in Illinois is another receiver the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship. He caught 35 passes as a junior and averaged almost 19 yards per catch. He has a 3.0+ GPA and scored a 22 on the ACT. Collins told me that he is looking at Ohio State, Notre Dame, UCLA and Michigan State, but that his three favorites are Ohio State, Notre Dame and UCLA. Thus far of the three, the Buckeyes are the only one that have offered him a scholarship. Collins says he will not make a decision until at least the end of the season, but that he has been very, very impressed with Ohio State watching the Buckeyes on television. One of the top defensive line prospects in the South has Ohio State as one his top five choices. Marcus Jasmine (6-5, 270, 5.0) from New Orleans de LaSalle High School that could play either defensive end or defensive tackle in college. He was a varsity starter as a freshman, but did not play football the past two seasons. Jasmine is, however, playing as a senior, and recruiters are well aware of him. He has a 3.0 GPA, an 18 on the ACT, benches 300 and has a 31 inch vertical jump. He says his top five, in no particular order, are Ohio State, Michigan, Florida, Texas A&M and Georgia Tech, and most of those schools have already offered him a scholarship. The Buckeyes are pursuing an number of quarterbacks across the country, and a very very good one from the state of South Carolina says he is interested in Ohio State. Darian Durant (6-1 1/2, 210, 4.6) from Florence Wilson High School in South Carolina passed for over 2100 yards last season and also rushed for over 400 yards. Durant connected for 21 scores with just six interceptions. He has a 2.9 GPA and scored an 850 on the SAT. Durant told me that some schools he is considering are South Carolina, Clemson, Ohio State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Michigan State, Kentucky, North Carolina State, Notre Dame and Michigan. A number of those schools, including Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina and Georgia Tech have already offered him a scholarship. While the Buckeyes have not yet offered, they are definitely interested. One of the country's premier athletes tells me that Ohio State is on his list of potential colleges. Marcus Houston (6-2, 207, 4.37) from Denver Thomas Jefferson High School is a super prospect that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship, and Houston tells me that there are three schools in the Midwest that he is considering and Ohio State is one of them. Houston starts at both tailback and safety, but will play on offense in college. He rushed for for 1700 yards as a Junior. August 23, 1999 An outstanding defensive lineman from California has Ohio State as his top choice. Kalvin Barrett (6-2, 300, 5.25), from Spring Valley Monta Vista High School says that he has a top three of Ohio State, USC and Nebraska, though he is also interested in Arizona and San Diego State. He says that of his top three, the Buckeyes and Nebraska both have told him that they want him. He is from the same high school as current OSU tailback Mike Wiley. He bench presses 400 pounds and has a 2.8 GPA and scored an 890 on the SAT. He says that he just has liked Ohio State for quite some time, and the Buckeyes are probably his favorite. He visited Ohio State when he was younger and he said that he is going to be taking his first official visit to either Ohio State or Nebraska. He will visit one of those two schools the first weekend on December. The Buckeyes would love to land running back Chris Perry from Fork Union Military academy. Perry has Ohio State and Michigan pretty much dead even as his co-leaders over Virginia Tech and North Carolina. Both OSU and Michigan have offered Perry a scholarship. Another running back that the Buckeyes are interested in is Brian Odom (6-1, 205, 4.5)from Ada, Oklahoma. Odom says he has OSU as one of his favorites. He had 1856 yards rushing last year and he also passed for 744 yards and led the state of Oklahoma in scoring. He tells me he is looking at Ohio State, as well as Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, UCLA, Texas Christian, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado and Nebraska. Missouri has offered him a scholarship. Fullback Dustin Picciotti (6-3, 235, 4.55) from Doylestown Central Bucks High School in Pennsylvania is a player that the Buckeyes would absolutely love to land. He is without question one of the country's top prospects, and he tells me that Ohio State is very much still on his list. In fact, he mentioned Ohio State as one of the few schools in particular that he is thinking about. He rushed for close to 2000 yards last season, averaged 7.2 per carry, and scored 41 times. He has a 2.4 GPA and an 890 on the SAT said he has not yet set up any official visits, or for that matter, he hasn't made any unofficial visits to schools recently, and was not particularly planning to visit any schools in the near future. He said that he really hasn't been worrying too much about recruiting, but that he is going to start thinking about it soon. He did say though when asked some schools he would consider, he mentioned Michigan State, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Syracuse and Boston College, and all those schools have offered him a scholarship. Wide receiver Jeramy Battier (6-5, 200), from Detroit Country Day High School in Michigan is another outstanding talent that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to. His older brother Shane is a star on the Duke basketball team. He has 3.2 GPA and a 25 on the ACT is a fine basketball player as well, but he is planning on going the football route in college. Battier caught 50 passes and averaged almost 16 yards per catch last season. He tells me that he in now planning out his official visits. He doesn't have any exact dates scheduled, but knows the five schools he is planning to visit. He said he will visit Duke as well as Stanford and also Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State. Thus far Ohio State, Penn State and Duke have offered him a scholarship. He said he is probably going to start some of his official visits during the season. Staying in the state of Michigan, offensive lineman William Paris (6-4, 305,) from Detroit Cass Tech High School is the son of former Michigan and NFL offensive lineman Bubba Paris. William says that he right now is looking at Stanford as well as Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Illinois, and Kansas. Thus far none of those schools have offered him a scholarship. Paris did say that he really has not been caught up in recruiting at all. He is just mainly focusing on the upcoming season, but did say that right now Stanford would probably be his leader. Moving down to the state of Florida, a very, very good back that the Buckeyes are interested is Willis McGhahee (6-1, 215, 4.45) from Miami Central High School. He is one of the most talented backs in the state of Florida and at 215 pounds has run a 10.9 100 meters in track. He told me that he wants to visit Ohio State as well as West Virginia, and is interested in visiting Florida as well. He said that a couple of other schools that he is thinking about are Tennessee and Miami, but he said that Ohio State is definitely one of his top choices. There is no question that the Buckeyes dearly want to land an outstanding tight end in this recruiting class. To that end, the Buckeyes are now trying to work their way in to the list of Quinn Sypniewski (6-6, 260, 4.65) from Johnston, Iowa. He is one of the midwest's top prospects and he has scholarship offers from schools all over the country. He has a 3.1 GPA and 20 on the ACT. He also plays defensive end and could play either position in college though he is being recruited more for the offensive side of the ball. Stepnewski was injured part of last season, in fact he played in all three games because of torn ligaments in his ankle, but he is totally healthy now and recruiters know what he can do. He has visited a number of schools this summer. He went to camp at Nebraska and USC and made visits to Notre Dame, UCLA, Colorado, Iowa, Iowa State, Purdue, Kansas State, Michigan, Michigan State and Northwestern, and every one of those schools has offered him a scholarship. However Sypniewski is having a hard time narrowing things down. In fact, he is adding schools to his list. Tennessee just got in contact with him and he has added the volunteers to his list, and it certainly is not out of the question that the Buckeyes are showing great interest that he could OSU to his list as well. An outstanding player from the West Coast who is very interested in Ohio State is defensive end/outside linebacker Amon Gordon from Everett Mariner High School in Washington. Gordon actually played for Mariner High School last season but will play his senior season for San Diego Mira Mesa High School in California. He has scholarship offers from a number of schools, including Washington, Florida State, USC, Cal and Oregon. He is taking a look at those schools, but he also says he would like to visit Ohio State. He says he interested in Ohio State, as well as Tennessee, Stanford, Michigan, Arizona, Arizona State, Miami and Georgia as well as Notre Dame in addition to the schools that I mentioned that have already offered him a scholarship. Don't be surprised if the Buckeyes are in heavy contact with Gordon in the very near future. RB Derron Parquet (6-0, 210, 4.4) from Metarie Rummel High school in Louisiana has a number of scholarship offers, and he has Ohio State on his list. He had 800 yards rushing last season, but that is misleading. He missed quite a bit of playing time with a pulled hamstring as well as a sprained ankle. Parquet has easily qualified academically and has run a 10.6 100 meters and a 21.5 200 meters. He has scholarship offers from LSU, Tennessee and Colorado, and he says he is looking at those three schools, but he also says he is getting a lot of mail from Ohio State, and likes the Buckeyes, and also is looking at Michigan, Miami and Notre Dame. It shouldn't be too long before the Buckeyes find out if they have landed Blue-Chip defensive back Matt Grootegoed (6-0, 200, 4.5) or not. Grootegoed, from Santa Anna Mater Dei High School in California is one of the country's premier defensive back prospects, and he does have ties to Ohio. He was recently in Ohio and was able to visit OSU for an unofficial visit. His mother has family in Cleveland and his dad is from Canton, and he was in Northeast Ohio for a family reunion about a week ago. He also visited Michigan before heading to Canada with his family for several days of vacation. He told me that he was very impressed at both Ohio State and Michigan. He said Ohio State has top-notch facilities, and the coaches are all really nice, while he said Michigan was just very, very football oriented and he liked the coaches there as well. He said his decision is still down to four schools, Ohio State, Michigan, UCLA and USC. He does not plan to wait to take any official visits because he has made unofficial visits to all four schools. He said he is now weighing the pros and cons of all four and he is going to make a decision in the next few weeks and could decided as soon as the next few days. Another Californian the Buckeyes would love to land is tight end Alex Holmes (6-3, 300) and Holmes says that he might be making an official visit to Ohio State. Holmes will not play football this season as he has used up all his eligibility, but he will finish up his school work and graduate in December, and then enroll in college in January and be able to go through Spring practice. Holmes has already set up three of his official visits. He will visit UCLA for the UCLA vs. Washington State game the weekend of November 12th. The following weekend he will make an official visit to USC to see the USC vs. UCLA game, and then he will make an official visit to Michigan September 4. That of course will be his first official visit to see the Michigan vs. Notre Dame game. Holmes also says he will schedule official visits to Ohio State and Cal. All five schools have offered him a scholarship. Holmes says right now his two favorites would be Michigan and UCLA and that they are pretty even, but from talking to him I get the idea that UCLA might have a slight lead. Defense back Antwoine Lias (6-2, 175) from Memphis Melrose High School in Tennessee is very interested in Ohio State. In fact, he says he will probably make an official visit with the Buckeyes and Ohio State has offered him a scholarship. Antoine is a safety that picked off eight passes as a junior and is a big time hitter. He has a 2.5 GPA and will take his test in the fall. He tells me that his top five, in no particular order, are Ohio State, Tennessee, Michigan, Auburn, Florida and Florida State, and all of those schools have offered him a scholarship. He said he is almost sure he will make official visits to Tennessee and Florida, and will probably also make official visits to Ohio State and Michigan, though he has not set up any exact dates for any trips. One of the top prospects in the state of California may make his first official visits to Ohio State and the Buckeyes have offered him a scholarship. Tab Perry (6-3, 205, 4.5) from Milpitis, California is an outstanding prospect at either wide receiver or free safety. Perry could play either position in college as well as return punts and kicks. He has a 36" vertical jump and a 2.8 GPA and scored an 820 on the SAT. He caught 41 passes last season and scored 13 times, and he also picked off two passes. Perry tells me he is also looking at UCLA, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Cal, Colorado and Arizona State. He said that all of those schools have offered him a scholarship but he does not have any specific leaders at this time. Perry did say that he got to meet coach Spencer when Spencer was at his school in May, and he has talked with him on the phone. Perry said that he is going to likely wait until December to start scheduling official visits, but he said that right now he is thinking that first visit might be in early January to Ohio State. Another Californian that likes the Buckeyes, in fact has family ties to Ohio State, is OL Tyler Scott (6-3, 320, 5.15) from Carson, California. He has a 2.5 GPA and a scored a 990 on the SAT. He plays offensive tackle in high school, but will be a guard or center in college. Scott's dad played on the OSU football team in the early 70's. He is looking at Ohio State, Arizona State, Texas, Texas A&M and Michigan State. Thus far Arizona State has offered a scholarship. Scott went to Ohio State's football camp the summer before his sophomore season, and he says that he too would like to make an official visit with the Buckeyes. OL Jeramy McCorkle (6-7, 295), one of the top OL prospects in Pennsylvania, made an unofficial visit to Ohio State earlier this summer, and he told me recently that Ohio State remains one of his top four choices, in fact one of his top three choices. He said his top four, in no specific order, are Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan and Notre Dame, with the top three in no order being Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan. McCorkle has 19 scholarship offers now, however his top four schools have not yet offered yet. Among his offers are offers from North Carolina, Syracuse, West Virginia, and South Carolina. Michigan has asked him to make an official visit. The Buckeyes have not done that yet but are definitely interested. The Buckeyes also continue to have an interest in OL Ricky Wymer, a huge prospect from Westerville North High School. Ricky is now up to 6-9 and 305 pounds unfortunately had a serious knee injury while attending OSU's football camp in June. Wymer tore the ACL, the MCL and the LCL in his knee. Wymer had scholarship offers from Michigan State as well as Purdue and Indiana before the injury. Those three schools are still interested and Wymer is still looking at those three, but he also likes Ohio State, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Clemson and Boston College. Much, however, is going to depend on how Wymer does with his surgery, whether it be after the season or sometime during the season. LB Marco Cooper (6-2, 230, 4.5) from Detroit Cass High school is still very much considering Ohio State, and he is a huge target of the Buckeyes'. Cooper has already made an unofficial visit to Ohio State in the Spring and was very impressed. Cooper has a 2.8 GPA but will need to raise his test score, and is a tremendous prospect that has scholarship offers from schools all over the country. He told me recently that he is definitely looking at Ohio State, Florida State, Michigan and Penn State. He said he is also taking a look at Tennessee and Minnesota, and is maybe a little bit interested in Michigan State. All of those schools except Penn State have offered him a scholarship. He says that he doesn't have a favorite any more. At one time he said that Ohio State might well be his favorite, but that he doesn't necessarily have a favorite any more or even a top two or three. Another prospect from the state of Michigan that the Buckeyes are looking at is Noah Herron (5-11, 215), a running back from Matawan, and Herron visited Wisconsin recently. Herron visited Ohio State earlier this Spring. He rushed for over 2000 yards and averaged close to ten yards per carry as a junior, and he has already qualified academically. He said his visit with his parents to Wisconsin went well but the Badgers did not officially offer a scholarship. Herron has been offered by Iowa, Virginia, Illinois and Indiana. He is looking at those four as well as Ohio State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame and Penn State. He says he does not have a favorite and is not close to making a decision. The Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to two way lineman Eric Knoll (6-5, 295, 4.85) from Gaithersburg Watkins Mills High School in Maryland. Knoll has easily qualified academically and could play on either side of the ball. Knoll has been a two way varsity starter since his freshman season. He tells me that Penn State still has the lead for his services, but he is not ready to commit to the Nittany Lions. He is also looking at Ohio State, Florida State, Michigan and North Carolina, as well as Michigan State. Thus far Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan State have offered him a scholarship. WR Reggie Vickers (6-0, 170, 4.4) from Belle Glade Glade Central High School in Florida is one of the more talented wide out prospects in the state of Florida. Vickers caught 44 passes and scored 18 times as a junior and averaged over 20 yards per catch. Vickers tells me that he is looking at Florida State and Auburn, and those two schools have already offered him a scholarship, but he is also interested in Ohio State, Miami, UCLA, Tennessee and Florida. He says right now he does not have a favorite. Yet another player form the state of Florida that likes the Buckeyes is DB Mark Dorsey (6-2, 190, 4.4) from Jacksonville Bowles High School. He has a 2.5 GPA and picked off five passes and made over 50 tackles as a junior. Dorsey is interested in Ohio State, Maryland, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Louisville and Tulane. The Buckeyes have not yet offered a scholarship. The Buckeyes continue to be interested in tight end Jason Caldwell (6-4, 265, 4.75) from Mentor. Caldwell tells me that he is interested in Ohio State, Indiana, South Carolina and Michigan. The Buckeyes have not offered Caldwell a scholarship yet, even though he was very, very impressive at Ohio State's football camp in June. Caldwell says he has no strong leader at this point, but if the Buckeyes offered him a scholarship, I think they have a great shot at landing him. Thursday, August 12, 1999 Defensive back Willie Allan (6-2, 170, 4.45) from Trottwood-Madison High School has committed to OSU. He has a nice combination of size and speed, and has played both safety and cornerback and could play either position at Ohio State, though Allan is probably going to get his first shot on the corner for the Buckeyes. He has a 3.3 GPA and scored an 18 on the ACT. He did not pick off any passes as a junior but that is perhaps a bit misleading. He was injured part of the season and he also didn't get challenged that often, but Willie Allan certainly has the size and speed that the Buckeyes like. Allan was offered a scholarship by Ohio State a couple of days ago, and when that first happened he told the Buckeyes he wanted to talk things over with his father before he made a decision. Willie has now done that, and has committed to Ohio State. The two schools that had offered him a scholarship were Ohio State and Miami of Ohio, but Allan was also drawing quite a bit of interest from Michigan State, West Virginia, Purdue and Northwestern. Linebacker Brett Hughes (6-3, 210, 4.6) from Upper Arlington High School is interested in Ohio State, and in fact has the Buckeyes as one of his top choices. He has a 3.2 GPA and scored a 1000 on the SAT and made 147 tackles as a junior. He tells me that for football, he is looking at Ohio State, Purdue, Northwestern, Stanford, and maybe Duke and North Carolina. Hughes is also a top Lacrosse player, and for that sport he is looking at Virginia, North Carolina, Loyola of Maryland, Maryland and Johns Hopkins. Hughes has not decided which sport to play in college, or perhaps to give both sports a try. He says his top choices are Ohio State, North Carolina and Virginia. Running back Chris Perry and quarterback Sean Cassidy, both from Fork Union Military Academy, visited an Ohio State practice session this week. Perry (6-2, 218, 4.5) had a good visit with the Buckeyes and remains very, very interested in Ohio State. The Buckeyes offered him a scholarship back in June when he was at Ohio State's football camp. Perry says that basically, he is focusing on four schools, those being Ohio State, Michigan, North Carolina and he has added Virginia Tech to his list as Virginia Tech has recently offered a scholarship. Ohio State and Michigan have offered a scholarship as well. Perry told me that he pretty much has Ohio State and Michigan dead even for his top spot. After that it would be pretty close between North Carolina and Virginia Tech. Perry said that right now he is not thinking that he will make a decision in the near future. Sean Cassidy was also very impressed at the practice session. Cassidy is looking at Ohio State, Michigan, Miami, North Carolina, Boston College, Northwestern and Kent State. He says that he gets the feeling that Boston College is soon going to offer a scholarship. Cassidy is a left handed quarterback that completed 60% of his passes as a junior and says OSU is absolutely one of his top choices. The Buckeyes remain interested in wide receiver Andrew Lee (6-2, 190, 4.45) from Columbus Brookhaven High School. Lee was very impressive at Ohio State's football camp and the Buckeyes are extremely interested. Lee says that his current top four choices are Ohio State, Purdue, Notre Dame and Pitt. Pitt has a firm scholarship offer on the table, and the Buckeyes have indicated that they too may have a scholarship available, although they have not given him and in writing offer to this point. Lee says he is looking at all four of those schools about equally, and doesn't think that he will likely make a decision any time soon. Quarterback John VanCleeves (6-5, 220, 4.8) from Arlington Christian High School in Texas is a very good quarterback that the Buckeyes might end up offering a scholarship to. He has a 4.0 GPA and has passed his tests. He threw for 1,481 yards and 25 touchdowns as a junior. He threw just six interceptions, and completed 232 of 447 passes, 52%. He is looking at Ohio State, TCU, Wisconsin, Kansas, Oklahoma, Boston College, Florida, Vanderbilt, Louisiana Tech, Southwest Louisiana, Florida State and Tennessee. Thus far Wisconsin, Kansas and Southwest Louisiana have offered him a scholarship, but he says he is getting a lot of mail from the Buckeyes, and said that he has heard that Ohio State might soon offer him a scholarship. He also says that as of now, he does not have a leader. WR Alfonso Marshall (6-1, 180, 4.45) from Clewiston, Florida, is a talented wide out that likes Ohio State. He averaged close to 30 yards per catch as a junior, and also doubled as a defensive back, picking off passes. The one question mark with Marshall is academics. He has a 2.0 GPA and will need to raise his test score. He names Ohio State, Florida, West Virginia, Michigan State and LSU as his top choices. Unfortunately, a player that the Buckeyes really wanted to land, and in fact at one time had the lead for, has committed elsewhere. Fullback/linebacker Scott Davis (6-3, 260) from Parkersberg W. Virginia has committed to Penn State. At one point, Davis seemed very, very close to committing to the Buckeyes, and at one time said he was just about ready to commit to Ohio State. However, Davis held off and subsequently took a closer look at some other schools, including Penn State, West Virginia, Michigan, Notre Dame and Kentucky, and he went ahead and verbally committed to the Nitanny Lions. On the other hand, one of the top DB prospects in the country was in Ohio. Making the trip from California was Matt Grootegoed (6-0, 200, 4.5) from Santa Anna Mater Dei High School. He has been at a family reunion in Chardon, Ohio. His father is from the Canton area and his mom still has family in the Chardon area, thus he has been in Chardon for a family reunion. He continues to say that Ohio State, as well as UCLA, USC, and Michigan are the four schools that he is concentrating on. He has been offered a scholarship by all four schools. Monday, August 9, 1999 An outstanding wide receiver that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to tells me that Ohio State is his top choice. Jerome Collins (6-3, 205), one of the best wide out prospects in the Midwest from Wheaten Warrensville South High School in Illinois, says that he has Ohio State as his leader over Notre Dame, UCLA and Michigan State. Collins caught 35 passes as a junior and averaged almost 19 yards per catch scoring seven touchdown and has already qualified academically. He has scholarship offers on the table from Ohio State, Northwestern, Illinois and Northern Illinois, and says that his top three are Ohio State, Notre Dame and UCLA, with Michigan State number four. Collins says that Ohio State is his leader and the Buckeyes were his leader even before they offered a scholarship. He has been very impressed with just watching Ohio State on TV the last few years and how they use their wide outs. Speaking of wide receivers, another one that now has OSU as his top choice is Andre Henderson (6-3, 200, 4.55) from Dublin Coffman High School. Henderson caught 44 passes as a junior, averaged 17 yards per catch and scored nine touchdowns. Henderson has also qualified academically. Awhile back he seemed to have lost some interest in Ohio State, but he now says the Buckeyes are his top choice. Henderson told me that right now he is looking at Ohio State, UCLA, Arizona State, Purdue, and Northwestern, and that Ohio State has now moved to the top of his list. So far, Purdue and Northwestern have offered him a scholarship, but the Buckeyes are most definitely interested. The Buckeyes are most definitely interested in Henderson's teammate, Ike Indukwe (6-6, 305, 5.2), a huge offensive lineman at Dublin Coffman. Induke has also qualified academically. He told me that he is definitely still looking at Ohio State. He said he likes Ohio State, Northwestern, Michigan State, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, and Stanford. Thus far, Northwestern, Michigan State, West Virginia and Vanderbilt have offered Indukwe a scholarship. He told me that he probably will wait until he takes at least some of his official visits before he makes a decision, and that at this point he doesn't even have a top two or three. A player from the state of Ohio that the Buckeye were definitely interested in has committed elsewhere. WR James Taylor (6-3, 180) from Garfield Heights is a fine WR prospect and the Buckeyes have definitely had an interest in Taylor, though they had not officially offered him a scholarship. Taylor is in the process of formally committing to Michigan State. Taylor caught 70 passes as a junior is visiting MSU this weekend and tells me that he is definitely going to commit the Spartans while in East Lansing. Taylor had also been looking at Penn State, Florida State, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio State, Michigan and some others. Linebacker Robert Reynolds (6-4, 215, 4.6) from Kentucky is a player that the Buckeyes would definitely love to land. Reynolds says that Ohio State is absolutely one of the schools that he has under consideration. He has qualified academically, and made 180 tackles from his ILB spot last season, including 15 sacks. Of his 180 tackles, 21 were for losses. Reynolds tells me that he is very much interested in Ohio State, and is looking at Michigan, Tennessee, Purdue, Virginia, Kentucky, Louisville, and Miami as well. Thus far he has unofficially visited Tennessee and Purdue and is considering an official visit to Ohio State. He has been offered a scholarship by all of those schools and does not have a favorite right now, and despite all the scholarship offers, he says that he is probably going to wait before making a decision. Another outstanding prospect the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to is RB Tyrell Dorche (6-0, 190, 4.4) from Hoboken, New Jersey. Dorche could play running back or defensive back in college. He rushed for 1763 yards as a junior, averaging 12.3 yards per carry. Dorche tells me that he has not visited any schools this summer, but he said he now has 15 scholarship offers, including one from Ohio State. Dorche says he is looking at OSU, Penn State, Syracuse, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Boston College, West Virginia, Rutgers and South Carolina, and all of those schools have offered a scholarship. Dorche says he is not close to making a decision, and will narrow things down in September. Turning to the State of Florida, DB Yulkeith Brown (5-9, 165, 4.4) from Miami Northwestern High school made 39 tackles and picked off six passes as a junior cornerback is looking at Ohio State, Florida State, Miami, USC and Michigan. One of the nation's finest offensive linemen has scheduled an official visit to Ohio State. Shane Olivea (6-5, 305, 5.1) from Long Beach New York and the same high school that former Buckeye stars Scottie Graham and Pete Johnson went to has qualified academically and he is a tremendous OT prospect. Also, he has a brother that lives in Marietta, Ohio, and Olivea was at one of the Buckeyes' recruiting days back in the Spring. He told me that he has now scheduled another visit back to Ohio State, this one an official visit. He will make an official visit in September to see the Syracuse vs. Michigan game, and will make an official visit to Ohio State the weekend of December third. He also has scheduled Wisconsin for the weekend of December 10th and Nebraska for the weekend of December 17th. Olivea says that the other schools he is still considering are Iowa, West Virginia, Penn State and Georgia Tech, and every school on his list has already offered him a scholarship except for the Nittany Lions. He says he doesn't have a leader right now, but his top four he says might well be Syracuse, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Nebraska. The Buckeyes are recruiting the state of South Carolina hard once again this season, and are still pursuing RB Keith Kelly (6-0, 215, 4.45) from that state. Kelley is one of the top running backs in the South who rushed for 1907 yards as a junior, scoring 27 touchdowns, and has been offered a scholarship by Ohio State. He has an excellent 3.5 GPA and scored an 840 on the SAT. He says that he is almost sure that he will take an official visit to OSU. Kelly is looking at Ohio State, Florida State, Clemson, Tennessee and Georgia Tech, and all of those schools have offered him a scholarship. Kelly tells me that Ohio State, Florida State and Tennessee are three schools that he is almost certain he will make official visits to.
Another fine back from South Carolina who is interested in Ohio State is Greg Jones (6-1, 235, 4.5) who is a fullback/running back. Jones rushed for 1500 yards this past season and has 2.5 GPA and scored a 930 on the SAT. Jones says that he is pretty sure that he wants to leave the state of South Carolina to go to college and he names Ohio State, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and Michigan State as his top choices, though he has completely ruled out South Carolina or Clemson. Moving to Ohio, the Buckeyes are still very much interested in QB Bill Liber (6-4, 195, 4.75) from North Canton Hoover High School. Liber is one of two in-state quarterbacks the Buckeyes are still very much interested in, the other being Rick McFadden from Youngstown Struthers. Liber continues to have a strong interest in Ohio State and says his top choices are Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, and has also added West Virginia to his list. Liber has already been offered a scholarship by just about all of the schools in the MAC, but he is not close to making a decision. Liber says he wants to see what happens with the Big Ten schools before he decides on anything, and he is very, very interested to see if Ohio State will offer a scholarship. Another prospect the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to is DE Derrick Wake (6-4, 235, 4.6) from Hyattsville DeMatha High School in Maryland. He has already qualified academically and tells me that he is interested in Ohio State. He names OSU, Penn State, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Virginia Tech, Miami of Florida, Maryland and Georgia as his favorite schools, and just about all of them have offered him a scholarship, including the Buckeyes. Wake says that he does not as yet have any favorites, and that he is definitely planning on taking official visits before making a decision. A very talented linebacker from the state of Florida the Buckeyes are interested in is Eric Moore (6-5, 225, 4.65). He is without question one of the most talented linebackers in the state of Florida, but he does have a questionmark academically. He has a 2.5 GPA, but scored a 14 on the ACT. Moore is getting plenty of mail from Ohio State and says he is looking at OSU, Tennessee, West Virginia, Florida State, Michigan State, LSU, North Carolina and Michigan. One of the top tight end prospects on the west coast has scheduled an official visit to Ohio State. Will Svitek (6-6, 235, 4.6) from Newberry Park, California has a 3.75 GPA and scored a 980 on the SAT. He caught 21 passes as a junior and has outstanding potential. He should end up in the 6-6, 250 pound range in the next couple of years. Svitek is not only a very good blocker but a fine receiving threat as well. He says that he is going to make an official visit to Ohio State the weekend of September 10th. That is the weekend of the OSU vs. UCLA game, and it will be an official visit. He is looking at Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin in the Big Ten, and he is looking at UCLA, USC, Washington, Stanford, Arizona and Arizona State in the PAC 10. Svitek says that UCLA is probably his favorite, but the Bruins have not offered a scholarship. On the other hand, Ohio State, USC, Washington, Arizona and Arizona State have all offered him as scholarship. Another player the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to is OL Erik Noll (6-5, 275, 4.85) from Gaithersburg Watkins Mills in Maryland. He has qualified academically and is going into his 4th year as a varsity starter on both sides of the ball. He went to Penn State's football camp earlier this summer and says that he is very interested in Penn State. In fact, he says the Nittany Lions are probably his favorite right now. However, he also says he is interested in Ohio State, Florida State, North Carolina and Michigan. Thus far, Ohio State and Penn State have offered Noll a scholarship. Nole says that he probably is not going to make a decision real soon. He has never been to Ohio State and would like to make a visit with the Buckeyes. Erik Noll's teammate, linebacker fullback Calvin Ogden (6-0, 220) also is interested in Ohio State. Augden bench presses 400 pounds and is looking at Ohio State, Michigan, Maryland, Penn State and South Carolina. The Buckeyes have not yet offered him a scholarship. Ogden and Noll say they might make an official visit to Ohio State sometime in the next few weeks. DB Dominique Sims (6-2, 195) from Minnesota, who I regard as the top overall prospect in the state of Minnesota, is still interested in Ohio State, though he no longer has the Buckeyes as one of his top three. He was at Ohio State's football camp this summer and he has been to Columbus a number of times as he has family that lives in the Akron/Barberton area. He now says that his top four is Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern, and all those schools have offered him a scholarship. Sims has also been offered a scholarship by Iowa State, Wisconsin, Kansas and Illinois and he is looking at those schools as well. Two schools that have not offered that he is interested in are Ohio State and Notre Dame. Lineman Derrick Robinson (6-5, 260) , Dominique Simms teammate, also was at Ohio State's football camp this summer, and Robinson is also interested in the Buckeyes. He is a two-way lineman who would prefer to play defensive end in college. Robinson has qualified academically and tells me that he is looking at Ohio State, Nebraska, Minnesota, Northwestern, Colorado, Tennessee, Washington, Illinois, Notre Dame, Iowa, UCLA and Kansas. Thus far Colorado, Minnesota, Northwestern, Washington, Illinois, and Kansas have offered Robinson a scholarship. He says that right now, Colorado would probably be his favorite. L.B. D.J. Williams' (6-2, 225) mother has told me D.J. is absolutely considering Ohio State. Williams, from Concord De LaSalle High School in California, is arguably the country's top prospect. He is a super prospect at either running back or linebacker, but almost certainly will play on defense in college. His mother told me that he is looking at at least 12 schools, but ones that she named in particular are Ohio State, Florida State, Michigan, UCLA, Penn State, USC and Notre Dame. Of course all of those schools have offered Williams a scholarship. His mother said that he is not going to make a decision for quite some time. She expects him to take at least some of his official visits before he picks a college, and right now he said D.J. is just focusing on getting ready for his senior football season. Another super linebacker that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to is Marco Cooper (6-2, 230) from Detroit Cass Tech High School in Michigan. Cooper visited Michigan State recently and visited Michigan as well. Cooper has been offered a scholarship by both of those schools and he did not commit to either one. Cooper continues to have Ohio State very high on his list. The Buckeyes absolutely have a very realistic shot at landing Marco Cooper. Right now his top three seem to be, in no particular order, Ohio State, Penn State, and Florida State, though he also is definitely looking at Michigan and he has not completely ruled out Michigan State as well as a few other schools. By the way, Cooper's step father is from Newark, Ohio, and that certainly should not hurt the Buckeyes chances. Speaking of super prospects from the state of Michigan, TE Eric Knott from Detroit Henry Ford High School has been offered a scholarship by OSU. Knott tells me he is definitely considering the Buckeyes. Knott also visited Michigan State recently and said that he had a good time but did not commit to the Spartans. Eric says that he is looking at Ohio State, Michigan State, Tennessee, UCLA, Florida State, Notre Dame, and Colorado, however he said that Michigan has fallen down on his list. He said that the Wolverines haven't shown him as much interest lately so he has dropped Michigan out of his top choices. Right now, his top five would be Ohio State, Tennessee, Michigan State, UCLA and Florida State. At this point he has no one, clear cut favorite, and all those schools have offered him a scholarship. Tight end is a big priority in this recruiting class for Ohio State, and Eric Knott is just about as good as it gets when it comes to High School tight end prospects. Yet another prospect from the state of Michigan that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to is WR Chuck Rogers from Saginaw also visited Michigan State on Saturday. Like Knott and Cooper, he has not committed to the Spartans. He is still considering Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State, Florida State, UCLA and Tennessee, and all six of those schools have offered him a scholarship. He says that really his decision is down to those six, but that right now he does not have a favorite. Yet another player from Michigan the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to is DB Stewart Schweigert (6-2, 195), and Schweigert also visited MSU recently and also did not commit to the Spartans. He continues to say that he is looking at Michigan State as well as Ohio State, Purdue, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Indiana and Iowa. Those are his top choices and he has not completely ruled out Michigan or Notre Dame. All of the schools except for Michigan and Iowa have offered him a scholarship, but he continues to say that he does not have a favorite. Schweigert will likely be a free safety in college though he does play quarterback as well, and is one of the top overall prospects in the state of Michigan. He says that he could still get to Ohio State for a visit before the end of the summer. Offensive lineman Shannon Snell from Tampa Florida, another super prospect the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to, told me that he has taken Ohio State off his list. Snell said that his decision is down to Notre Dame, Michigan, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, Texas and Florida, and all of those schools have offered him a scholarship. OL Justin Barton (6-6, 290) from New Jersey is definitely interested in Ohio State. Barton's dad went to grad school at Ohio State and so did his mother, and Justin was born in Columbus. Barton is one of the top line prospects in the state of New Jersey and tells me that he is looking at North Carolina, Ohio State, Tennessee, Michigan, Florida State and Notre Dame. He says that those are really the main schools that he is focusing on. Barton has been to North Carolina and Tennessee thus far this summer, and he visited Ohio State two years ago. He has offers from North Carolina and Tennessee but does not have a favorite at this point. |