Bill Kurelic Posts
March and April 2002
April 22, 2002
The Buckeyes held a junior recruiting day on Sunday in conjunction
with the scrimmage held in Ohio Stadium in that day and it was very
well attended by plenty of top talent.
Tight end Louis Irizarry (6-5, 235, 4.6) was also in attendance
is a top prospect from Youngstown. Prior to this weekend it looked
like Ohio State and Penn State were the top contenders for his services.
Now it looks like just a matter of time until he commits to the Buckeyes.
Irizarry told me that it was great at Ohio State on Sunday (Irizarry
also visited Ohio State the weekend before as well) and said that
he spent about half of the tour with the group and about half the
tour with a lady from the engineering school to learn about the academic
aspects of the engineering school at Ohio State. Irizari said that
that was very helpful, that he had most of the football stuff down,
so it was good to also get the academics down as well. Irizari says
it is down to OSU, Penn State and Notre Dame, and that he is going
to visit Notre Dame, but that Ohio State is his big leader and it
seems there is a very good chance that he will commit to OSU in late
May. He caught 46 passes as a sophomore and 31 more his junior season.
Jake Long (6-7, 295, 5.0) is one of the top offensive line
prospects in the state of Michigan. Long says that Michigan, Michigan
State, Purdue and Ohio State are his top four choices. Michigan State
and Purdue have already offered a scholarship. Long has been to junior
days at Michigan and Michigan State, and also went to a spring practice
at Purdue. He starts at offensive right tackle and has a 2.8 GPA.
He says right now Michigan would be his favorite.
DE Ray Edwards from Cincinnati Woodward High School is a 6-6,
235 pounder who is definitely interested in Ohio State. Edwards says
that Ohio State, Tennessee and Florida are his top three choices,
though he is also looking at Michigan State, Michigan, Iowa and Florida
State. Edwards attended the junior day back in February. He is planning
on also attending OSU's spring game as well as OSU's football camp
this summer. OSU and Florida are his two favorites.
LB Steve Fender from Toledo Saint Francis de Sales is a 6-4,
230 pounder who is interested in Ohio State. Fender helped lead his
team to the Division II state championship this past season. Fender,
who has a 3.33 GPA, says he is looking at Ohio State, Notre Dame,
Michigan State and Virginia. He says he hasn't narrowed things down,
but those are some schools he definitely likes. Fender attended games
at OSU last season as well as at Notre Dame. He also went to basketball
games at OSU and ND this winter.
OL Jared Evans from Indianapolis Ben Davis High School says
that he plans to go to OSU's spring game on April 27. Evans is a 6-4,
300 pound offensive left tackle who bench presses almost 400 pounds
and squats over 500. Evans helped lead his team to a 15-0 record include
a state championship during his two-year career. Evans says he is
interested in Indiana, Purdue, Tennessee, Michigan State, Florida
State and Ohio State. Evans has already visited Indiana and Illinois,
though he is not looking at the Illini much.
Another prospect from Indiana the Buckeyes are showing interest in
is DE Mike Macellari
from South Bend Clay High School. He is a 6-6, 245 pound DE
with 4.8 40 speed. He also starts at TE and does his team's kicking.
He will be one of the top DE's in the state of Indiana. He has a 3.9
GPA and was named to the junior All-State team. Among the schools
that are showing interest are Purdue, who has offered a scholarship,
Ohio State, Michigan, Stanford, Notre Dame and Northwestern.
March 27, 2002
It's going to be a pretty good year for defensive backs in Ohio.
In fact, even at this early point the Buckeyes have already offered
a scholarship to three DBs from the Buckeye state. Prescott Burgess
from Warren Harding could play either strong safety or outside linebacker
in college. The 6-3, 210 pounder is without question one of the top
prospects, if not one of the top two prospects overall, in the state
of Ohio. Burgess, who has outstanding all-around athletic ability,
already has scholarship offers from many schools including OSU. The
main question is will he play SS or OLB in college, but either spot
he is a tremendous prospect. He is certainly interested in Ohio State,
though at this time it doesn't seem like he is in any big hurry to
make a decision. Certainly it won't hurt the Buckeyes' cause that
Ohio State signed his teammate from this past season, Maurice Clarret.
Donte Whitner
from Cleveland Glennville is a 5-11, 170 pounder with 4.3
40 speed. He is the top cornerback prospect in the state of Ohio.
Whitner, like Burgess, has already been offered a scholarship by Ohio
State as well as others. He has previously visited Ohio State and
is definitely interested in the Buckeyes but he too doesn't seem like
he is in any big hurry to make a decision. Whitner is also a former
teammate of Buckeye signee Troy Smith.
Eric Thatcher from Cincinnati Moeller is a 6-0, 170 pounder
is a DB prospect who is a very good one. He has been to a number of
Ohio State home games this past season and he went to a junior recruiting
day at Tennessee not too long ago. Thatcher is definitely interested
in Ohio State. Curtis Lukens from North Canton Hoover High
School could end up playing DB or WR in college, and the 6-3, 190
pounder also attended Ohio State games this past season and is interested
in Ohio State. Kevin Zolicofer from Canton McKinley High School
is a 6-1, 180 pound DB who is drawing interest from Ohio State among
others, and Virgil Robinson from Akron is a 5-10, 180 pound
DB with 4.4 40 speed who is also drawing interest from Ohio State
as well as others. Dejuan Tribble from Cincinnati North College
Hill High School is a 5-11, 175 pounder with 4.4 speed and he too
is drawing interest from many schools, not only in the Midwest, but
across the country.
An offensive lineman from the state of Florida who is interested
in Ohio State is Mike Makowski. Makowski is from Timbercreek
High School in Orlando. He is a 6-11/2, 320 pound OL who runs a 4.9
40. He has a 3.0 GPA, bench presses 300 pounds and has a 42"
vertical jump. He started at offensive right tackle during his junior
season, but will likely be either a guard or center in college. Makowski
tells me he is interested in Ohio State, Florida, Michigan and Syracuse
as well as Miami among others. He says he doesn't have a favorite
right now but says he has always like Ohio State's football program.
Antwaine Jackson from Detroit Crockett Tech
High School in Michigan is a 6-2, 230 pound defensive lineman who
runs a 4.9 40 and has a 3.1 GPA. He starts at both DT and OG but will
likely play on defense in college. He bench presses 250 pounds and
squats over 500. Jackson says that some of the schools he has an interest
in include Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and UCLA.
He did go to Michigan State's junior recruiting day.
In Ohio, DE Michael Hearn from Cleveland Glennville High
School is interested in Ohio State. Hearn is a 6-4, 270 pounder who
has good size and is a pretty good all-around athlete. Hearn is from
the same high school as Troy Smith, the quarterback that signed with
OSU this past recruiting season. He has OSU as one of the schools
he is interested in as well several other Big Ten schools as well.
After signing just one RB is this last recruiting class the Buckeyes
are going to be pursuing running backs for this coming season's recruiting
class. Overall in the state of Ohio it won't be tremendous year for
running backs but still there are a number of good ones in the Buckeye
State that Ohio State is going to be interest in. However, the Buckeyes
will of course go out of state in search of some of the Midwest's
and the country's finest running backs.
LaMarr Woodley is a 6-3, 245 pound outside linebacker from
Saginaw, Michigan that the Buckeyes are taking a serious look at.
Woodley runs a 4.5 40 and bench presses 300 pounds. During his junior
season he made 112 tackles. He has a 2.8 GPA and says he is getting
mail from Ohio State. He says he does not have a top five, but says
he has been offered by four schools so far, Michigan, Michigan State,
Purdue and Virginia. Woodley has been to Michigan and Michigan State's
junior recruiting days. In addition to those four schools, he said
he is also is receiving mail from among others Ohio State, Penn State
and Wisconsin. He says he is not close to making a decision and wants
to stay open minded on his college choice.
Despite the fact that the Buckeyes recruited well along the offensive
line in their last recruiting class, Ohio State will once again be
looking for offensive linemen this year. In Ohio, there may not be
an Orlando Pace in Ohio this year, but there are some good ones such
as Mike DeLuca, a 6-4, 260 pounder from Chardon Notre Dame
Cathedral Latin and Dan Pribula from Strongsville, a 6-6, 300
pounder. Ty Hall from Cincinnati Anderson is another Ohioan the Buckeyes
are interested in. He is a 6-5, 280 pounder, as well as Matt Maizel
from Youngstown Ursuline, a 6-5, 275 pounder. In central Ohio,
Charlie Norden, a 6-6, 230 pounder at Dublin Scioto is drawing
interest from the Buckeyes and in Dayton at Chaminade Chris Vengas
is getting a look from many schools, including the Buckeyes. Andrew
Stafford from Toledo Saint Francis High School is a 6-4, 280 pounder
and has visited Ohio State and is another name to keep in mind.
Ohio State landed two fine quarterbacks in their last recruiting
class, but they are looking to add to their number this year, and
overall, it should a be a pretty good year for quarterback talent
coming up in the state of Ohio. The Buckeyes have already offered
a scholarship to Todd Boeckman, a 6-5, 215 pounder from Saint
Henry High School and the Buckeyes have as good a shot or better shot
than anyone at landing Boeckman. Boeckman, however, is not the only
good QB prospect in Ohio. At Reynoldsburg, John Ferguson is
a 6-6, 205 pounder who was at OSU's junior day in February and Ferguson
is interested in the Buckeyes. The same goes for Brady Quinn
from Dublin Coffman High School. Quinn is a 6-4, 200 pounder who also
attended OSU's junior day in February and he too has an interest in
the Buckeyes. Then there is Ben Mauk at Kenton. Mauk, who going
into this senior season has already passed for over 10,000 yards,
helped lead his team to a Division IV state championship this past
season. Mauch has also been to OSU's junior recruiting day and professes
an interest in OSU as well.
March 18, 2002
The Buckeyes are closing in on their first verbal commitment of for
this coming season's recruiting class. DB/WR Tony Gonzalez
from Cleveland says that he will probably commit to Ohio State in
the near future. He is a 6-0 tall, 187 pounder with 4.37 40 speed.
He helped lead Saint Ignatius
to the state championship this past season.
He started at both cornerback and wide receiver. On defense Gonzalez
picked off six passes and made 53 tackles. On offense he caught 42
passes and scored 10 times. Gonzalez could play on either side of
the ball in college and recruiters are talking about both positions.
He has a 3.4 GPA and has run a 10.5 100 meters in track. He says he
is interested in Ohio State definitely as he puts it, as well as Maryland,
Virginia, Northwestern and Notre
Dame. His brother attends Indiana but he says he is not particularly
interested in the Hoosiers and interestingly, his father Edwardo was
a running back at Michigan. He says OSU and Maryland have offered
him a scholarship as well as others such as Louisville, Miami of Ohio,
Boston College and Oklahoma State. He attended junior days at both
Ohio State and Michigan and subsequently visited OSU again, saying
it went really very well. He got a tour of the new business school
at Ohio State as well as the stadium. He went around with OSU Assistant
Coach Mel Tucker and spoke with Coach Tressel. He says that he will
probably actually commit to Ohio State pretty soon. He is one of the
top prospects in the state of Ohio, so certainly that is encouraging
news for OSU. Gonzalez says OSU has talked about both positions, cornerback
and wide receiver, but he said he would like to try corner first if
he goes to OSU.
Offensive lineman Ty Hall from
Cincinnati Anderson High School is interested in Ohio State. He attended
Ohio State's junior day back in February. He is a 6-6(5), 280 (255)pounder
with 5.1 40 speed. He lettered as a sophomore before moving into the
starting lineup at offensive guard this past season. He also played
some offensive tackle and some defensive tackle. Hall has a 3.6 GPA
and was named second team all-city as his team went 10-1 last season.
He is also a basketball starter. He says he is interested in all the
schools that are recruiting him and that he is trying to see who is
showing the most serious interest, but some of the ones he mentioned
were Ohio State, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Iowa, Maryland, Boston
College, Illinois, Georgia Tech, Cincinnati and Pitt. Hall said that
he heard Cincinnati was going to offer him a scholarship. He attended
junior days at both Ohio State and Northwestern.
TE Louis Irizarry
from Youngstown Ursuline is one of the country's top tight
end prospects and is a player the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship
to. He is a 6-5, 235 pound tight end with 4.6 40 speed. He has been
a varsity starter since his freshman season when he caught 50 passes.
As a sophomore he caught another 46, and then this past season caught
31 more for over 500 yards and 7 touchdowns. He also plays basketball
and is a fine student as well with a 3.9 GPA. He has offers on the
table from Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, Boston College,
Maryland and Wake Forrest. He is particularly interested in Ohio State,
Penn State, Notre Dame, Miami and Michigan State. He also has some
interest in Michigan. He has been to junior days at Ohio State, Michigan
and Penn State, however, his top two choices are Ohio State and Penn
State. Both schools are within a two and a half hour drive from his
home.
Irizary's teammate, OL Matt
Maizel is a fine prospect is well and is drawing interest from
Big Ten recruiters. Like Irizary, Maizel attended OSU's junior recruiting
day and also plans to attend Ohio State's football camp this summer.
Maizel is a 6-5, 275 pounder who runs a 5.2 40. He started at offensive
tackle for Lowellville High School as a sophomore then transferred
to Youngstown Ursuline where he started at offensive right tackle
this season as a junior. He has a 2.5 GPA, bench presses 330 pounds
and squats over 400. He says he is getting plenty of mail from colleges
and has been invited to a number of junior recruiting days. He made
it to OSU and Michigan's recruiting days. He also will attend the
Nike Camp, the session at either Penn State or Michigan State. He
says he is interested in Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa,
Central Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State, those are some of the schools
he is interested in.
Also from Ursaline, RB/S
Terrance Graves is a 6-1, 205 pounder with 4.5 40 speed.
He has a been a varsity starter at tailback since his freshman season
when he rushed for 800 yards. As a sophomore Grays rushed for almost
2,000 yards and last season rushed for just under 1,200 yards. He
also started at safety as a sophomore and junior and says he would
feel comfortable playing either position in college. He has a 2.5
GPA. He says he is interested in Ohio State, Penn State, North Carolina
and the ACC schools as well as the SEC schools. He says he will attend
the Nike Training Camp at Penn State along with Irizary.
One of the top center prospects in all of Ohio says he has been a
Buckeye fan all his life. Chris Vangas from
Dayton Chaminade, a 6-3, 290 pounder with 5.25 40 speed. He has been
a varsity starter at center since his sophomore season. Vangus bench
presses 375 pounds, squats 500 and has a 3.0 GPA. He was named special
teams All-Ohio as a junior. He says that he is interested in Ohio
State, Nebraska, Michigan State, Pitt, Maryland, Boston College, Notre
Dame and has Northwestern and Wisconsin among the other Big Ten schools
on his list. He has visited Notre Dame and Northwestern, having gone
to games there. He says he has been invited to a number of junior
days but hasn't been able to make it to any, but does plan to go to
Ohio State and Nebraska's camps this summer. He says OSU and Nebraska
are his two favorite schools and adds he has been an Ohio State fan
all of his life.
A big lineman from the state of Michigan that the Buckeyes are interested
in is Fred McConnell from Southfield
Lathrup High School. McConnell, a 6-5,
320 pounder with 5.1 40 speed, played both tackle and guard this past
season. McConnell also was a varsity starter at offensive tackle as
a sophomore. He had 50 pancake blocks during his junior season. McConnell
has a 3.8 GPA, bench presses 400 pounds and squats over 600. McConnell
is drawing interest from schools all over the country including Ohio
State. He will be one of the top linemen in the state of Michigan
this coming season.
March 5, 2002
Dan Pribula from Strongsville, Ohio is a 6-6, 315 pound offensive
tackle who runs a 5.1 40. He has been a varsity starter at OT since
his sophomore season. Pribula helped lead Strongsville to a 9-2 record
last year. Pribula has a 3.6 GPA. He currently says he does not have
a top choice at this point, that the only school he has visited thus
far is Pitt. He went to Pitt's junior day and Pitt has offered a scholarship.
He says that he is getting mail from from Ohio State, Iowa, Boston
College, Northwestern and most of the Big Ten in general, as well
as Tennessee, Notre Dame and Kentucky.
WR Bill Poland
from Cincinnati Elder High School is interested
in Ohio State. He is a 6-3, 185 pounder with 4.5 40 speed. He caught
38 passes and averaged 20 yards per catch this past season. He scored
five times. He has a 3.6 GPA and says he likes Tennessee, Ohio State,
Michigan, Notre Dame and Cincinnati. He will visit Tennessee this
weekend. He says he probably likes Tennessee best, but is definitely
interested in those other schools, and that he will probably camp
at Ohio State, Tennessee and Cincinnati, and maybe Michigan and Northwesternt.
Two-way lineman Mike
DeLuca from Chardon Notre Dame Cathedral
Latin High School in Ohio will be one of the top two-way linemen in
the Buckeye state, and DeLuca has Ohio State as one of his favorites.
He is a 6-4, 270 pounder with 5.0 40 speed. He has been a varsity
starter since his freshman season when he played defensive end. The
past two seasons he has started at offensive tackle and defensive
tackle. I tend to think he will be an offensive tackle in college,
though he says he would feel comfortable playing on either side of
the ball at the next level. He has a 2.8 GPA and says that Ohio State
and Michigan are probably his top two choices, but he also is looking
at Pitt, Virginia, Wisconsin and basically anywhere in the Big Ten.
DeLuca says he is getting mail from all those schools though none
have offered a scholarship to this point. He has not yet attended
any junior days because he has been involved with basketball, but
he says he will probably visit both Ohio State and Michigan for spring
practices.
In Michigan, RB Maurice Alexander from
Southfield says that Ohio State is his favorite school. The 5-9, 185
pounder who runs a 4.5 40 has been a varsity starter at running back
since part-way through his freshman season. This past season he rushed
for 1,400 yards, averaged over eight yards per carry and scored 17
times. He has a 2.5 GPA. He says he likes Ohio State, Michigan State,
Missouri, Boston College, Colorado, Minnesota and Indiana, and says
however that Ohio is his favorite, that he has just always wanted
to go to Ohio State since he was younger.
The Buckeyes will be targeting running backs in this next recruiting
class since they signed only one this past season, that being super
back Maurice Clarret. One running back the Buckeyes are interested
in is Terrance Grays from Youngstown
Ursuline. He is a 6-1, 205 pounder and is one of the top backs in
the state this year. Also, Brian Jones from Avon Lake is a 6-0, 185
pounder who the Buckeyes have an interest in as well.
Tight end is a position that the talent pool may not be quite as
strong overall in Ohio as in some years past, but there some tight
ends the Buckeyes will take a very good look at, including Louis
Irizary from Youngstown Ursuline. Irizary is a 6-6, 235 pounder.
Also, Marcel Frost from Lyndhurst,
Ohio is a 6-4, 225 pounder that could play either TE or WR in college.
Frost attended several OSU home games this past season and he too
is interested in the Buckeyes.
Fullback Joey Razzano
from Milford, Ohio is a 6-0, 230 pounder
and is certainly going to be one of the better fullback prospects
in Ohio this coming season, and he already has two scholarship offers
on the table. Razzano, who rushed for close to 800 yards during his
junior season despite missing a couple of games with an ankle sprain,
has offers from Virginia Tech and Ole Miss. His father, Rick, played
at Virginia Tech and his brother Ricky currently plays at Ole Miss.
Joey, who has a 2.4 GPA, is definitely interested in those two schools,
but he also has tapes sent out to Ohio State, Michigan and a number
of other Big Ten schools as well.
In Michigan, QB Dejuan
Warren, a 6-3, 185 pounder from Southfield,
is interested in Ohio State. Warren threw for 1,400 yards as a sophomore,
completing 61% of his passes, and in his junior season threw for over
1,500 yards and 16 touchdowns. He has 2.7 GPA and says that Minnesota
and Central Michigan have offered him a scholarship. He is interested
in those two, but says that he is also interested in Ohio State, Iowa,
Notre Dame, Michigan State, Nebraska, Michigan and Indiana.
LB Zach Kettlekamp from Springfield
Sacred Heart High Griffin School in Illinois is a 6-3, 230 pounder
with 4.7 40 speed. Kettlekamp has been a varsity starter since his
sophomore season and has made over 100 tackles in each of the past
two season. He says that he is interested in Boston College as well
as Colorado and Virginia, and he basically is interested in all of
the Big Ten schools. He is also a kicker and says he would be interested
in doing either or both, being a linebacker and/or kicker in college.
Kicker Adam Graessle
from Dublin Coffman is a strong-legged kicker that is drawing
interest from recruiters. He is an accurate kicker and without question
will be one of the top kicking prospects in the state of Ohio this
coming season. Keep in mind that the Buckeyes did not sign a kicker
in this past season's recruiting class.
Quarterback Brady Quinn from Dublin Coffman is a 6-4, 210
pounder with 4.65 40 speed helped lead Coffman to a 9-4 record this
past season by throwing for 2200 yards and 21 touchdown. Quinn, as
we reported earlier, was in attendance at OSU's junior day in February.
He competed 48% of his passes with 15 interceptions. Quinn told me
that he liked it a lot at OSU's junior day. He said he had a lot of
fun, that he met a number of the Buckeye coaches and was impressed.
He says he is looking at Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Tennessee
Notre Dame, Northwestern, South Carolina, Clemson and Pitt. He has
now been to junior days at OSU, Michigan and Pitt and plans to try
to make it to junior days at both Notre Dame and Northwestern. Quinn
says that to this point none of the schools have offered a scholarship
and he does not have a favorite.
Quinn's teammate, Chinedum Ndukwe
is a fine wide receiver at Coffman. Ndukwe is a 6-3, 190 pounder with
4.5 40 speed. Ndukwe caught a school-record 59 passes this past season.
He has a 3.2 GPA. He has attended junior days at Michigan and Pitt,
and plans to go to Notre Dame's junior day as well. He is looking
at those schools, but is keeping an open mind. Some other schools
he is interested in include Northwestern, his brother Ike is an offensive
lineman there, and also mentions Ohio State and certainly there are
other schools on his list as well.
Bill Kurelic
February 2002 Posts