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Bill Kurelic Early January 2001 Posts January 18, 2001 Linebacker Reggie Aden said that he is very happy that a new coach has been named and h can't wait to meet coach Tressel to see what he is like. Simon Fraser said that he is very happy that everything is settled and he wants to get everything focused on Ohio State's recruiting so the Buckeyes can finish recruiting strong. Adam Olds told me last night that he is happy that Jim Tressel is the new Buckeye head coach. He said that he's heard that Coach Tressel is a great coach and he is very excited about the announcement. Olds will make his official visit to OSU this weekend. Brandon Schnittker, the fullback from Sandusky told me that he was happy too. He said the Coach Tressel is a guy who has won a lot of games, and he was also impressed that he had heard that 39 players of Coach Tressel's team this year had 3.0+ grade point averages. TE Ryan Hamby from Cincinnati Moeller High School told me that that Coach Heacock came to Moeller High School yesterday and said that he thought that either Jim Tressel or Glen Mason would be named the Buckeye coach real soon, and then when he got home last night he heard that Coach Tressel was the new Buckeye coach and he said that he is very excited to meet Coach Tressel. Ryan Cook from Indiana said that he was excited. He said it closes a chapter and he has heard that Coach Tressel has a great record at Youngstown State, winning four national championships, which he said is very impressive. Jaja Riley from California said that he felt that Ohio State has hired the right guy. He said that it looks like Ohio State has hired a good coach. Riley said he is still committed to Ohio State and has no intention of visiting anyone else as of now. Riley said he believes that Coach Tressel is the best man for the job, that he really likes what's going on with Ohio State in getting Coach Tressel in there. Rodney Carter, the WR from Columbus, Brookhaven said that he is very anxious to meet coach Tressel as soon as possible. He said he likes his record and he is a winning coach and that he is still committed to the Buckeyes. All the above players said that they are still very, very firmly committed to Ohio State. Also, offensive lineman Alphonso Townsend from Lima Senior High School but now at Fork Union Military Academy is expected to honor his commitment to Ohio State, though he has not totally ruled out at least just yet the possibility of visiting Michigan this weekend. Of course WR Chris Vance from Fort Scott Community College in Kansas has already enrolled at OSU and he has already begun classes. Last night I spoke to WR Angelo Chattams from Dayton Chaminade High School and Chattams said that he is excited that Ohio State has a coach. He said he has never met him (Tressel) before so I want to see where I fit in with his offense. Chattams said he probably will not visit anyone this weekend because he had surgery yesterday. He said he had compartment syndrome and had surgery, but will be full go by the Spring. Chattams said he is still a soft commitment to Ohio State and will probably make his official visit with the Buckeyes the weekend of January 26th. DE Andri Tyree said that he had mixed emotions when he heard about Coach Tressel being hired because he doesn't know that much about him, but he said that he has heard that he has done good things at Youngstown State. Tyree said that he is still committed to Ohio State and he is going to try and talk to Coach Tressel as soon as possible. He said that as long as Coach Tressel doesn't make drastic changes he is going to stay with Ohio State and he reiterated that he was impressed with Coach Tressel's record at Youngstown State. On the other hand, DB Dustin Fox told me last night that he hasn't heard that much about Coach Tressel so he had no clue right now since he has never talked to Coach Tressel. Fox said that he would probably make his official visit to Ohio State on Sunday, January 28th and Monday January 29th because he has basketball the next two weekends. Fox said that he is probably not a commitment to OSU right now. He said he wants to talk to Coach Tressel and said that he is still considering both Ohio State and Penn State. Fox said that he will make a decision after he makes his official visit to OSU. He says that he would probably wait until national signing day to announce a final decision between OSU and Penn State. Fox said the Coach Connely has remained in contact with him in the last couple of weeks. This recruiting weekend is still on hold for Ohio State, but now that a head coach had been named, it is possible that the Buckeyes could be hosting prospects as early as this weekend on official visits. One prospect that the Buckeyes could be interested in hosting would be defensive end Troy Banner from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. If he does visit Ohio State, it will not be this weekend. He leaves tonight for an official visit to UCLA this weekend. Banner has already been to Maryland, Temple and Pitt, and all of those schools including UCLA and Ohio State have offered him a scholarship. Banner indicated that he still has an interest in visiting Ohio State, though nothing is certain at this point. Another out of state prospect that still has an interest in visiting Ohio State is DB Johnny Sylvane (5-10, 170, 4.4). He is an outstanding corner prospect from Hackensack, New Jersey. He has already made official visits to Minnesota as well as Wisconsin. He told me last night that he will be visiting Syracuse this weekend and maybe Boston College January 26th. Sylvane also said that he will make an unofficial visit to Rutgers because it is close by, then he said he is looking at Ohio State and Iowa as well, but he wants to wait until a new coach is named at OSU before he decides whether he will visit the Buckeyes. Now that the coach has been named, it will be interesting to see if he decides to visit OSU. All of the schools on his list have offered him a scholarship, and OSU assistant coach Brian Williams called him earlier this week. Williams is recruiting him for the Buckeyes. January 15, 2001 The Buckeye also lost out on WR Jomo Fagan from Florida, who committed to Tennessee. DB Jacob Stewart from Michigan also remains a question mark Stewart is back from his official visit to Michigan this weekend but has not yet commented on that visit to anyone. According to his grandmother, with whom Stewart lives, he has not yet made his final decision on his school, but it it beginning to look extremely doubtful that he is going end up in this Ohio State recruiting class. Stewart has been saying that Michigan is now his top choice. Another prospect that almost certainly will not end up in this recruiting class is DL Brandon McKinney. McKinney committed to OSU very early, but due to academics it is very doubtful that the Buckeyes will be able to sign him on signing day and it looks like McKinney will be headed elsewhere. He visited Michigan State this past weekend and has been talking about visiting Indiana this next weekend. RB Eric Shelton from Kentucky has been visiting Florida this weekend on a Saturday, Sunday, Monday visit and I will speak with him later today. Going into this visit with Florida Shelton had continued to say that despite the coaching situation at OSU the Buckeyes were still one of his top choices. OL Nigel Seaman from Fort Lauderdale, Florida visited Iowa State over the weekend and said it went pretty well. He said that after visiting OSU and Iowa State, that the two schools are pretty close to even. He will visit Georgia Tech this coming weekend but will cancel his Auburn visit scheduled for January 26th. Seaman said he will decide between OSU, Georgia Tech and Iowa State. His teammate, DL Quinton Thomas also visited Iowa State and he too did not commit. He is still considering Iowa State and Minnesota and has Auburn and North Carolina State yet to visit. WR Ernest Terrell (6-3, 180) from Pennsylvania did not visit OSU the weekend of January 5th because of transportation weather problems. He did, however, visit Penn State his past weekend. He said that it was a great visit to Penn State and that the Nittany Lions talked about a scholarship but did not officially offer him a scholarship. He said he is waiting to hear back from Penn State, perhaps as soon as this week, as to whether they have a scholarship for him. He said that Ohio State and West Virginia would be his next visits, and that Penn State is currently his favorite. He said that if Penn State were to offer him a scholarship there would be a good chance that he would commit. Six of OSU's verbal commitments made official visits elsewhere this weekend. Among them was Jacob Stewart whom I've already mentioned, but also Angelo Chattams visited Purdue, Dustin Fox visited Penn State, Andri Tyree visited Northwestern, Alphonso Townsend visited North Carolina, and as I already mentioned, Brandon McKinney visited Michigan State. It's almost certain that neither Stewart nor McKinney will end up in this class, but on the other hand, as long as OSU hires a head coach that is willing to throw the ball, Chattams should end up in this class, and I think the Buckeyes have a pretty decent shot at keeping Dustin Fox as well. I also think they have a good shot at keeping Andri Tyree unless all the assistants go with John Cooper, and Alphonso Townsend will also end up at OSU but again, much depends on who becomes the next head coach at OSU. RB Reggie Benton, who visited OSU last weekend, visited Purdue this weekend and committed to the Boilermakers. RB Ryan Grant from New Jersey visited Florida this weekend and did not commit to the Gators, but did say that of his visits thus far, he would probably say that he liked the Florida visit best between, Florida, Georgia Tech and Ohio State, but has said that does not mean that Florida is his favorite, just that he had a good time. He says that all the schools are pretty even. He will visit Notre Dame next weekend, and said that Virginia is also in touch with him now. DL NaShan Gottard continues to want to be a Buckeye. Gottard visited Baylor over the weekend as was offered a scholarship but he said that he is still hoping to schedule a visit with Ohio State and is scheduled now to visit Kentucky January 26th. DB Marcus Hudson from Florida visited Michigan State this weekend and did not commit. He has North Carolina State and Nebraska the next two weekends and he said he is still looking at OSU but is not sure he will make a visit with the Buckeyes. FB/DL David Pollack from Georgia visited Clemson this weekend and said it is very close between Clemson and Ohio State but he slightly favors Clemson right now because Clemson has a coach while Ohio State doesn't. He will visit Florida and and Georgia yet. LB Leon Williams visited Penn State last weekend and now calls himself a soft commitment to the Nittany Lions. He will probably visit Syracuse next weekend and definitely will not visit Ohio State. WR Robert Strickland (6-4, 205) from Michigan visited Michigan State his weekend and says the Spartans are his leader. He has now visited MSU, Minnesota and Georgia Tech, and will possibly visit Indiana and Ohio State, but it tends to look like he will end up with the Spartans. There are, however, academic question marks with Strickland. RB Lydell Ross originally had OSU as one of his top two choices along with Florida. He told me that he did not visit Tennessee because Tennessee felt it was pretty much a done deal that he was going to go to Florida so Tennessee cancelled the visit. However, Ross says that it is not a done deal and he is scheduled to visit Notre Dame next weekend and then Florida January 26th. He says there is still a chance that he could visit OSU the last recruiting weekend on February 3rd. Is top junior prospect Drushaun Humphry still committed to OSU, and will super DL Mathias Askew visit OSU? Humphry, the outstanding RB/DB/LB from Toledo who committed to OSU this summer when he was very impressive at the Buckeyes' football camp told me that he is still committed to Ohio State despite the coaching change. Humphry said he felt bad that John Cooper got fired but Ohio State is still where he wants to go. He said he definitely wants to go to Ohio State as long as they want me. Meanwhile, Askew, from Fort Lauderdale Dillard High School in Florida, has not ruled out a visit to the Buckeyes. Askew has made an official visit to Michigan State and is going to Auburn and Tennessee as well. Askew said OSU is in the mix for his last official visit. RB Jeff Backes and DL Simon Fraser will make their official visits to OSU on January 27th. Backes is still contemplating Ohio State, Virginia and Northwestern. January 11, 2001 WR Angelo Chattams from Dayton, Ohio is scheduled to visit Ohio State this weekend, but it is not certain if that visit will take place or not. If Ohio State names a head coach, that certainly would help their recruiting effort overall and with Chattams specifically, and right now it is not 100% certain that Chattams will make his official visit to Ohio State this weekend. He does continue to say that he is somewhat committed to Ohio State, but he wants to wait and see what happens with the naming of the new head coach. Simon Fraser, another Buckeye commitment, could possibly visit OSU this weekend, though that is not certain by any means at this time, it is just a possibility. Fraser says he is still committed to OSU, but, like all the other recruits, he does want to see who the new OSU head coach will be. As far as his teammate, Jeff Backes, if Simon Fraser was to make an official visit to OSU this weekend, then Jeff Backes would in all likelihood do so as well. Backes has visited Virginia as well as Northwestern and it remains to be seen if Fraser or Backes visit OSU this weekend. LB Willie Jones (6-2, 200) from Miami, Florida has already visited OSU last December and has thus far visited Boston College and Ohio State. Jones tells me that he will visit Florida State the weekend of January 19th and Oklahoma the weekend of January 26th. He says that he is still interested in Ohio State, but he wants to see what happens with the Buckeye coaching situation. Jones said that now, Florida State would be his leader. Previously, OSU had been his top choice. Jones said that he had been leaning to OSU but with the coaching state, he now favors FSU. DL NaShan Gottard from Dayton Dunbar High School is going to make an official visit to Baylor this weekend. He also has an interest in Ohio State and Michigan State, but he is waiting to hear from both schools on a possible official visit. He says that OSU continues to be his favorite even though the Buckeyes have not offered a scholarship while Cincinnati and Indiana have offered. Gottard must pass his entrance exams. If he does, then he could possibly be making an official visit to OSU, but as of right now no visit is scheduled. DB Dustin Fox from Canton, Ohio of course committed to OSU long ago, but when John Cooper was fired, Fox said that he was seriously considering an official visit to Penn State this weekend and he is now a soft commitment to the Buckeyes. Fox now says that if OSU had had a coach in place by this weekend he would have visited OSU, but that now he has made up his mind that he will definitely visit Penn State this weekend. Fox says he will definitely visit Ohio State, it is just a matter of when he will make that visit. He wants to wait until a new coach is in place before he does so. WR Ernest Terrell (6-3, 180) from Pennsylvania was going to make an official visit to Ohio State this past weekend, but did not. Terrell had OSU as his top choice, but now he is now not quite as certain. Terrell caught 30 passes last season, averaged about 20 yards per catch and scored five times. He has made an official visit to Virginia and was going to visit OSU this past weekend, but his flight was cancelled because of bad weather. He will visit Penn State this coming weekend and North Carolina State January 19th. He said he is planning to reschedule his visit to Ohio State but has to talk to the Buckeyes again. Terrell definitely wants to play football and run track in college. Terrell said the John Cooper allowed his players to do so, and he want to see if the new coach at OSU will have the same policy. DE Troy Banner from Pittsburgh has been scheduled to visit Ohio State this weekend. With the change in coaches, however, Banner is not sure if he will be visiting Ohio State this weekend or not, he is waiting to hear from the Buckeyes again. He will visit UCLA January 19th. He has already visited Pitt, Maryland and Temple. DB/RB Marcus Furman from Connelville, Pennsylvania has been offered a scholarship by Ohio State. Furman has thus far visited Tulane. He has been scheduled to visit Ohio State this coming weekend and Boston College January 19th. He has also been to Notre Dame and Pitt. It now looks like he will not visit OSU this weekend. He indicates that he is thinking his OSU visit is off. Junior quarterback Justin Zwick (6-4, 205) from Massillon, Ohio is a tremendous prospect and is the top QB prospect in Ohio since Art Schichter. Zwick has already been offered a scholarship by Ohio State and made it to a couple of the Buckeyes' home games this season. Zwick said that he is still keeping his options open and he is very interested in seeing who OSU brings in as the new head coach. Zwick said that OSU is one of the places that he is definitely looking at. He said that he brother, Jerod, played for Jim Tressell at Youngstown State and Zwick said that Tressell is a good guy and a good coach. He added that Walt Harris is a very good coach as well, and that Glen Mason is a good coach too. One player that definitely will not end up at OSU is RB/DB Tremain Hall from Florida. Hall had been scheduled to visit OSU last weekend but cancelled the visit. His mother now says that he will definitely not reschedule his official visit to the Buckeyes and he has committed to North Carolina State. Speaking of Halls, keep in mind that Maurice Hall will make a very important visit this weekend. The talented running back from Columbus is scheduled to visit Florida State. Hall continues to say that he does not have a favorite, but I tend to think he will chose between Florida State and Ohio State, especially if the Buckeye coaching situation is straightened around. The Buckeyes continue to pursue RB Ryan Grant from New Jersey. Grant will visit Florida this weekend and Notre Dame on the 19th, but will not visit Virginia as he had previously planned. He has already visited OSU. DB Antrel Rolle did not visit OSU last weekend because his flight was overbooked when he got to the airport and did not make it to Columbus. It now looks like Rolle will not reshedule that visit. He said there was some small possibility earlier, but now says he will not reschedule his OSU visit and I expect him to commit to Miami. The word is better on RB Lydell Ross, but the longer things drag out on the coaching situation, that lessens OSU's chances of getting Ross on campus for a visit. Ross right now is definitely favoring Florida, but if Ohio State can get a coach in place soon and he is one that has a philosophy of running the football, OSU has a chance to get Ross to visit OSU. It would also help if Tim Spencer and Jim Heacock were retained as assistant coaches because they have been doing the recruiting of Lydell Ross. RB Eric Shelton is still most interested in Ohio State. In fact, he seems to be favoring OSU and FSU. However, if there hadn't been a coaching change, I think the Buckeyes would have landed Shelton for sure. Now I think it is a bit more wide open for his services, but Shelton is still quite impressed with the Buckeyes and the Buckeyes still have a great shot at landing this super back from Kentucky. January 7, 2001 Also RB Dominic Anderson (6-0, 190) from Fort Lauderdale Aquinas High School in Florida told me that after his visit to Columbus this weekend Ohio State has the lead. Anderson has now visited Iowa and Ohio State and will visit Northwestern January 12th and then likely decide. All three schools have offered him a scholarship. Anderson said the visit went very well and that Coach Conley assured him that they were going to get the coaching situation straightened out very soon. He said that that is not going to be a big factor in his decision. He said he really liked Ohio State and called the environment good and the atmosphere excellent, and said that the Buckeyes now have a slight edge. The Buckeyes have now also moved into the lead for Blue Chip WR Jomo Fagan (6-2, 175) from Fort Lauderdale Aquinas. Fagan said his visit to Ohio State was very good. Bobby Britton was his host. He called Ohio State a prestigious school with great atmosphere. He said the whole state of Ohio loves Ohio State football. He was very impressed with the fan support and he said that the Buckeyes assured him that they should know about the new coach within about a week, approximately. Fagan said it doesn't bother him, because all the people up for the job are good coaches. He has now visited Ohio State, Michigan State and Purdue, and said that his leader now is Ohio State slightly over Purdue. However, Fagan does still have to visit Miami January 12th and Tennessee January 19th. DL Quinton Thomas (6-4, 235) from Fort Lauderdale Dillard High School says after visiting Ohio State this weekend that OSU is his favorite. Thomas said it was really good at Ohio State and that everything was really nice; the facilities, the stadium, the town, and that the entire town likes Ohio State football. He said that OSU is now his leader. He has previously visited Minnesota but still has to visit Iowa State January 12th and North Carolina State January 19th. All those schools have offered him a scholarship. WR Chris Gamble (6-2, 180) from Fort Lauderdale Dillard High School has a good visit with the Buckeyes though he did not commit. Gamble was hosted by Thomas Mathews. Gamble has only visited Ohio State so far. He does have Iowa State scheduled for next weekend. OL Nigel Seaman (6-4, 295) is also from Fort Lauderdale Dillard High School and said that it was great on his visit to Ohio State. He was hosted by Michael Jenkins and said that the cold weather didn't bother him at all. He did say that he was not too sure about the coaching situation since he doesn't know who the head coach is going to be, but said that Ohio State and Georgia Tech continue to be his favorites. Seaman also has Iowa State scheduled for January 12th, Georgia Tech for the 19th but he is not sure if he will take his January 26th visit to Auburn. All four schools have offered him a scholarship. FB/DL David Pollack from Georgia said, in a word, that his visit was "awesome" at Ohio State. He said that the facilities are amazing, the academic councilors are great. He said that he's only been on one visit so far, but that OSU is his leader. He said that when he was in Columbus he went to meetings for both fullbacks and defensive linemen so he said he could play either position if he chose Ohio State. Robert Reynolds was his host. He will still visit Clemson, Florida and Georgia. All four schools have offered him a scholarship. RB Reggie Benton (6-2, 190) from Michigan committed to Michigan last season but did not graduate and is now finishing things up at Mountainview High School in Virginia. Benton had a very good visit to Ohio State. He said that he coaching change at Ohio State would probably help the Buckeyes' cause if anything. He called his OSU visit a great experience as was hosted by Craig Krenzel. He said that OSU is very much in the running. He still had Purdue and MSU scheduled for visits and all three of those schools have offered him a scholarship. OL John Kirk (6-4, 315) from Fort Worth, Texas had a good visit with OSU but the Buckeyes did not offer him a scholarship. He said he was very impressed that for a big school, OSU seemed pretty small. He liked the players and that the coaches made him feel very comfortable and a part of the team. RB Jason Crawford (6-2, 220) from Fork Union also visited OSU this weekend, as did WR Kellen Winslow Jr. from California. Winslow did not commit to OSU and will visit Miami next. DB Jeff Backes from Upper Arlington visited Northwestern this weekend and did not commit to the Wildcats. He did say that Northwestern is now up there with Ohio State and Virginia on his list. He said he is still hoping to visit OSU though nothing is set up for sure right now. Backes could play RB, DB or WR in college and said that Randy Walker talked to him mostly about offense, either at RB or WR in college. Backes said he is anxious to see who OSU brings in and what happens with the coaching staff. DB Jacob Stewart from Ypsilanti, Michigan says he is not sure what he is going to do right now. He of course originally committed to OSU but with the coaching change has now scheduled Michigan for a January 12th visit and Iowa for January 19th. He might also visit Michigan State. WR Angelo Chattams says that he is still committed to Ohio State "a little bit". He said that he was hoping that Walt Harris would get the OSU head coaching job and had been thinking about calling him to see if he was interested, but then he heard that Harris is staying at Pitt. Chattams said that he will wait and see what happens and the only visit he has set up right now is OSU. Chattams said the Michigan has now called him a couple of times, as have Northwestern, Michigan State, Alabama, Purdue and Toledo, but he has not scheduled visits to any of those schools. January 7, 2001 There are a couple of prospects that unfortunately did not make it to Columbus this weekend. Super DB Antrel Rolle (6-0, 200) from Florida and he team mate, DB Marcus Hudson (6-1, 175) did not make it into Columbus for their official visit with the Buckeyes. They had fully intended to make it, but when they arrived at the airport in Florida, they found that their flight was overbooked. Hudson told me that they then went to get another flight but found there were no more available at that time. They simply could not get another flight to Columbus and ended up staying in Florida. Hudson says he is not sure about being able to reschedule the OSU visit because he has Michigan State January 12, North Carolina State January 19th and Nebraska January 26th, so he's not sure if he is going to be able to reschedule his Ohio State visit. As far as Rolle goes, it also remains to be seen if he can reschedule things. He has already been to Notre Dame and Miami, and has Florida scheduled for January 12th and Florida State for January 19th. On the other hand, RB Jason Crawford (6-2, 220) from Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia is currently on an official visit to OSU. Crawford has previously been to Indiana and in addition to OSU right now is also considering visits to Florida, Maryland and North Carolina. Coming out of high school in the Baltimore area Crawford originally commited to North Carolina. Floridians OL Nigel Seaman, DL Quinton Thomas (6-4, 235), WR Jomo Fagan, RB Dominic Anderson are currently in Columbus on official visits. From California WR Kellen Winslow Jr. is in Columbus. From Georgia, FB/DL David Pollack (6-3, 270) is on hand at OSU as well. Other prospects who either previously cancelled or postponed their visits to OSU this weekend include RB Lydell Ross from Florida and DL Shawn Cody from California. Every year at about this time I take a look at how the OSU recruiting class is shaping up and make a prediction on how the OSU class will look on national signing day. Here's how I see it this year. At quarterback, the Buckeyes do not have a commitment from a QB in this recruiting class and it almost certainly is going to stay that way. The Buckeyes really aren't pursuing hard quarterbacks anymore for this class. They are really looking forward to next season and they hope to land super junior QB Justin Zwick from Massillon Washington High School in Ohio. I don't expect Ohio State to sign a QB in this recruiting class. I do expect the Buckeyes to sign at least three backs. They already have commitments from two, Jaja Riley from California and FB Brandon Schnittker from Sandusky. The Buckeyes also continue their pursuit of Eric Shelton from Kentucky as well as Maurice Hall from Ohio, Lydell Ross from Florida, Ryan Grant from New Jersey, J.R. Lemon from Georgia, FB/DL David Pollack from Georgia, RBs Tremain Hall and Dominic Anderson from Florida, and Ohio State has offered all of those players a scholarship already. As far as who the Buckeyes will land, I feel the Buckeyes will land at least one of these three. They will land either Eric Shelton from Kentucky, Maurice Hall from Ohio or Lydell Ross from Florida, and they could possibly end up landing two of those players. I feel the Buckeyes will most likely end up landing Eric Shelton and then perhaps landing either Hall or Ross, though my gut feeling is that Hall will probably not go to the same school as Shelton. Moving to WR, the Buckeyes already have commitments from Angelo Chattams from Ohio as well as Chris Vance from Kansas. Rodney Carter from Ohio is also committed, but his scholarship offer is contingent on his academics. The Buckeyes continue to pursue other WR prospects such as Kellen Winslow Jr., Jomo Fagan, Fred Lee, those are the big names, but I don't think OSU is going to land any of those players. However, if they do land one, the best bet at this point might be Fred Lee, but I think the Buckeyes might end up signing Chattams and Vance, then waiting to see what happens with Carter. At TE, the Buckeyes don't have any commitment thus far, but I think they are going to do well on national signing day. The Buckeyes are continuing their pursuit of Patrick Estes as well as Joe Toledo, Eric Coleman, Ryan Hamby and one or two others, but the two that I see OSU landing on signing day are Eric Coleman from Fork Union and Ryan Hamby from Cincinnati Moeller High School. On the offensive line, the Buckeyes already have commitments from Adam Olds, a center who is the top offensive lineman in Ohio, and Ryan Cook from Indiana and Alphonso Townsend from Fork Union. The Buckeyes continue their pursuit of Ronnie Lunford, Mike DeGory as well as an interest in Chris Napoli, Brett Trott and Nigel Seaman and Maurice Mitchell, and outstanding tackle prospect from Georgia. In the end, I think they will land Nigel Seaman and they have offered him a scholarship now. The wild card is Maurice Mitchell from Georgia. I think the Buckeyes have a shot at the big guy though I tend to think that he will go elsewhere but I do think the Buckeyes have a shot with him. If they want another OL in this class, I think that Chris Napoli would commit to OSU if the Buckeyes offer him a scholarship. On the defensive line, the Buckeyes have commitments from Simon Fraser, Brandon McKinney and Andri Tyree. OSU continues its pursuit of Troy Banner from Pennsylvania and NeShan Gottard from Ohio. The player that I think the Buckeyes will end up landing is Gottard. I think OSU will probably take a commitment from him pending his qualifying academically, and that is the big question mark at this point. At LB, OSU has one player committed thus far, that being Reggie Arden. The Buckeyes also continue their pursuit of Leon Williams as well as Austin Jackson and Willie Jones. Kevin Atkins is also still in the mix for Ohio State as is Trent Cole. When all is said and done, I think the Buckeyes will definitely sign Reggie Arden. As far as the others, I don't think OSU is going land Austin Jackson or Leon Williams. Willie Jones is a possibility, but I tend to think he is going t end up at Florida State and OSU will finish second for his services. The Buckeyes could land either Trent Cole or Kevin Atkins, but the big question marks with those two is academics. At DB, the Buckeyes have commitments from Dustin Fox as well as Jacob Stewart. OSU also continues their pursuit of Antrel Rolle from Florida who they would love to land, Eric Shyne from California, Jeff Backes, Johnny Sylvain from New Jersey, Danny Upchurch, Shannon Benton, and Keon Newson from Georgia. My gut feeling is that OSU will just beat out Virginia and Northwestern for Jeff Backes, thought that certainly could go any way right now. I think they may also take a commitment from Danny Upchurch pending his qualification academically. The Buckeyes could land Keon Newson if they decide to offer him a scholarship, but they have not as yet done so. As far as specialists, it remains to be seen if the Buckeyes will offer any specialists a scholarship. If they do, the best bet is Mike Nugent, but they also could end up having him go to Ohio State as a preferred walk on. January 4, 2001 Despite the firing of OSU Head Coach John Cooper this week, the Buckeyes are still having their big recruiting weekend this weekend. WR Jomo Fagan and his teammate Dominic Anderson, both from Fort Lauderdale Aquinas High School will be leaving on Friday morning for their official visits to OSU. Their mothers both will leave later in the day on Friday and meet Jomo and Dominick at OSU this weekend. Also from the state of Florida, OL Nigel Seaman (6-4, 290) , from Fort Lauderdale Dillard High School also confirmed to me that he will visit OSU this weekend. Seaman said that he talked to Coach Conley on Tuesday night at the visit is all set as planned. Seaman said that the firing of Coach Cooper did surprise him, but did not really alter his thinking and that Ohio State and Georgia Tech are still his two favorites. He will visit Iowa State January 12th and Georgia Tech January 19th and Auburn January 26th and all of those schools as well as OSU have offered him a scholarship. Also from Fort Lauderdale Dillard High School, Quintin Thomas (6-5, 245, 4.9), a fine DL prospect, will make a visit to OSU as well this weekend. Thomas has a 2.7 GPA and is looking at OSU, Minnesota and Auburn. Those are three of his top choices. FB/DL David Pollack (6-3, 270) from Georgia is all set to visit the Buckeyes this weekend. He is being recruited a little bit more as a fullback by Ohio State will also leave on Friday for his visit to OSU. He said that when he heard coach Cooper was fired, it also surprised him, but it didn't bother him that much and he is looking forward to his visit to OSU this weekend. He also has Clemson, Florida and Georgia scheduled for official visits this month, and all four schools have offered him a scholarship. TE Ryan Hamby from Cincinnati Moeller High School will be taking his official visit to Ohio State this weekend as planned. He said he talked to Coach Heacock and that coach Cooper's firing doesn't change his opinion and that he will pick a school for the school, not necessarily for the head coach. WR Kellen Winslow from San Diego said he is also all set to visit the Buckeyes this weekend. He has already visited Washington, and in addition to Ohio State this weekend, has Miami January 19th. He is also considering visits to Texas and Tennessee and UCLA and USC are in the picture as well. He says the Washington and UCLA are his favorites. He also said that he firing of John Cooper does not change his mind one bit about wanting to visit Ohio State. TE/OL Joe Toledo from California is also coming this weekend. He has already visited Colorado and Washington. In addition to Ohio State this weekend, he has Arizona January 12th and might also visit USC. All those schools have offered him a scholarship. DB Josh Leigh from Pennsylvania might be visiting the Buckeyes this weekend. He said that his coach is supposed to talk to Ohio State and it will be determined if he will visit Ohio State this weekend or not. If he does, he will begin the visit on Saturday because he has a basketball game Friday night. He has already been to Pitt, and in addition to OSU possibly this weekend, he has Penn State January 12th. He emphasized that even though Coach Cooper got fired, he still would like to make his visit to OSU. OL Maurice Mitchell from Fork Union Military Academy could possibly visit OSU this weekend, but that is not a certainty at this point, but it could happen. DB Eric Shyne from Pamona, California is also a possibility. DB Antrele Rolle is a great prospect that he Buckeyes would love to land. As to whether he is visiting OSU this weekend or not, that remains to be seen. One player that won't be visiting OSU this weekend is RB Lydell Ross from Florida. Ross told me that Coaches Heacock and Spencer want him to come up to Columbus for the scheduled visit, but Ross said he now wants to wait and see who the Buckeyes get as their new head coach before he visits. He did say that he is definitely still interested in the Buckeyes. He has Tennessee scheduled for January 12th, Notre Dame for the 19th and Florida for the 26th. He said he might have to move one of those visits up to this weekend if he is still going to be able to visit OSU at a later date. TE Patrick Estes from Virginia is not going to visit Ohio State this weekend and will not visit the Buckeyes at all. Estes has decided to stay with his commitment to Virginia and at this time plans no other official visits. He said he informed coach Tenuta of his decision. Also not visiting OSU is DE Shaun Cody (6-5, 250) from California. He told me that he has decided that he will not visit the Buckeyes this weekend and will not reschedule. He said he gave Coach Spencer that word and will decide between Miami, Washington, Notre Dame and UCLA, with UCLA his top choice right now. LB Kevin Adkins from Virginia told me that he won't visit Ohio State this weekend. He said that Coach Tenuta called him and told him that they would like to postpone the visit to perhaps the January 12th weekend. Adkins said that OSU and Marshall are still his top two and he still want to visit the Buckeyes. It's up to Ohio State as to when he makes that visit. As far as the players also go that are already committed to OSU, they are pretty much saying that the firing of Coach Cooper will not make much difference to them, though there are a couple of possible exceptions. WR Angelo Chattams said that the only school that contacted him today was Northwestern. Yesterday, Michigan State, Alabama and Toledo contacted him. Interestingly, Chattams said he has not yet heard from Michigan. Chattams said that he has not scheduled any other official visits to this point besides his one to Ohio State the weekend the January 12th. Chattams is not sure right now if he would say that he is a commitment to OSU or not, he is just kind of playing things by ear at this point. The two players that seem the most tenuous as far as their commitments to OSU go are Chattams and DB Jacob Stewart from Michigan. Both say they are still certainly considering OSU but also have not made the statement that they are still definitely Buckeye commitments. De Andri Tyree does say he is still a commitment to OSU, however, he says in all likelihood he will visit some other schools just in case OSU would bring in a completely new coaching staff, but Tyree does say that he is still committed to OSU. OL Adam Olds, DL Brandon McKinney, OL Brian Cook, FB Brandon Schnittker from Sandusky, those players all say that they are totally solid on their commitment to OSU. Pretty close to that category would be DE Simon Fraser, as well as LB Reggie Arden and DB Dustin Fox who all say that they are definitely committed to OSU but have had at least slight thoughts about the possibility of visiting elsewhere, but as of now those players have not scheduled other visits. Fraser did say that the only thing that might change his mind on OSU is if the entire OSU coaching staff including all of the assistants were gone from the program. Under those circumstances, he said there may be some hesitation on his part. Alphonso Townsend also says he is still committed to OSU and that he has not been contacted by any other schools yet and as of right now has no thoughts about any other visits. Jaja Riley, the fine RB from California emphasized that he is definitely still committed to the Buckeyes, but that he will be watching closely who Ohio State hires as head coach. WR Rodney Carter from Columbus, Brookhaven says he is still committed to OSU but does say that if Coach Walt Harris doesn't get the OSU job, then in all likelihood he would visit Pitt. TE Eric Coleman from Fork Union Military Academy says that he still has OSU as his favorite, but he did say that Coach Cooper getting fired could have an effect on his decision. He is going to visit Clemson and Virginia Tech yet this month, and may also visit Purdue. |