Talked to Davonte Neal. He told me he is expecting an in-home visit from Stan Drayton today. Also of note, he told me his teammate OT/DT Alex Dickman visited with him and that Drayton will be by his house as well today. Some of you asked about back-up options. I have a feeling Dickman is a back-up option or maybe even a preferred walk-on candidate.
Picture of Dickman on visit:
Dickman Senior Highlights:
Hopefully, Alex will come as a preferred walk-on along with his teammate Davonte Neal... *crosses fingers*
Somebody on Buckeye Planet made a good point saying he isn't likely to be a walk-on and pay out-of-state tuition.
Merih on BP posted, "This could just be a case of us being way under the number of Official Visits allowed, and having some to spare. Giving this kid an OV would be a good show of faith to the school, may endear us more to Davonte, and might also get the kid some looks at other schools."
Makes sense I think.
Agree with you Bass here and that they did this for Neal.....I think he is a back-up option but going to try and find out.....if money isn't an issue and Neal is going to OSU and they are good friends, why couldn't he pay out of state tuition? None of us know his financials so we cannot say that. I CHOSE to pay OOS tuition and I didn't even play sports at OSU....for the opportunity to play at OSU I would pay double what I paid
Good point, Alex. No way to know if Mr. Dickman can afford the OOS tuition, but I hope this goodwill leads to Davonte picking the good guys.
Just spoke to Dickman. I asked him if he expects an offer and he said:
Huh. Maybe the staff feels like they could coach him up? I noticed he's currently a 2-star on Rivals.
Stars mean nothing. He's huge, thats for sure. Maybe since Diamond fell through...
No more jokes on Penn State recruiting till we see how this pans out, K? Thanks.
I don't always take names when I kick ass but when I do, they most often belong to a Wolverine.
Guys and Gals, just to be clear, Dickman is the one saying he thinks he'll get an offer.......we will see more after Drayton's visit
Really that kid is supposed to play OL in the BIG? No reason to give him an offer unless Neal is coming with.
I understand star ratings aren't everything, but Dickman doesn't have any other offers that I'm aware of. Regardless, we'll see what happens. Thanks for the updates, Alex.
I would trust Meyer and staff in evaluating the kid better than relying on how many stars he gets from rivals/scout. If you look at Dickman's measurables, he stacks up pretty well against Jordan Diamond. He is bigger, has better running times, and has a much higher SPARQ rating than Diamond. I'm not saying he is better than Diamond, but maybe the coaches think he has the raw talent to be developed into a solid tackle in the future. Plus, if it helps us get Neal, I am all for offering him.
^This
I am cool with anything that gives us any edge in getting Neal. Having a player like Neal is absolutely critical to making Urban's offense function, and we still don't have that player yet.
@Matt- Off topic for this thread, but IMO, tOSU already has a burner on offense who will be able to thrive in Urban's offense-- I'm talking about Devin Smith. Kid is a track stud and think he will be heavily used next year. Throw in the fact that Jordan Hall is going to get a ton of touches in a slot/hybrid role, and it leads me to feel that Neal isn't "absolutely critical". Would I love to have him? Hell yeah. Same with Diggs.
Anyway, back to this topic! Find this Dickman kid to be an interesting update. Looks like a tough kid-- maybe he's on PSU's radar right now, and Urban just wants to take another one from them? Never know!
If you ain't a Silver Bullet, you're a target
Would Dickman be the 100th member of Alabama's class? Seriously, don't they already have 27 verbals and are still recruiting some guys. I doubt he gets an offer from Alabama, or OSU for that matter.
Awesome work Alex, it's funny how Dickmans name never surfaced until now thanks to your dedication and hard work.
The dude doesn't have a single offer. I believe he would be backup or invited walk-on. Hope Neal likes what Drayton has to say to him. We really need a guy like Neal on the field.
I would say Dickman gets a P.W.O. (preferred walk on) "offer". This is with the promise that if he progresses and is a model student-athlete...he'll be rewarded with a scholly in a year or two, (when the numbers are more in OSU's favor.) This is how Coach Coop and Tress handled similar situations.
"You win with people." - Woody Hayes
Gene, I think you should have said Dickman's name had never arisen or perhaps his name hadn't been pointed out or something along those lines. Give the DICKman his proper verbage.....ha.
vacuuming sucks
@Maestro
Dickman came out of nowhere.
@Maestro: Lay off the kid...I heard he's a pretty good team member.
"It's just another case of there you are". ~ Doc (1918-2012)
Maybe Dickman should wear shorts under his jeans just in case FlipB.
and you can never have too many good team members RBuck, er maybe you can, I'll stop there.
vacuuming sucks
Dickman and Neal would make quite a package.
^^^^ haha
We are also recruiting a 2013 guy named Fullwood. WTF?
Hopefully we can find somebody named Giantboner for 2014. Or maybe that latin kid Biggus Dickus might get an offer.
All razzing aside, i think, if offered, Dickman has the potential to explode on the scene.
The most important thing is that Dickman could be the moneyshot that lands Neal.
Don't forget Cox, Northbrook.
Maybe we can get these guys behind 2013 prospect Jake Butt.
I'm done acting like a ten year old for the day. It isn't easy but I try to limit it.
**UPDATE
Told from a good source "NO WAY" that Dickman gets a full ride to OSU....they are talking "preferred walk-on" which is what we all kind of suspected
So it sounds like dickman is getting the shaft then?
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
Not the shaft, there just isn't room in the class for a guy without top notch talent.
Recruitbuck, perhaps Mr. Pharmbuck's comment regarding Dickman should have firmly aroused your suspicion that it may have been a double entendre.
"A guy from Ohio can make it in life if he works hard enough." - Wayne Woodrow Hayes
@GregBiggins
@GregBiggins:
adding another school this late seems a little weird to me. This just seems to be getting a little strange.
From ESPN.com regarding Neal: "The two-time Gatorade Arizona Player of the Year is keeping himself open and will use much of this week to let all of the recruiting sink in," Richard Obert of the Arizona Republic wrote. "But it appears the top schools in the hunt for Neal are Notre Dame and Ohio State."
Neal better jump on the train fast
O H I O is the Buckeye State
OSU will wait
It's intriguing b/c Neal and Diggs are supposed to be making a decision around the same time.
just went from reading a whole thread of Cox jokes on a psu blog then come here to read this
Would be great if they signed with Ohio State at the same time.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
Read this on Bleacher report. Thought it was interesting he wanted to play both ways.
http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1046853-ohio-state-football-recruit...