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Bill Kurelic October 2000 Posts October 25, 2000 RB J. R. Lemon (6-2, 215, 4.5) from Georgia is one of the country's top backs, and he might make an official visit to Ohio State. He has rushed for 750 yards in seven games thus far this season. Lemon tells me he has about eight schools he is looking at, and he said those schools would be Miami, Stanford, Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Clemson, and maybe Alabama. Lemon said all of those schools have offered him a scholarship. He said it is hard to say right now which school he likes best or even which he will chose to visit. He has not yet begun to set up any of his official visits. He said though that he would visit at least on of the Midwest schools on his list. LB/DE Scott Wolf from Fort Lauderdale Aquinas High School in Florida is a 6-4, 225 pounder that says he is working on setting up an official visit to Ohio State. Wolf said that he might be able to make an official visit to OSU the weekend the Buckeyes play Michigan the weekend of November 18th. He has a game on that Friday night and he said that he might be able to make the official visit leaving after the game on that Friday night. If he did make an official visit that weekend to Ohio State he would in all likelihood be accompanied by a number of his teammates, including WR Jomo Fagan as well as several others like Dominick Anderson, a running back. Wolf said that he is currently looking at Ohio State, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Michigan State and Boston College. He has already made an official visit to Boston College. All of the schools on his list have already offered him a scholarship except for Ohio State. However, Wolf said that right now, he likes Ohio State best even though the Buckeyes are the only one on his list that have not offered him. DB Josh Leigh (6-2, 180) from Pennsylvania had previously told me that Ohio State was one of the schools on his list. However, Leigh now says his decision is down to three schools, Penn State, Arizona State, and Pitt. All three have offered him a scholarship.The Buckeyes did not offer him a scholarship. DE Simon Fraser, who has of course already committed to the Buckeyes, has not yet set up an official visit with OSU, but did tell me that it is most likely that he and teammate RB Jeff Backes would likely visit OSU together. Backes is the 5-11, 180 pound RB/DB from Upper Arlington that the Buckeyes have also offered a scholarship to. He has been offered by Ohio State, Virginia and Duke and is looking at those three as well as Stanford, Notre Dame and Michigan. There had been a rumor going around that WR Fred Lee (5-10, 170) from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania had committed to Michigan State, but Lee says that that is not the case. Lee said that he has not committed to Michigan State and that he has made only one official visit thus far, that being to Colorado. He has not yet set up his other official visits. He said though that he is looking at Michigan State, Clemson, Florida, North Carolina State and Ohio State. All of the schools have offered him a scholarship except for Florida. One school that he is no longer looking at is Penn State. He said he does not have a favorite right now and that he is not even close to making a decision. LB Chad Anderson from Canton, McKinley High School in Ohio made an official visit to Kentucky this past weekend and Anderson has committed to Kentucky. Indiana and Ohio State were his next choices, and both of those schools had offered him a scholarship. TE Brian Hamby (6-5, 225) from Cincinnati Moeller High School said that he wants to make an official visit to Ohio State and has the Buckeyes as one of his co-leaders. Hamby is planing to hopefully set up official visits to Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia. He says the is not sure about a fifth visit, but he would like to take all five visits though he did mention that if he went to a school on a visit and liked it enough, he could commit at that point. Thus far he has scholarship offers from Indiana, West Virginia, Miami of Ohio, Cincinnati, Buffalo and Minnesota, and he said that Northwestern has indicated that they too are going to offer. He also mentioned that his favorites are Ohio State and Indiana, and said that his decision will probably come down to one of those two schools. OL Zack Strife (6-8, 320) from Milford, Ohio has scheduled official visits for Northwestern for December 1st and Maryland for December 8th. He tentatively has a visit set up with Georgia Tech for January 12tth, and will probably set up an official visit for Vanderbilt. He also mentions that he is looking at Ohio State, Minnesota and Wisconsin somewhat, but unless something happens to change his mind, his decision will likely come down Northwestern, Maryland, Georgia Tech or Vanderbilt, and he says he is pretty sure he is going to end up at Northwestern. LB Kevin Atkins (6-3, 230) from Richmond, Virginia says his decision will almost certainly come down to either Ohio State or Michigan State. Atkins has official visits set up with the Buckeyes December 1st, and to Michigan State December 8th. He said he is also working on a visit to Marshall, and is looking at Boston College and Miami of Florida as well. He said that all of the schools except for Miami of Florida have offered him a scholarship. RB Ryan Grant (6-2, 200, 4.5) from New Jersey told me that he is trying to begin scheduling his official visits and will likely begin that process this coming week. Right now he has Michigan, Ohio State, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Florida, Florida State and Boston College on his list, and all of those schools have offered him a scholarship. Grant said he wants to have it down to five schools within a week and then begin to schedule his official visits. He said that Michigan would "kind of" be number one, as he put it, but he is looking at all his options. He is being recruited by OSU assistant coach Brian Williams, and Ryan Grant said that most likely, he will visit Ohio State. TE/OL Joe Toledo (6-6, 290) from Carlsbad, California might still make an official visit to Ohio State. It's just that it will not be the weekend the Buckeyes play Michigan State as it had once been contemplated. Though he will not be in Columbus the weekend of the Michigan State game, he is still considering an official visit to Ohio State at a later date. Toledo said he is still looking at about five to ten schools, and those schools would include USC, Arizona, Ohio State, UCLA, Colorado, Arizona State and Washington. All those schools on his list except UCLA have offered him a scholarship. Toledo said he has to schedule his official visits around his baseball schedule, but that he would probably use the weekend of December 2nd and the weekend of December 9th as two weekends he would make official visits. However, he doesn't have anything definite scheduled at this point. Toledo did say that he is planning a visit to Arizona, that's the only visit he is certain of at this point. DB Greg Golden (6-0, 185, 4.5) from Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas High School has been out with torn cartilage in his knee and has been rehabbing. He is just finishing that up and Golden expects to be back on the field soon. He says he is currently looking at a number of schools including Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina State, Clemson, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Oklahoma. The Buckeyes at this point have not offered him a scholarship. He is a fine cornerback prospect and a great return man, but much may depend on how he performs as he comes back from his torn cartilage in his knee. Another DB that is interested in the Buckeyes is Brett Hamlin (6-0, 190, 4.4) from Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He is from the same high school as current Ohio State backup offensive lineman Scott Kuhnhein. Hamlin tells me that he is looking at Ohio State and the SEC schools such as Kentucky, LSU, Auburn and Tennessee in the SEC. Hamlin is probably going to make an official visit to Kentucky the weekend of December 8th and might schedule a visit to LSU. Both of those schools have offered him a scholarship. He says that Kentucky is probably his favorite right now, but he is still interested in Ohio State. DB Dee Durham from Atlanta, Georgia is a 5-11, 180 pounder that Ohio State has offered a scholarship to. He runs a 4.4 40 and made 89 tackles as a junior and had seven interceptions. He did that playing for Arlington Mansfield High School in Texas, but he has moved to Atlanta where he is playing for Lovejoy High School this season. He has a 3.3 GPA and a 990 on the SAT. He has scheduled two of his official visits thus far. One is to Kansas State on December 8th, and Miami on December 15th. He also had Notre Dame scheduled for December 1st, but that is being changed to January 19th. He said he is also looking at Ohio State, Texas, Virginia Tech, and Florida State, and said that all of the schools except for Florida State and Notre Dame have offered him a scholarship. He said that Notre Dame would probably be his slight favorite. Yet another prospect that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to is DE Troy Banner (6-5, 285, 4.8) from Pittsburgh Penn Hills High School in Pennsylvania. He has a 2.5 GPA and has qualified academically. Banner tells me that he is currently looking at Pitt as well as Virginia Tech, Ohio State, West Virginia, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Maryland, and he said that all of those schools have offered him a scholarship. Banner says that Pitt is his leader, but he plans to make an unofficial visit to Ohio State, most likely for the Michigan State game, though he could visit for the Michigan game. Orion Harris, a super defensive end from Newark, Delaware has Ohio State on his list. He is the younger brother of Qu'am Harris, the super offensive lineman who signed last season with Stanford. Orion, however, is not going to end up with his brother at Stanford. Among the schools that Orion says are contacting him the most are Ohio State, as well as Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan State, Miami and a few others. Right now, Harris is not sure who he is going to make official visits with. He says he is trying to stay open minded and will likely wait until the end or after the season to schedule his official visits. All of the schools on his list have offered him a scholarship. October 16, 2000 Jomo Fagan's teammate, RB Dominick Anderson, a 6-0, 195 pounder told me last night that the Buckeyes remain his top choice. Anderson says that he is waiting to hear back from Ohio State to hopefully schedule an official visit to Ohio State for the weekend of November 17th, the weekend of the Michigan game. Anderson though, like Fagan, said it is not a definite at this point that he will visit Ohio State that weekend, but the hopes to. Anderson also is continuing to look at Clemson, Iowa, Northwestern and Boston College, and said that all of the schools except Northwestern have offered him a scholarship. He did mention that he watched the Ohio State vs. Minnesota game on television. He said it was a tough loss for the Buckeyes, but Ohio State is still his favorite. Speaking of running backs, the Buckeyes would love to land RB Kelley Baraka from Portage Northern High School in Michigan. The 6-1, 185 pound Baraka has already made an official visit to Purdue. He is also going to make an official visit to Michigan the weekend of November 11th for the Michigan vs. Penn State game, and he says that he will visit Notre Dame December 1st. Baraka said that he is considering four schools for his last two official visits, and the four are Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin. All of the schools on Baraka's list have offered him a scholarship. Baraka says that right now, Michigan, Notre Dame and Purdue are his top three choices, in no particular order. DE Pierre Woods, the standout DE from Cleveland was scheduled to make an unofficial visit to Michigan this past weekend, but did not make that visit. There was a problem with a family member of the coach that Woods was going to go to Michigan with, so the visit was cancelled. Woods continues to be interested in the Wolverines and I would imagine that the visit will be rescheduled. He is interested in Michigan as well as Pitt, Miami, Ohio State, LSU, Tennessee, Indiana, Iowa and perhaps a few others. Woods says the Michigan is probably his favorite right now, but keep in mind that he has not yet even begun to take his official visits, and also keep in mind that the Wolverine recruiting class is filling up. They are very short on space in this season's recruiting class. As is always the case, the Buckeyes had recruits at their home game with Minnesota on Saturday. A number of Buckeye commitments were in attendance at the game, including LB Reggie Arden, DE Simon Fraser, DL Brandon McKinney, OL Adam Olds, TE Andri Tyree, WR Rodney Carter, and from out of state, OL Ryan Cook from Indiana. Also in attendance were RB Maurice Hall from Columbus Brookhaven High School and FB Kyle Koester from Cincinnati Elder High School. Those are two of the top backs in the state of Ohio. The Buckeyes have not to this point offered Koester a scholarship, but of course they have offered Maurice Hall a scholarship. In case you missed it, Hall has rearranged his official visit schedule a bit. He is going to start his official visits with a trip to Ohio State December 1st, and then he will visit Notre Dame December 8th, followed by Penn State December 15th. Hall also will visit Georgia Tech January 5th and Florida State January 12th. All five schools have offered him a scholarship. Hall told me last Saturday that he is planning on taking all five official visits before he makes a decision. Meanwhile, Koester has been offered a scholarship by both Michigan State and Indiana, and continues to say that the Buckeyes are his top choice and I feel very confident in saying that if the Buckeyes offer him a scholarship, he would commit to Ohio State, but a of yet, that hasn't happened. Also in attendance on Saturday was Darnell Sanders' brother, Dontes Sanders. Juniors in attendance at the OSU vs. Minnesota game included LB/RB Bobby Carpenter from Lancaster who Ohio State has offered a scholarship to, OL Eric Fitch from Dublin, Ohio, TE Anthony Hollins from Cleveland John Hay High School, a 6-3, 230 pounder, and OL Tim Crouch from Dayton Chaminade who is of course a teammate of Brandon McKinney and Angelo Chattams who have both committed to Ohio State. Carpenter will be without a doubt one of the top seniors in the state of Ohio next season. He is a 6-3, 225 pounder at Lancaster High School, and is the son of Rob Carpenter who played for Miami of Ohio before going on to the NFL. Bobby missed the first six games this season with an injury, but he is back and playing once again. He could end up playing either linebacker or running back in college. He tells me he has no preference as to which position he plays. Carpenter has already been offered a scholarship by Ohio State, Northwestern and Miami of Ohio, and says he is looking at all three of those schools, and then the fourth school he is definitely interested is Michigan State. He says he is not particularly close to a decision, but he also said that he would like to get the recruiting process over before the start of next football season, and he said that right now, Ohio State would probably be his top choice. LB Matt Sinclair from Saint Louis, Missouri is a player the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to. He is one of the country's top linebacker prospects and has had Ohio State scheduled for an official visit for some time on the weekend of November 18th for the big Michigan game. Sinclair has now also scheduled three other official visits. He will visit Illinois the weekend of December 1st, UCLA the weekend of December 8th, and Notre Dame the weekend of January 19th. He says that right now, Ohio State remains one of his top choices and if he had to pick a leader right now, his leader would be Ohio State. TE Marcus Clemens from Titusville, Florida, a 6-6, 265 pounder who the Buckeyes had offered a scholarship to had said that he was interested in OSU. However, he now says that OSU is off his list and he is no longer looking at the Buckeyes. DB Eric Shyne from Pomona, California, is a 5-11, 175 pounder with 4.4 40 speed who is interested in Ohio State. Shyne, who is playing RB and CB this season, says that he would feel comfortable playing either position in college. As a junior, he played both and rushed for almost 1400 yards. Shyne, who does need to raise his test scores, has already made an official visit to Arizona State, and he has Washington scheduled for a December 1st visit. He also might visit UCLA the weekend of December 8th, and then other schools on his list include Ohio State as well as Wisconsin and Michigan State. Shyne says that Arizona State, UCLA, Washington and Wisconsin have offered a scholarship and he mentioned that he recently has sent more tape to Ohio State. Yet another outanding defensive lineman tells me the Buckeyes have offered him a scholarship and he has Ohio State on his list. DE Troy Danner from Pittsburgh Penn Hills High School in Pennsylvania is a 6-5, 280 pounder with 4.75 40 speed. Danner said that OSU has now offered him a scholarship, and that he is currently looking at Pitt, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Maryland, and that all of those schools have now offered him a scholarship. Danner has not yet begun to set up any of his official visits. He did say that he is going to visit North Carolina State for sure, but that is not necessarily because N.C. State would be his favorite. In fact, he said that Pitt is probably still his top choice. Danner did say that he is planning to make an unofficial visit to Ohio State for one of the Buckeyes' games in November. He said he will also attend a West Virginia game and a Maryland game in November. He said that he is definitely interested in the Buckeyes but as far as scheduling an official visit, he has not done so yet. Standout DE Mike Stegeman from Illinois is a 6-5, 255 pounder who told me that he is still looking at Ohio State. He said that Notre Dame and Illinois are his top two at this point. Illinois has offered him a scholarship and he said that Notre Dame has told him that they would offer to. He said that he is also looking at Ohio State, Miami, Northwestern and Purdue. He is made an unofficial visit to the Iowa at Illinois game but has not yet begun to set up his official visits. Quon Cosby, a super athlete from Texas, a 5-10, 185 pounder who plays quarterback but will be either a WR or DB in college tells me that Ohio State remains on his list. Cosby tells me that he is still pretty open and has not narrowed things down at all yet. Cosby says that the only visit he has set up so far is Notre Dame the weekend of January 19th. He said the Buckeyes are still contacting him, and he is still open to Ohio State. Other schools on his list include Florida State, UCLA, Texas, Baylor, LSU and others. A player who has scheduled an official visit to Ohio State is linebacker Austin Jackson from California. Jackson is scheduled to visit Colorado the weekend of November 17th, Ohio State the weekend of December 1st, and Arizona State the weekend of December 8th. He said he is also looking at USC, Oregon and Wisconsin, and all six schools have offered him a scholarship. Jackson says that right now, his top three would be USC, Colorado and Ohio State, but I think that USC is the school to beat. October 11, 2000 Pierre Woods has scheduled his first official visit anywhere this next weekend. The 6-6, 220 pound Woods from Cleveland, Ohio told me last night that he will be leaving Friday night after his game for an official visit to Michigan. Woods said that he is going to try and get some official visits taken care early because he starts basketball in December and he is a starter on the basketball team. Woods said that he will probably also visit Pitt and Miami, and he is also looking at Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio State and LSU as well perhaps a few others. All the schools have offered him a scholarship. Woods said that he will probably go to an Ohio State game yet this season, and maybe an LSU game. Right now, he does not have a favorite and is weighing all of his options. Marquis Hill, from New Orleans De LaSalle High School in Louisiana, is a 6-7, 285 pounder that the Buckeyes and everyone else across the country would love to land. Hill has one official visit set up so far, that being to Michigan the weekend of December 1st, and he also has tentatively scheduled an official visit to Georgia Tech for January 5th. He also is looking at Ohio State, Miami, Florida State, LSU and Georgia, and he said all of the schools have offered him a scholarship. Hill said that right now, Michigan is probably his favorite, with either Ohio State or Florida State second. Hill said that he probably will make an official visit to Ohio State. He said that coach Belu continues to call him every week. The Buckeyes also have offered a scholarship to fullback Ayo Saba from New Jersey. He is a 6-0, 255 pound fullback with 4.65 40 speed, and he has the Buckeyes as one of his top choices. Saba said that he is going to make an official visit to Kansas State the weekend of December 1st. That's the only official visit he has set up thus far. He also is looking at Ohio State, Florida State, Miami, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Tennessee and Iowa. All of those schools have offered him a scholarship. Saba said that sometime after Halloween, he will figure out the rest of his official visits. He said he does not have a favorite, but Ohio State, Florida State and Kansas State would all be up high on his list. DB Jeff Backes from Upper Arlington, High School is a 5-11, 180 pounder with 4.4 40 speed who the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to. Backes is having a tremendous season at running back and is being recruited as an athlete who could be a DB, WR, RB or return man in college. Backes told me that he is currently looking at Ohio State, Virginia, Stanford, Notre Dame, Michigan and Duke a little bit. Thus far, Ohio State, Virginia and Duke have offered him a scholarship, and basically Notre Dame and Stanford have as well. He just has to go through their admissions department and that should be no problem. Backes is a 4.0 student with a 1220 on the SAT. Backes did not visit Notre Dame this past weekend. He had thought about going to the Stanford at Notre Dame game, but he says that he will probably go to Notre Dame's game against Air Force and he is working on scheduling an official visit to Notre Dame. He says he also is going to visit Stanford and Virginia and has been to a number of Ohio State home games and that he will probably attend the home game this weekend against Minnesota. Backes said he has no favorites right now, and he said he did not think he would pick a college before he takes at least some of his official visits. It's homecoing this weekend against Minnesota, and many of the Buckeyes' verbal commitments will be in attendance. For instance Simon Fraser has been to a number of OSU games, and his teammate, DB Jeff Backes from Upper Arlington is hoping to make it to the game as well. WR Dontes Sanders, the younger brother of OSU TE Darnell Sanders, told me that he might go to Ohio State's game this weekend. He has one official visit set up thus far, that being to Indiana December 1st and the Hoosiers have offered him a scholarship. Sanders also has offeres from Pitt and Miami and he is also looking at Ohio State and Michigan as well as Wisconsin, and Wisconsin just offered him a scholarship. Sanders says his top three, in no particular order, are Ohio State, Wiscoinsin, and Michigan. The Buckeyes continue to search for a top TE prospect, and one of the ones that they are interested in is Quan Domineck from Georgia, and the 605, 240 pounder who runs a 4.7 40 says he might make an official visit to Ohio State. In fact, he probably will. He origianlly commited to Georgia, but now says that he wouldn't necessarily call himself a commitment to Georgia. He says he still likes Georgia a lot, but he is looking at othe schools, including Ohio State, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia Tech and Middle Tennessee. He said that coach Salem calls him every week, and that he probably will make a visit to Ohio State though he has not scheduled any of his official visits to this point. TE Marcus Spears from Baton Rouge, Louisiana is another fine prospect the Buckeyes are pursuing. He is being recruited by OSU offensive line coach George Belu and says he is going to visit UCLA, Miami and Georgia Tech. All three have offered a scholarship. The Buckeyes have also offered Spears a scholarhip, and among the other schools on is list are Ohio State, Florida State, Alabama, Clemson, Texas, Notre Dame and Michigan. he says right now, he doesn't have a favorite, but UCLA, Miami and Georgia Tech would all be high on his list. DE Kevin Vickerson (6-6, 265) from Detroit, Michigan had been scheduled to make an official visit to Minnesota this past weekend. However, he did not make that visit. He said that he still might reschedule that visit to Minnesota, but it looks more and more like he is going to stay with his commitment to Michigan State. Vickerson had committed to the Spartans long ago, but had continued to say that he would make official visits to other schools. Vickerson told me that he is still committed to the Spartans. In fact, he said, he has found a new love for Michigan State. However, Vickerson said the has not ruled out official visits to other schools, including Ohio State, Minnesota, Georgia Tech, and Miami. Another player from the State of Michigan that the Buckeyes had been recruiting is running back Kelly Baraka who Ohio State has offered a scholarship to. Baraka, a super 6-1, 185 pounder, made an official visit to Purdue this past weekend and saw the big Purdue victory over Michigan. Baraka was very, very impressed with Purdue. In fact, he said that the visit went so well, that he no longer has a top two. Previously, he had Michigan and Notre Dame as his favorites. Now he says he has five favorites, Notre Dame, Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State and Nebraska. All of those schools have offered him a scholarship. Baraka said that he has not completely ruled out three other schools, those being Ohio State, Tennessee and Wisconsin, who have also offered a scholarship, but the Buckeyes are a long shot to land Baraka. The Buckeyes no longer have a shot at WR Kevin Noel from Illinois.The 6-3, 190 pounder made an official visit to Purdue this past weekend. He did not commit to the Boilermakers, but he said that the schools he is now looking at are Purdue, Michigan State, Kentucky, Florida, Miami, and Georgia Tech. Noel previously had been looking at Ohio State, but he now says that he has ruled out Ohio State, Iowa and Notre Dame because the doesn't feel those three schools throw the ball enough. Super running back Eric Shelton from Lexington, Kentucky (6-3, 230) is without question one of the country's top running back prospects told me that he is tentatively set to make an official visit to Ohio State the weekend of December 1st. Shelton, who has rushed for just a shade under 1,000 yards in the first six games, said that if his team is not in the state championship the weekend of December 1st, that he will make an official visit to Ohio State that weekend. He said he is pretty sure he will also visit Florida State and probably Tennessee. he says that pretty much, those are his top three choices in no particular order. He said he is not looking as much any more at Penn State or Michigan. A couple of other schools that Shelton did mention include Kentucky, as well as Florida. Shelton has been offered a scholarship by everyone. He did say that he watched the Ohio State vs. Wisconsin game on TV. He said he likes Ohio State's style of offense and he likes the atmosphere at OSU. He has already been to Ohio State a couple of different times. Shelton said that Ohio State is definitely one of his top choices, though he did not name one single leader, but it certainly seems like it is going to come down Ohio State, Florida State or perhaps Tennessee for Eric Shelton. Speaking of Shelton, WR Matt Shelton from Tennessee, a 6-1, 175 pounder told me that he is currently looking at the schools that have offered him a scholarship, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Memphis, Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Duke. He said that he needs to start scheduling his official visits soon, but has not yet begun that process. He did say that he is planning to make an official visits to Ohio State and Notre Dame. It's just that he does not know exactly when those visits will be. He said right now, he does not have a favorite. Shelton is being recruited by Chuck Stobart. In Florida, DB Shannon Benton from Frostproof, Florida, a 5-10, 190 pounder who made an unofficial visit to Ohio State for one of the Buckeyes' home games earlier this season, tells me that he is looking at Ohio State, Florida, Maryland, Georgia, Florida State, Miami, East Carolina and Alabama. He said Mary land and East Carolina have offered him a scholarship and the rest of the schools are waiting for his test score to come in. He took the ACT a couple of weeks ago. Benton said that he talked to coach Heacock last week. He says that right now, he can't name a favorite, but most likely he would like to make an official visit to Ohio State sometime before Christmas. Keep in mind that Benton's high school coach is from Ohio. It doesn't look good for the Buckeyes to land DE Thomas Derricks from Dallas, Texas. The 6-1, 285 pound Derricks is one of the nation's top defensive tackle prospects. He made an official visit to Penn State the weekend that Penn State played Purdue, and was very impressed. In fact, he said that he liked Penn State better than any school that he has seen so far. He has made unofficial visits to a number of schools. Derricks is going to visit Notre Dame November 10th, and also will schedule an official visit to Duke. Other schools on his list now include Nebraska, Missouri, Michigan, Texas A&M, LSU, UCLA, and a few others. Right now, Ohio State is not prominent on his list. The Buckeyes have offered him a scholarship, and at one time he did mention Ohio State a bit more. QB/athlete Ingle Martin from Nashville, Tennessee is a 6-4, 205 pounder with 4.5 40 speed that the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to. Martin says that he has talked to coach Stobart about possibly setting up an official visit to Ohio State for the Ohio State vs. Michigan State game. He did not set the visit up, because he didn't have his schedule with him, but he continues to have an interest in Ohio State, and it seems likely that he will make an official visit with the Buckeyes. He has a 2.3 GPA and an 1190 on the SAT. He completed 69% of his passes from almost 1500 yards last season. He also rushed for almost 700 yards. As a sophomore he as an outstanding free safety and he has led his team to a state championship two years in a row. Martin would like a shot at QB in college, though he would have no problem moving to safety. He says the is currently looking at Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Clemson, Old Miss, Virginia, Ohio State, Michigan and Notre Dame. He has set up one official visit, that being to Georgia December 8th. He has been offered a scholarship by all the schools on his list excpet for Michigan and Notre Dame and says he does not have a favorite. QB/athlete Rahshan Johnson from Middleburg Heights Midpark High School in Ohio also remains interested in Ohio State, but he is not totally sure that he will make an official visit with the Buckeyes. He told me that he has only one official visit set up right now, that being January 5th to Georgia Tech. Johnson said he also plans to make an official visit to LSU in early December, and he said the other schools on his list are Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, and Notre Dame. He said that he'll visit Michigan State for sure, so that would be his third official visit. He said that the would then decide between Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame for his last two visits. He has been offered a scholarship by all of the schools on his list. He continues to say that he doesn't have a favorite. WR Fred Lee from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, another player the Buckeyes have offered a scholarship to, says that he might be making an unofficial visit to Ohio State in the not-to-distant future. He has one official visit set, that being this weekend to Colorado to see the Colorado vs. Texas game. That will be an official visit. He said the other schools he is looking at are Ohio State, Florida, Michigan State, Clemson, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech and Penn State. All the schools on his list except for Florida have offered a scholarship. Lee said he would probably go to one of Ohio State's games for an unofficial visit though he wasn't sure which game. He said he still does n ot have a favorite. DE Payton Williams from Miami, Florida is a 6-3, 235 pounder who is interested in the Buckeyes. Williams played offensive tackle as a junior. He is playing defensive tackle this season, and will be either a defensive end or defensive tackle in college. He has a 2.5 GPA and is taking the SAT this month. He tells me that he is looking at Ohio State, North Carolina State, Missouri, West Virginia and maybe Hoffstra and South Florida. He said that right now, Ohio State is his favorite. Chad Anderson, from Canton, McKinley High School, has schedule an official visit to Kentucky for October 20th, and he also has scheduled Indiana for December 1st, and Miami for December 8th, though those two visits could get switch around. Anderson said that he is not sure if he will make an official visit to Ohio State or not, because he said the has been there before and he can make an unofficial visit with the Buckeyes. He said that if he doesn't make an official visit with the Buckeyes, then he could make an official visit to boith Wisconsin and West Virginia. He is looking at all of those schools have offered a scholarship. He said that right now, Kentucky would be his favorite, with either Ohio Stare or Indiana second on his list. He said there is a chance he could commit to Kentucky on his official visit, but he said he would kind of like to go to see other schools as well. In California, WR/DB Darrell Brooks is a 6-2, 190 pounder who will likely play safety in college. Brooks, who had 65 tackles and four interceptions as a junior, has a 3.4 GPA and a 1040 on the SAT. Brooks tells me that the Buckeyes have been at this school and tha the is interested in Ohio State. He has official visits set up thus far to Oregon State November 18th, Wisconsin December 8th, and Arizona December 15th. Brooks is also looking at Stanford, as well as Colorado, Oregon and Ohio State. Arizona is the only school in that group that has offered him a scholarship. |