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Bill Kurelic May,
2000 Posts
05/25/00 The Buckeyes are certainly also interested in WR Kevin Hazel from Columbus DeSales High School. His dad, David Hazel, played for OSU back when Archie Griffin played for the Buckeyes. Kevin is a 6-0, 185 pound WR with 4.4 40 speed. He caught 40 passes this past season for over 800 yards and nine touchdowns. He told me last night that his top five is Michigan, Ohio State, Pitt, Texas and Virginia, in no particular order, though he did say he has a leader among the five. Hazel said that Pitt would be his favorite right now, and Pitt has offered him a scholarship. Hazel said that he likes the coaches and the location of Pitt, but that he certainly is interested in Ohio State and the other schools. Interestingly enough, although Pitt has offered, none of his other top choices have, but Purdue, Boston College and Cincinnati all have offered Hazel a scholarship, but he says he is not really that interested in those three schools. Moving down to Cincinnati, LB Joe Ryan from Cincinnati Moeller High School told me that Ohio State is his favorite. Ryan is a 6-4, 210 pound OLB that runs a 4.7 40. He began the season for Moeller as a defensive end, then moved to OLB. Ryan has a fine 3.5 GPA and a 21 on the ACT, and told me that he is very interested in Ohio State, but he also mentions Syracuse, saying that Syracuse is sending him a lot of mail, and also mentions some MAC schools such as Ohio U., Bowling Green and Ball State. The Buckeyes have now offered a scholarship to an outstanding running back from the state of Florida, Lydell Ross from Gaiter High School in Tampa. He is a 6-0, 205 pounder with 4.5 40 speed. He is a dynamic talent who has scholarship offers from schools all over the country, including Ohio State. Ross is without question one of the country's top running back prospects. Ross has offers from Florida State, Tennessee, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Miami, and many others. WR Jonathan Orr from Detroit Henry Ford High School in Michigan is a player that the Buckeyes have also offered a scholarship. The 6-3, 180 pounder caught 80 passes this past season, and averaged 23 yards per catch. Orr has also now qualified academically. He got his test score back which was a 16 the first time he took it, but this time he got a 17 to go with a 3.1 GPA. Orr told me that his top schools have changed a little of late. Previously, his top two were Michigan State and Ohio State, but Orr now says that Minnesota has now moved into the lead, because as he put it, Minnesota seems the most sincere and seems that they are coming on the hardest. He now has Minnesota in the lead, but also is looking at Michigan State, Ohio State, Iowa and Georgia tech. Those are his main five schools, and all five have offered him a scholarship. WR Chris Herald from Euclid is another player the Buckeyes are interested in, and he has Ohio State as one of his top choices. He is a 6-2, 190 pounder who caught 32 passes and averaged 16 yards per catch as a junior. He told me that he doesn't have any one favorite, but as he put it, has a nucleus of five schools that he likes. Those five are Ohio State, Penn State, Notre Dame, Purdue and Kentucky. He says that none of them have offered a scholarship yet, but all have at least talked about it a little bit. He said that he is going to go to camp this summer at Ohio State, Notre Dame, Purdue and Penn State. Some time ago I reported that Ohio State had offered a scholarship to DE Kevin Vickerson from Detroit MLK high school, and that Vickerson had Ohio State and Michigan as his co-leaders. The 6-6, and now 265 pound Vickerson says that he is definitely still interested in Ohio State, but he said that the one school that has really come on strong is Georgia Tech. Vickerson said that the main schools he is looking at now are Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia Tech and Minnesota, and that he really doesn't have any one leader or co-leader, but that Michigan, Ohio State and Georgia Tech would all be high up on his list. He did say that he is going to attend Michigan's football camp in June, and he said that he also has been thinking about making an early decision, but he is not sure now if he will do that or not. He has a 2.6 GPA and had 23 sacks as a junior. He was at the Nike training camp that was held at Ohio State. Another outstanding prospect that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to is Ahmad Carroll from Atlanta Douglas High School in Georgia. He is a 6-0, 190 pounder with 4.4 40 speed who intercepted three passes this past season and returned two of those interceptions for touchdowns. He also rushed for 1200 yards but will most likely play as a cornerback in college, though WR is not out of the question. He told me that he is looking at many, many schools, but some that he mentioned were Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Florida State, Tennessee, Minnesota, Auburn, Syracuse, Georgia Tech and Miami. Most of those schools, he said, have already offered him a scholarship, including Ohio State. He said that Bill Conley is recruiting him, and has called him and also has been down to Douglas High School as well. A priority position for this season's Buckeye recruiting class is tight end, and fine one from Georgia that is interested in Ohio State is Quan Domineck from Elwood Cedar Grove High School in Georgia. He is a 6-5, 240 pound TE with 4.7 40 speed. He is one of the best TE prospects in the South. He caught 12 passes as a junior and told me that he is looking at Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn, Florida, Ohio State and Middle Tennessee, and that Georgia, Georgia Tech and Auburn have all offered a scholarship and that right now those would be his top three choices. Moving to Columbus, Walter Dudley is a WR from Columbus Beechcroft High School that's interested in Ohio State. He is a 5-11, 165 pounder with 4.5 40 speed who played WR and RB this past season, but will likely be a WR in college. Dudley has a 2.3 GPA and tells me that he will be at OSU's football camp in June and will also try to go to Purdue's camp and will also go to one-day camps at Miami, Cincinnati and Ohio U. He said that OSU has called him, and he is looking at OSU as well as Purdue, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Ohio U and Cincinnati. The Buckeyes have now offered a scholarship to OL Dan Simelis from Pennsylvania, and Simelis has moved Ohio State back up on his list, and will make another visit to Ohio State sometime within the next month or so. He is a 6-6, 285 pound OT from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. At one point, he had told me that Ohio State was his favorite but the Buckeyes had not offered him a scholarship. He was at OSU's junior recruiting day back on April first, and was subsequently offered a scholarship by many schools, including Michigan, Virginia and Pitt which a few weeks ago he said were his top three choices, and he said he had dropped Ohio State and Penn State down because those two schools had not offered him a scholarship. When I spoke to him recently, he said the Buckeyes and Tennessee have now offered him a scholarship, and he says he no longer has a favorite or a top three, but rather a top five, all about even, and those five are Ohio State, Michigan, Pitt, Virginia and Tennessee. Simelis has already visited Ohio State, Michigan, Pitt and Virginia, and he said he would probably visit Tennessee sometime in June or July, and he also wants to re-visit Ohio State sometime in June or July, but most likely in June. Speaking of players the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to, DE Thomas Carroll from Lakewood, New Jersey is a good one that the Buckeyes have offered. He is a 6-4, 225 pound DE who had 9 sacks as a junior. He will likely be a DE in college, as he is growing, and will probably eventually be in the 6-5, 265 pound range in a few years. He tells me that he has scholarship offers on the table now from Ohio State, Minnesota, Maryland and Wake Forrest, and that Iowa and Virginia have said that they are going to send offers in writing as well. He said he is also talking to Penn State, Miami and Michigan State, as well as some other Big 10 schools, but he does not have a favorite right now, and that he is going to wait and take his official visits before he picks a college. 05/20/00 A player that the Buckeyes are very interested in from the West Coast who tells me that he is interested in Ohio State is Ty Erics, a very good running back from Seattle, Washington. Erics is a 6-2, 220 pound running back with 4.45 40 speed. He is the kind of big back that Buckeye running backs coach Tim Spencer likes. In fact, Erics told me that coach Spencer called him lately, and that he (Erics) is definitely interested in Ohio State. Erics rushed for 1,500 yards last season, averaged 8.5 yards per carry, and scored 22 times. He has a 3.9 GPA and scored a 1060 on the PSAT. Erics says he is looking at Stanford, UCLA, Ohio State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Florida State and Washington. Washington is the first school to offer him a scholarship, but Erics thinks that there are some other schools that are pretty close to offering as well. In Florida, WR/DB Jarvis Herring from Live Oak Sawanee High School is a 5-11, 175 pounder with 4.5 40 speed who is interested in Ohio State. Herring could play either WR or DB in college, picked off six passes last season and had four touchdown receptions. He has a 2.8 GPA and tells me that some of the schools he is interested in are Florida, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Florida State and Michigan. Louisville has offered him a scholarship, and that right now, Florida would be his favorite. A big offensive lineman from Texas that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to says he is interested in Ohio State. In fact, he was at Ohio State's football camp last summer. Collin Barker from Wortham, Texas is a 6-9, 325 offensive tackle, runs a 5.3 40. He starts at offensive right tackle, has a 4.0 GPA and scored a 20 on the ACT. He is one of the top OL prospects in the Southwest, and for that matter, in the entire country. Barker tells me that some of the schools he is interested in include Texas, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Florida State, Georgia and Baylor. He says that he was at Ohio State's football camp last summer, had a good time, and is certainly interested in the Buckeyes. Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia and Baylor have all already offered him a scholarship, though he says that right now he does not have any one clear-cut favorite. DE Marquis Hill from New Orleans de La Salle High School in Louisiana has also been offered a scholarship by Ohio State. He is a 6-7, 285 pounder with 4.8 40 speed. He has a 2.7 GPA and scored a 16 on the ACT as a sophomore. Hill made 75 tackles including nine sacks last season, and tells me that some of the schools he is interested in include LSU, Michigan, Florida State, Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia, Georgia Tech and Ohio State. Hill said all of those schools have already offered him a scholarship. He mentioned that it is coach Belu who is recruiting him for the Buckeyes has called him, and that, as he put it, coach Belu is cool and he is interested in Ohio State and that his two leaders at this point right now would be LSU and Michigan. In Ohio DB Rodney Stevenson from Warrensville Heights High School is a corner back that the Buckeyes are interested in. He is a 5-9, 170 pounder with 4.45 40 speed. As a sophomore, he picked off 2 passes, then this past year picked off three more and made 60 tackles. He also is a K/O return man. He has a 3.2 GPA and tells me that he is interested in Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana, Syracuse, Kentucky, Penn State, North Carolina and Pitt, and that none of those schools have offered a scholarship yet, though he is getting mail from all of them and some of them have called him this month. He said that he will be going to Ohio State's football camp this summer, and perhaps camp at Penn State and Indiana. The Buckeyes have now developed quite an interest in QB Matt Kubic from Youngstown Cardinal Mooney High School in Ohio. He is a 6-3, 200 pounder with 4.65 40 speed who completed 55% of his passes as a junior for over 800 yards and nine touchdowns and three interceptions. He also rushed for over 1400 yards, averaged over 9 yards per carry and scored 19 times. Kubic indicated that the Buckeyes previously had not really shown any interest in him, but that plenty of other schools had been showing interest including Notre Dame, Stanford, West Virginia, Northwestern, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wake Forest, Kansas and Kansas State. The Buckeyes are now showing quite a bit of interest as Kubic said that coach Pagac called him and told him that OSU in now going to actively recruit him, and that coach Pagac indicated that the Buckeyes feel that he is a Steve Bellisari type athlete that could fit in well in the Buckeyes scheme under new offensive coordinator Chuck Stobart. Kubic said that he is definitely interested in OSU, and while the Buckeyes have not offered a scholarship to this point, they are quite interested in Matt Kubic. Out of state, a fine, fine running back prospect from California who the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to is Jason Harrison. Harrison is a 5-10 1/2, 190 pound running back from Gunderson, California. He is looking at a number of schools, including Ohio State. Harrison rushed for almost 1,500 yards and 16 touchdowns this past season, averaging over eight yards per carry. Harrison tells me that some of the schools that he is interested in include Ohio State, Texas A&M, Oregon and Kansas. He is also interested in UCLA, which is his leader right now. Harrison says that he has scholarship offers from all the schools on his list except for UCLA. In Georgia, Alvin English is a 6-4, 225 DE/TE that likes the Buckeyes. English runs a 4.8 40 and would prefer to play on defense in college. This past season, he registered 11 sacks and also caught nine passes. He told me that he is looking at Georgia, Auburn, Ohio State, Northwestern, LSU, Michigan and Clemson. He said that he receiving mail from all of those schools, though none of them have offered him a scholarship just yet. A player that the Buckeyes were interested in has committed elsewhere. DB/WR Terrence Phillips from Sharon, Pennsylvania, a 6-0 tall, 185 pounder with 4.5 40 speed had committed to Penn State, giving the Lions their first verbal commitment this recruiting season. It is not a big surprise, since Phillips has been saying for quite some time that Penn State was his number one choice, however, he also had been drawing plenty of interest from other schools, including Ohio State, Michigan and Pitt, but he has now gone ahead and committed to Penn State. The Buckeyes are still in the running for Terrence Phillips' teammate, DB Marlon Jackson. Jackson is a 6-1, 185 pounder with 4.5 40 speed, and tells me that he is still looking at Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Tennessee. All five of those schools have already offered him a scholarship. He picked off six passes as a sophomore and five more as junior, and has already visited several of the schools on his list. He plans to visit Ohio State and Tennessee in June. He continues to say that his top two, tied for the lead, are Michigan and Penn State, but keep in mind he has already been to those two schools and he is still planning to visit Ohio State. DE Shawn Cody from California, a 6-5, 250 pounder with 4.9 40 speed, is a great one that the Buckeyes would like to land, and he has OSU in his top five. Cody, who had 140 tackles as a junior including 33 for losses, has a 3.1 GPA and an 1140 on the SAT. Cody tells me that he is interested in UCLA, USC, Ohio State, Colorado, Notre Dame, Texas, and Michigan, and all of those schools except Notre Dame have offered him a scholarship. Cody said that Tim Spencer, who is recruiting him for the Buckeyes, was out at his school the first week of May, and that coach Spencer has called him this month as well. Cody says that he doesn't have any one favorite, but he has a top five, in no particularly order, of Ohio State, UCLA, USC, Notre Dame, and Colorado. Cody said that he is not close to making a decision, and that he is going to wait and take official visits and that it looks like Ohio State will be one of those visits. In the last recruiting class, it originally looked like as many as a half a dozen signees were on the academic bubble, but as of now, it is looking pretty positive for the Buckeyes. As of now, it looks like there is only one member of that class that might not qualify. DE Alphonso Townsend has not qualified yet academically, and while it is not totally out of the question, it tends to look like he will not make it academically, though he is still trying to get the necessary test score and finish with a high enough GPA. RB Sam Maldonado is still not qualified, but has the necessary test score and Maldonado feels very confident that he will make it. He has a 960 on the SAT, and he says that if he gets an 80% or higher in one class, and a 90% or higher in another, then his GPA will be high enough for him to qualify, and Maldonado feels confident about obtaining those grades. Thomas Derrick is a DL from Dallas Jesuit High School in Texas that the Buckeyes have now offered a scholarship to. He is a 6-1, 280 defender with 4.85 40 speed, and is one of the top prospects in the state of Texas. He has a 3.1 GPA and made 97 tackles this past season, including 14 for losses. Derrick has scholarship offers on the table from Penn State, Ohio State, Northwestern, Texas A&M and Colorado, and is also looking at Notre Dame, Nebraska, Texas and perhaps a few others. Nebraska has also indicated that they too will likely offer a scholarship. He says that right now he doesn't have a clear-cut favorite, and is not particularly close to making a decision. The Buckeyes always take a look at the junior college ranks. and a linebacker that is interested in Ohio State and is hearing from the Buckeyes is Rod Allan. He is a 6-2, 235 pound ILB with 4.65 40 speed. He played his high school football at Homestead High School in Homestead, Florida, but this past season played at a community college in Fulton, Mississippi. Allan will however likely transfer to Miami Dade Community College for this coming season and after that, hope to qualify academically and get a scholarship to a D-1 program. He tells me that some of the schools that he is hearing from and is most interested in are Ohio State, Florida State and Miami, but he does at least one more season at the junior college level. 05/13/00 On the other hand, the Buckeyes are in the running for one of the top backs in the state of California. RB/LB Antoine Singfield (6-2, 210) from Rancho Verde, California could play either RB or LB in college, but I tend to think thought that he will end up on offense. He is an outstanding talent who rushed for about 600 yards and six touchdown in part time work on offense last season. He also had 55 tackles and eight sacks playing linebacker. He is drawing interest from schools all over the country including Ohio State, and the good news for Buckeye fans is that he says Ohio State is one of his top choices. Right now he is favoring USC, but he has Ohio State and UCLA right behind the Trojans. Sinfield is also looking at number of other schools including Wisconsin and other PAC 10 schools in addition to USC and UCLA. OL Robert Bergman (6-5, 280, 5.1) is another prospect from the state of California that is interested in Ohio State. Bergman is from Bakersfield, California, and he is one of the top offensive linemen in the state of California. He is a very good pitcher in baseball as well, and is looking at, among others, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame and Nebraska in the Midwest. On the west coast a couple of schools that he is definitely interested in include UCLA and USC. A super prospect from the state of Pennsylvania that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to is still considering Ohio State. In fact, he is going to make an unofficial visit to OSU in early June. DB Marlan Jackson (6-1, 185, 4.5) from Sharon, Pennsylvania told me that he is looking at Penn State and Michigan, those are his two co-leaders, but he also is looking really hard at Ohio State, Notre Dame and Tennessee. All five schools have offered him a scholarship. Jackson has already visited Penn State and Michigan, and plans to visit Ohio State and Tennessee in early June. He said his visit to Ohio State might be June 2nd. He hasn't been to Notre Dame yet, but says that he may visit the Irish sometime in the summer as well. Jackson is a cornerback who picked off six passes as a sophomore and five more as a junior last season. In Ohio, RB Gary MaGee (5-11, 190, 4.45) from Reynoldsburg rushed for 1500 yards as a sophomore and 1200 this past season. MaGee has a 2.0 GPA and an 18 on the ACT told me that he plans to go to camp at Ohio State and Penn State this summer and plans to camp at Toledo for one day as well. McGee says that his three favorite schools are Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan, and that UCLA and Michigan State are in there as well. To this point, all of those schools are showing interest in him, though none have officially offered a scholarship yet. Two-way lineman Tyler Reed (6-4, 295) from Pittsburgh told me this week that he is still considering Ohio State, though not quite as highly as when I last spoke with him. Previously, he said that the four main schools he is concentrating on were Penn State, Michigan, Pitt and Ohio State, and three of the four have offered him a scholarship. Penn State is the only one of the four that has not. When I spoke with Reed this week, he said that the schools he is mostly concentrating on are Pitt, Michigan, Michigan State and Tennessee. He says that he is not quite as interested now in either OSU or Penn State, though he did say that both the Buckeyes and the Nittany Lions are still in the running. Pitt, Michigan State, Tennessee and Ohio State have all offered him a scholarship. Reed said that he is going to go to football camp this summer at both Tennessee and Michigan, but he also added that he had been thinking about making an early commitment to someone, but that he probably now will not do that, and that he will probably wait and take at least some official visits before making a decision. RB Kelly Baraka (6-1, 185, 4.4) from Portage Northern High School in Michigan tells me that Ohio State has always been one of the schools that he has liked. He is one of the top prospects in the Midwest. He rushed for 1,574 yards as a junior, scored 26 touchdown and averaged almost eight yards per carry. Has a 2.5 GPA and a 19 on the ACT and tells me that his top three are Notre Dame, Michigan and Purdue, with Notre Dame slightly ahead. All three of those schools have offered him a scholarship, but he did say that he grew up a "big time" as he put it, Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio State fan. He said that as far as he knows, Ohio State has not offered him a scholarship, but that he would have an interest in Ohio State and that he might go to Ohio State's football camp this summer. The Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to 10 players thus far in the state of Ohio. Of course, three of them have already committed to Ohio State. Those three being LB Reggie Arden from Ironton, DL Brandon McKinney from Dayton, and OL Adam Olds from Dublin. The other Ohioans the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to include DE Pat Massey from Cleveland who says his top three choices, in no particular order, are Ohio State, Notre Dame and Michigan, all three of which have offered him a scholarship. DB Justin Fox from Canton says that Penn State is his leader over Ohio State, and that in all likelihood his decision will come down to one of those two, and both have offered. RB Maurice Hall from Columbus says he is mainly considering seven schools, all of which are about equal. The seven are Ohio State, Penn State, Florida State, Notre Dame, all of which have offered him a scholarship, and Tennessee, Michigan and Miami round out his list, though they have not offered him a scholarship. DE Simon Frazier from Upper Arlington and who's dad is a teacher at Ohio State, names Ohio State as one of his top choices, though he is also looking at Michigan, Purdue, Stanford, Northwestern, Illinois and Michigan State. He says that Ohio State, Stanford and Michigan are his top three, though he doesn't name a particular order. WR Angelo Chattams from Dayton, a teammate of Brandon McKinney says that Ohio State is his leader, though he is not saying when he will make a decision. The other schools still in the running include Michigan State, Northwestern and Purdue who have all offered him a scholarship, and Michigan, Indiana and Illinois are on his list as well. DE Pierre Woods from Cleveland has scholarship offers from OSU, Michigan State, Indiana, Iowa, Toledo and Ohio U. He says he is looking at all of those schools, though he says he doesn't have a leader at this point. Recently the Buckeyes offered a scholarship to LB Chad Anderson from Canton. Anderson says he is not ready to make a decision at this time, though he says his two favorites are Ohio State and Kentucky, both of which have offered him a scholarship. Other schools on his list include Pitt, Maryland, Ohio U and Akron, and all those schools have also offered him a scholarship. He also names Notre Dame as one of the schools he is interested in, though the Irish have not yet offered him. 05/09/00 The Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to Tim Massaquoi (6-4, 215, 4.6) , an outstanding athlete from the state of Pennsylvania. He could play wide receiver, tight end, H-back or linebacker in college. He has been offered a scholarship by the Buckeyes as a wide receiver. He told me that he is currently looking at a number of schools, in fact 28 schools have offered a scholarship. He is said he is interested in Ohio State, Penn State, Boston College, Michigan State, Michigan, Virginia, Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Pitt among others, and all of them exept for Notre Dame have already offered him a scholarship. He said that he would like to make a decision if possible by the end of August, and that right now perhaps Penn State and Ohio State might be the top two on his list. He said that Penn State is recruiting him more as a tight end or linebacker, while the Buckeyes are recruiting him as a wide receiver. Speaking of wide receivers, another super wide reciever that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to, Montrell Jones (6-2, 180, 4.45) from Kentucky, is also still intersted in Ohio State. Jones was at the Nike Training Camp held at Ohio State on April 15th, and at one point had told me that Ohio State was in his top five. Last night he told me that his top five right now might be Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, Florida and Purdue in no particular order, but that there are about five other schools that could creep right in there, and three schools that he mentioned were Ohio State, Miami and Florida State. Of all the schools he mentioned, the only one that has not offered him a scholarship is Florida State. DB Dustin Fox (6-0, 190, 4.4) from North Canton Glen Oak High School was at Penn State this past weekend. There was another session of the Nike Training Camps, and it was held this past Saturday at Penn State. Fox attended, was very impressive, and then afterwards went to a recruiting gathering that the Nittany Lions coaches held. Fox, however, did not commit to Penn State. He said last night that they pushed it pretty hard, but he did not commit. He did say that Penn State is still his leader, and it is a fairly big size lead, but he said he in not ready to make a decision yet. Fox said he is still looking at Penn State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan and maybe one or two others, but that realistically, his decision is probably going to come down to Penn State or Ohio State. As to when he might make a decision, he said that whenever it feels right, he'll make a decision. Fox is of course the brother of former Penn State DB Derrick Fox and the nephew of former OSU linebacker Ken Kuhn. OSU assistant Fred Pagac, who is recruiting Fox, attended Fox' track meet last Friday and Miami will visit his school this week. Fox' teammate, Josh Anderson (6-0, 180), a WR/DB was also at the Nike Training Camp at Penn State, but did not actually get to participate in the training camp due to a pulled hamstring. He told me that the schools he is considering are Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State, Michigan, West Virginia and Pitt. Indiana is the only school that has offered him scholarship, and that he is planning to go to Ohio State's camp for a day this summer, and will likely go to camp at Penn State, Indiana, and perhaps Notre Dame and Michigan for a day as well. A third player from North Canton Glen Oak that attended the Nike Training Camp at Penn State that is interested in Penn State is DB Greg Williams (5-9, 185, 4.5). Williams picked off two passes last season, and told me that he is looking at Indiana, Ohio State and Penn State and he has been to all three and has been offered a scholarship by Indiana. He also said that he will consider other schools as well and will attend Ohio State's camp this summer as well. LB/FB Scott McClintock (6-3, 240, 4.6) from Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania did not make it to the Nike Training Camp at Penn State. Instead, he went to a photo shoot at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. He told me that he is basically looking at the same schools, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and Pitt, though he said that Florida State, Kentucky and Boston College have all recently offered a scholarship. The first four offered a scholarship quite some time ago. McClintock said that Michigan will be at his baseball game this Thursday, May 11th, and that Michigan is his leader. He is not sure if he will commit to Michigan on that day, and also mentioned that OSU assistant coach Fred Pagac who is recruiting him for OSU was at his school last week. McClintock does have relatives that live in Columbus. RB Kevin Shaheed Jones from Springfield O'Hare High School in Pennsylvania, one of the country's top overall prospects, was at Penn State on Saturday for the Nike Training Camp session, but because of an injury did not participate in all of the drills. He is a player that the Buckeyes, as well as everyone else, are interested in, though right now he says that his two favorite schools are Penn State and Virginia Tech, with Florida State also making a move on his list. WR Angelo Chattams (5-11, 180, 4.45) from Dayton Chaminade High School is one of the top prospects in the state of Ohio and one of the best wide receivers in the Midwest. Chattams says he is "just kind of resting" right now and talking to schools. He says that he is not particularly on the verge of making a decision, however he does continue to have Ohio State as his leader, though he also is still looking at other schools, including Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Northwestern, Illinois and Indiana. He is the teammate of DL Brandon McKinney who has already commited to the Buckeyes. WR Derrick Ross (6-0, 185, 4.5) from Marion Harding, High School is a WR that the Buckeyes are most definitely intersted in. If he qualifies academically, Ross should end up getting scholarship offers from some very good schools. He tells me that he is looking at Ohio State (and was at Ohio State's junior recruiting day) and is also looking at Iowa, Michigan State, Maryland and Indiana. OSU has not yet offered him a scholarship, though they are definitely interested. At one point, OL Dan Simelis (6-6, 285, 5.25) from McKees Rocks Montour, Pa. had OSU as his top choice and is one of the top OL prospects in the Keystone State. Simelis made an unofficial visit to Ohio State along with his dad and was very impressed, but the Buckeyes did not offer a scholarship. He previously had offers from a number of schools, and now more schools have offered him a scholarship, including both Michigan and Virginia. Thus far those two along with Pitt, Boston College, Cincinnati and some others have offered him but Ohio State and Penn State, two schools that had previously been high on his list, have not yet offered. Simelis now says that his top three is Michigan, Virginia and Pitt. At this point, he seems to be still considering Ohio State, but with the Buckeyes not offering, he has the other schools higher. One player in Pennsylvania that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarhip to is two-way lineman Tyler Reed (6-4, 295) from Pittsburgh Jefferson High School. Reed is still looking at Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and Pitt. Those are his top four choices and he has made unofficial visits to all of them. All except Penn State have offered him. OSU would love to have Reed, who could be an outstanding lineman on either side of the ball in college, but prefers defense. Speaking of linemen, one of the top linemen in the state of Minnesota likes Ohio State. Justin Schopbell (6-4, 280, 5.0) started at OT last season, but will move to either guard or center this coming season. He has a 3.4 GPA and a 20 on the ACT. He tells me that the schools he is most intersted in are Ohio State, Minnesota, Stanford, Iowa, Michigan, Northwestern and Colorado, and all of those schools are showing interest in him though none have offered him a scholarship yet. QB Matt Baker (6-3, 195) from Birmingham Brother Rice High School in Michigan also has an interst in Ohio State. Baker runs a 4.75 40 and passed to close to 1500 yards as he completed 113 of 224 passes last season for 14 touchdowns and just four interceptions. Baker has a 3.5 GPA and is interested in Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Stanford, Duke and Ohio State. All are showing interest though none have offered a scholarship. RB Maurice Hall remains high on the Buckeyes' list, but more schools continue to offer Hall a scholarship as well. The two latest are Florida State and Purdue. Both offered him on May 1, the first day that college were allowed to go out and visit high schools around the country. Hall did not commit to either which is not surprising as he has been saying for quite some time that he is planning on going through the recruiting process and take at least some official visits before making a decision. He continues to say that he is looking at seven schools all about equally right now, those seven being Ohio State, Florida State, Penn State, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Michigan and Nebraska. Only Michigan and Nebraska have not yet officially offereed him a scholarship. |