Mike Mitchell Makes 21
Mike Mitchell has been a name on Ohio State's recruiting board for some time now, but his interest in OSU has been questioned by Buckeye Nation over the last few months, as he has mentioned the school at the top of his list constantly, but failed to ever make a visit to Columbus.
That was until early December, when Mitchell finally made the journey to Buckeyeland from Plano, Texas, for his official visit. On the trip, Mitchell solidified his feelings about Ohio State and after returning home to talk things over with his family, gave Urban Meyer his commitment today at the US Army All-American Bowl, becoming the 21st member in the recruiting class of 2013.
Mitchell, a 6-4/215 linebacker from Prestonwood Christian High School, becomes the second true linebacker to join Ohio State's class (Tyquan Lewis is a hybrid player). He was already ranked as a four-star prospect across the board before The Opening in July, but made his case as one of the best athletes in the country after registering an all-time record SPARQ score of 157.47, which was highlighted by a 4.39 40-yard dash time.
The four-star prospect is most likely headed to Columbus to play the MIKE position, although either outside spot is not out of the question. He chose the Buckeyes over other finalists Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Florida State, and Oregon, despite making just his first visit to campus less than a month ago.
Growing up in Orlando before moving to Texas, Mitchell was a fan of the Florida Gators, where he first grew an admiration for his future head coach, who played a huge role in his decision to play his college football at Ohio State.
Mitchell is a huge get for OSU, as the Bucks have had a bit of trouble recruiting the linebacker position this year. Alex Anzalone (Notre Dame) and Lewis Neal (LSU) opened up their recruitment after verbally pledging to Meyer, while an offer to Michigan commit Mike McCray came too late in the process, but Ohio State gets an outstanding player ranked higher than all three "misses" in Mitchell, just a day after landing another terrific linebacker in Trey Johnson.
The icing on the cake may go to Thad Matta, since Mike's brother Mickey is one of the top basketball players in the 2015 recruiting class and it has been said the brothers may want to attend the same school to make things easier on their family.
Kyle is in San Antonio and will do his best to catch up with Mike to get his feelings on his commitment, as well as what went into his decision to become a Buckeye. As always, come back to Eleven Warriors to get the latest on what is going on in the world of recruiting.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Comments
SWEET! Welcome Mike and you're going to do great things I'm sure.
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
"I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose."
Woody Hayes 1913 - 1987
Good thing you didnt say "WHoooooo I'm first" Guy on the Trey Johnson one got hammered yesterday! lol
No man...it was pure chance that I saw it as soon as I sat down to the computer after seeing Mike choose his white OSU hat. I wouldn't be so immature to do that anyway...not my style. I could care less if I was first or the 100th comment.
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
"I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose."
Woody Hayes 1913 - 1987
Sweet! This team is going to be fun to watch in the years to come!
AW YEAH WHATCHU KNOW ABOUT GETTING LINEBACKERS?!
I wouldn't cheer for Michigan if they were playing the Taliban.
HELLS YES!!!! Welcome to Buckeye Nation Mike!!!!!!
Long expected, finally true. Welcome to Buckeye nation, Mike.
Urban Warfare
Welcome!
Welcome to the Bucks Mike!!!
Oh hell yea!! Welcome Mike. Let the abusing begin.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning! GO BUCKS!!
I am so excited for the future of this defense.
This is definitely the one I've been waiting for! I think this weekend helped our Linebacker deficiency tremdously!
Alex you type fast! Nice pick up with Mitchell
Ohio State's band SLAUGHTERED Michigan's band. If this were a football game, it would have been Florida State vs. Savannah State. - SB Nation following OSU vs. UM 2012
It's been months in the waiting I'm sure he just needed to press the save button
Freak yeah.
^^^^^^Gotta love Mary Jane....
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
"I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose."
Woody Hayes 1913 - 1987
Welcome to Buckeye Nation, Mike!
Welcome aboard Mr. Mitchell. You will make one fantastic backer for OSU!
Welcome Mike! Look forward to you wreaking havoc in the shoe!!
How Firm Thy Friendship....
I have a feeling he'll be getting a lot of playing time next year.
The next Andy Katz is ours !
Welcome Mike
...... enmoyer or the Shitty ESPiN hoops reporter???
-The Aristocrats!
Katzenmoyer
LOL
Doesn't seem to be a big hitter but neither was Laurinaitis. He's got great size and off-the-charts athleticism. Fundamentally he seems pretty sound too. Great pick up for the good guys!
Welcome Mike to the Ohio State nation
Must have written the first half before yesterday. Isn't Trey the first true LB commit? Just sayin
Nice for this. With Johnson and Mitchell, should be fine and deep at Linebacker shortly. Even thought Quick will be going to Louisville, 2-3 is a good haul. Now would just like to see Vonn Bell, Gibson and anyone else to finish off what should be across the board top 5 recruiting class.
It's funny what two days and 2 commitments can due for a perceived weakness in the class.
Welcome aboard Mike.
Welcome to Buckeye Nation Mike !!
SCOTTC.
Fantastic!!!! Now go get Gibson & Timmons!!!
That boy is huge.
Welcome to Buckeye nation Mike.
Cannot wait to watch Mike smashing the rest of the conference.
Nice to be done worrying about LBs ... now let's find one more playmaker!
Round on the ends and hi in the middle.
http://www.buckeyextra.com/con...
Just watching that video, you see a beast who seems to blow up every single play, & he has sportsmanship like crazy on top of it. Pair him with Ryan & Trey Johnson, & we could have something crazy. We're so lucky for Urban Meyer. It is truely a special time to be a Buckeye
It's 5 o'clock somewhere, & Michigan still sucks
Mitchell johnson lewis > anzalone smith neal? What u guys think
O'Deez330
stark county football
close but nope... think losing Anzalone and getting Mitchell/Johnson is a heck of a gain... Smith is the real deal though, likely to be one of the top LBs in the nation up there in South Bend, fantastic talent
Lewis > Neal; not sure how you do the rest. Mitchell > Anzalone, but I don't think that's the comparison. Smith will be amazing.
I think: Lewis > Neal
Mitchell OR Johnson ~ Anzalone
Jaylon Smith > Mitchell OR Johnson.
Smith looks to be the best LB out there. I think Lewis > Neal
T.Johnson, and M.Mitchell > A.Anzalone
Trey Johnson, Mike Mitchell... can not be happier with these guys...well done to the staff for keeping the pedal to the metal and maintaining OSU standards for prospects...keep em coming... hope our 2014 class is as unreal as it can be with these GA kids, and the possible LB group
Welcome to buckeye nation! Defense looking pretty solid
Mike Mitchell, Buckeye.
Mom is excited for the right decesion, love it.
Mitchell is a physical freak. Good get for you guys.
Watched that video... I don't believe anyone is going to want to run his direction, ever. Seemed to make solid contact at or behind line on runs incredibly often. Awesome.
Really excited about having Mitchell join the Buckeye family. Great kid, physical player, from a really great family. Should be very easy to root for him for the next four years.
So if he is 21 we have five more spots right? Who is that going to be?
Von Bell, Gibson, Timmons, Corn Elder (I love that name), and Dontre Wilson?
4 more spots I think.
Wilson, Gibson, Bell, and Worley
Don't think we get Wilson. Corn Elder or Ryan Timmons
If Mitchell is the first true linebacker, where else has trey Johnson played?
edit:never mind. Fixed.
Some players want to be Heroes, while others want to be Champions. I will take the players who want to be Champions every day, week, and year. Good luck Mr. Mitchell in the Scarlet and Gray.
Those numbers on the SPARQ test are simply mind blowing. Having that kind of ability at the linebacker position will be exciting to say the least. Not to many linebackers run sub 4.4!
Great pick up. After watching this video seems like this kid gets it. Great sportsmanship knocks them down then helps them back up. Will enjoy watching this young man develop into the next great silver bullet.
OUTFREAKINSTANDING!!! Welcome to the Buckeye Nation Mike!!!
The best thing about Pastafarianism? It is not only acceptable, but advisable, to be heavily sauced
Some day a hipster recruit will choose between team-themed driving caps and it will be hilarious
Taquitos.
Or beanies, if the recruit happens to be sporting a beard and/or living in the Pacific Northwest.
Yes! Big get. With our D Line these new LBs are gonna run wild.
Now we have Trey and Mike...just need a Paige and a Fishman and we'll have a pretty serious jam band on D!
But in all seriousness cannot wait to watch MM destroy.
Awesome! Go Bucks!
Another THE Ohio State. We need to get them to say University !!
Love this.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
Damn, it feels good to see another gray box!
Alex, is someone doing a write up of the Army AA game? I forgot about it while I was busy watching us generally suck against Illinois.
I wanna sit at an OSU game with his parents
Congrats to Mike, and thank you for finally coming out with the gray box! I know there are a lot of great recruits left on our board, but it's really hard to not be most excited about this one.
I like his speed, and the way he handles himself on the field. Make a huge hit, get up, get back to the huddle and move on to the next play. Very businesslike, and doesn't look like he takes plays off. Seems comfortable, pressuring, stopping the run, and in space. I do wonder about the level of competition he was facing in this video, but really looks like a great player.
"Woody would have wanted it that way"
Awesome grey box duo this weekend! Welcome Mike and Trey.
these grey boxes have made me do this
Super exited. Anyone else thinks he starts day one?
~Because we couldn't go for three~
if OSU is super thin at linebacker again like they were this year then yes, but I think he will be in the rotation.
Looks like the rest of the B1G is going to get tickets to the ABUSEMENT PARK!!!!!!!!
Welcome to The Ohio State University Mike.
i don't see where I can up or down vote anymore. Can anyone help?
You need 19 more stickers.
Was anyone else waiting for him to make the tackle on the kick-off at the start off the video, before realizing that's him returning the kick? THAT"S FU@&ING AWESOME!!! This young man has serious speed for a linebacker. Welcome to tOSU Mike, we're glad your a Buckeye.
An angry fan...rooting for an angry team...led by angry coaches
He adds some serious speed to the postion. I loved Boren and he made up for his lack of speed with great angles, but this kid is sick... With the Dline coming in and the LBs from 2014(not to forget the stud cover guys) this D will be the best in the nation before it is all said and done!
186 tackles -- 32 for loss -- 11 sacks, seven forced fumbles and three blocked punts
That's not just a senior year...that's an entire career holy crap!
Uh don't know where you are getting your numbers for his entire career, but here are the past 2 seasons according to 247 and he has 325 tackles in the past two years so his entire career is probbly just a little higher than 186.
http://247sports.com/Player/Mike-Mitchell-13642
Thinking the last line was sarcasm... (Another example of the need for a "sarcastic" font!)
Those are his senior year stats and he was making a point with the sarcasm?
captain obvious was just posting on another page. Maybe he can help you out . . .
Hopefully this is the beginning to the return of OSU - Linebacker U. Huge get for the Buckeyes.
Don't give up... Don't ever give up.
Anybody understand why Mr. Mitchell's mom was flashing "8" towrds the end of the clip? Maybe for how many rings he'll get (four B1G, 4 NC) in columbus?