Newly Offered: Jalyn Holmes (hudl)
Newly Offered: Dylan Thompson (hudl)
Vincent Jackson Jr Junior Highlights
- Tennessee offered Lawrence Marshall
- Maryland offered Mikale Wilbon & Jamarco Jones
- Stanford offered Montae Nicholson
- Auburn offered Myles Autry
- Ohio State offered Jalyn Holmes & Dylan Thompson
- Michigan offered Jacques Patrick
- Louisville offered Josh Malone
- Bowling Green offered Tinashe Bere
- Derrell Scott names South Carolina leader
- Marceyls Jones will visit Illinois this weekend
- @jbook37 4 Star WR Drake Harris is visiting Ohio State this weekend courtesy of Bill Kurelic of Bucknuts.
Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 2/7 - Visits for the class of 2014 (LGHL)
Ohio State's 2013 recruiting class may go down as one of those landmark classes that ultimately leads the school to back to the pinnacle of the sport. In fact, the very legacy of the entire Urban Meyer-era at Ohio State may one day reflect back towards the class of 2013, forcing us to revisit the genesis of something really huge. But for all the positive attributes about this truly loaded group, at least in Meyer's mind's eye, it's only as good as the one potentially waiting to supplant it.
However, before we totally move on to the future of the future of Ohio State football, let's take at least a brief moment to look at a few of the many net positives pertaining to what's truly a landmark class for Meyer, his elite level staff of recruiters, and devout Ohio State recruitniks everywhere.
As we mentioned last night, the 2013 class ranks no worse than third amongst the major recruiting services (and that's from oft criticized ESPN). Rivals has it graded as the second best class in the country and 24/7 subscribes to a similar ideology. Perhaps most wild of all, Scout rates it as the nation's best. The late additions of James Clark and Vonn Bell evidently really helped push things over the top. 247's Composite Rankings (which take a formulaic approach to summing and averaging the mathematical grade assigned to each player), ranks the Buckeyes as having the nation's second best crop of newcomers.
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The Curious Case Of Johnny Townsend (The Buckeye Battle Cry)
Wednesday was a memorable day for Ohio State fans, as the program again finished National Letter of Intent Day with a class ranked in the top three in the nation, with some calling it the very best for the 2013 recruiting cycle.
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Photos: Dallas-area athletes sign letters of intent during national signing day (Dallas News)
Fitch’s Price heading OSU; Mooney’s McWilson to UK (trib today)
The comparisons are inevitable.
It's something the 6-foot-4, 305-pound Austintown Fitch High School senior defensive lineman Billy Price relishes as he heads down to Ohio State University in the fall to play football for the Buckeyes.
The side-by-side comparison to former Cardinal Mooney High School standout John Simon, who terrorized opposing quarterbacks with his hard-charging bull rushes, is something Price expected. Simon is 6-2, 256 and plays more of a hybrid linebacker/defensive end position, but the two share a similar outlook on the game.
"When I've talked to him, I've talked to him down at campus a few times," said Price, who signed his National Letter of Intent Wednesday at Fitch High School. "He said, 'Grind. It's college. You got to grind.' He's definitely set the ways in how they should be. I'm definitely model my game after him."
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Price, Smith, McWilson among Valley’s top recruits (vindy)
The Big Ten Conference’s gain is five of the Mahoning Valley’s top football talents.
Wednesday, Austintown Fitch’s Billy Price (Ohio State), Howland’s De’Veon Smith (Michigan), Cardinal Mooney’s Courtney Love (Nebraska) and Warren Harding’s LeShun Daniels (Iowa) and Jalyn Powell (Michigan State) accepted scholarships during college football’s National Signing Day.
Price, the Northeast District’s Division I defensive player of the year, expressed relief once his signature was on his letter-of-intent form.
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National Signing Day: Gainesville QB Watson near the top nationally for Class of 2014 (gainsville Times)
Gainesville High junior quarterback Deshaun Watson is well aware of the battles that go on for the top national prospects every season up until National Signing Day, which this year took place on Wednesday. Watson, the 2012 Associated Press Georgia Player of the Year, makes no promises that his will not go down to the wire either, even though he is currently verbally committed to Clemson University.
“I’d say I’m 95 percent sure I’ll sign with Clemson,” said Watson, who plans to graduated after his senior season is complete in December.
Who are the other schools that are clinging to that five percent for the state’s all-time passing leader? Right now, Watson says Georgia and Ohio State.
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A ‘big relief’ for Marshall as he signs with OSU (middletown journal)
LIBERTY TWP., BUTLER COUNTY —
In putting together one of the nation’s top 2013 recruiting classes, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer made noise by searching nationwide for his haul. Of OSU’s 24 recruits, 13 were from out-of-state, including three from Texas, two from Florida and two from Georgia. The Buckeyes also signed the No. 1 prospects in New Jersey and Missouri.
But the biggest fish? He was hooked in a local pond.
“He’s an electric player. What does that mean? To me it means that he can shock you on any play,” Lakota West head coach Larry Cox said of Middletown senior quarterback Jalin Marshall. “He’s a superior athlete. Those gems are rare.”
The Buckeyes bagged their diamond.
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Vonn Bell listens to parents and picks Ohio State (with video) (times free press)
Vonn Bell knew his choice was going to ruffle some feathers, but in making the biggest decision of his life the Ridgeland High School five-star football recruit did the most basic of things.
He listened to his parents.
Bell ignored the pleas of friends and area fans -- and his own heart -- on national signing day when he chose to continue his football career at Ohio State. The top-50 national recruit chose Urban Meyer's Buckeyes over the program he's always rooted for, Tennessee, and the two-time defending national champion, Alabama.
"It was difficult," said Bell, noting that the Volunteers were his second choice. "I had to really block out everything. My parents kept telling me that this is your decision, you're the one that has to go play, so don't let other people make it for you."
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Rob Oller commentary: With Meyer, recruiting is job one for assistants (columbus dispatch)
Tom Herman knew how to recruit before working for Urban Meyer, but it didn’t take the Ohio State offensive coordinator long to learn what makes his boss one of the best recruiters in college football.
Herman picked up on it in two words: shut up.
Meyer was more diplomatic than that, but essentially his message to Herman was to talk less and listen more.
“The biggest thing I learned in the last year from coach Meyer is: stop talking,” Herman said in discussing the finer points of recruiting that helped Ohio State land one of the top classes in the country on national signing day yesterday. “He said, ‘Tom, this is what I think of you, and here’s how I think you could make your biggest improvement.’ ”
Meyer explained that coaches need not fill the dead air in their conversations with recruits by talking through the awkward silence.
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Shaker Heights Football Player Signs with Ohio State (fox8)
SHAKER HEIGHTS– The Ohio State Buckeyes 2013 signing class includes a member of the Shaker Heights football team: defensive lineman Donovan Munger. He was all smiles Thursday about signing with the Buckeyes.
UCLA, Florida State and Ohio State were all the athlete. In the end, the Buckeyes landed the Red Raider recruit.
“It was a dream of mine to play for Ohio State. The Ohio State team up north rivalry so it was a great thing for me and my family,” said Munger.
Munger was a four-star recruit according to Scout.com. He knows his biggest priority heading to Columbus this summer is to be in shape and be ready to run.
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Hand ahead of the game (espn)
Typically, in order for a program to wow a top prospect, coaches need to show off championship rings and big stadiums and, more recently, fill up recruits with cookie cakes.
That's not the case with junior Da'Shawn Hand (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge). He wants to see more than just the football program, because he's interested in more. Engineering, business and graduation rates are all aspects that he has focused on in his recruitment.
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National Signing Day 2014: We look ahead to Da’Shawn Hand, Jalen Tabor and other top recruits (washington post)
With the ink dry on the letters-of-intent for the Class of 2013, here’s a look at many of the top players who will be signing at this time next year.
DL Da’Shawn Hand, Woodbridge, 6-5, 250
The two-time All-Met was recently named national junior of the year by Rivals.com and already has winnowed dozens of offers to a top five of Alabama, Florida, Michigan, South Carolina and Virginia Tech.
OL Sam Mustipher, Good Counsel, 6-3, 286
Offers from all over are rolling in for the 2014 U.S. Army All-American Bowl invitee, who sounds like he will choose wisely. A recent tweet from @IAmFiveTwo: “The recruiting process has taught me that there’s a lot of good care salesmen out here you just gotta be a better bargainer.”
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Signing Day 2013: As a junior, Ponte Vedra's Dillon Bates is already recruiting royalty (st augustine)
Although we’ve never been a caste society, Dillon Bates is as close as it gets to nobility in the world of football.
His father, Bill, was a four-year starter at Tennessee and played 15 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. One brother, Graham, plays for Arkansas State. The other, Hunter, for Northwestern.
A four-star prospect in his own right, according to Rivals.com, the Ponte Vedra linebacker has an entire year before he’s forced to make a decision, despite already being in Year 2 of the process. His first scholarship offer came from Florida Atlantic during his sophomore year. A few FAU coaches made their way up to Sharks practice to look, and on the spot offered Bates a spot on their roster then and there.
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great rundown, gene. interested to see how townsend plays out
"Winter is coming" - Urban Meyer
You know, I'm honestly hoping that if he does/did sign with Florida, there's some back story we'll likely never hear, about how Urban got in a bind when we landed all three last-minute pledges, and called up Muschamp and said "can you fit this kid in your class" or something heartwarming like that... It's an odd situation, and I hope we can get some sort of closure and end the ongoing speculation, soon.
Any word on whether Watson is visiting this weekend? Really hoping he does because: 1) he's a great player and would fit in our system well and 2) it would give the coaches a chance to gauge his interest and on whether or not to move to Barker.
http://www.elevenwarriors.com/forum/football/2013/01/february-visitor-th...
Says he is visiting.
@Woodshed Thanks. There was a lot of talk about Clemson putting pressure on him to not visit tOSU this weekend. I haven't heard whether he re-affirmed or not, and don't think that thread was updated (since the staff has been a little busy).
I don't understand the potential over-signing with Townsend. We were "oversigned" at NSD last year...so why would Urban/staff suddenly say, Hey, let's not "oversign" for publicity's sake or whatever. What would they have done if Jacobs stayed if that were the case?
Many have made the point about "oversigning" last year (I don't know if that is an accurate portrayal or not, but let's say it is, for the sake of argument), which leads me to believe there really is more to the story than Urban simply not wanting to overbook this class - unless, that is, he really does not expect any further attrition than the two players we're already losing.
Perhaps someone can clarify, but I was under the impression we sat "at 84" on NSD last year but got to 82 by August - I know commits don't count until they enroll so being "at 84" was just in theory.
I haven't been paying much attention, but I've seen this question a few times, maybe they have all been you but I'll respond one more time :)
In Urban's 2012 NSD Press conference, a reporter asked about us being at 84, which Urban promptly replied with "were at 81." That implies that Urban has already been informed of 3 transfers that hadn't been made public yet, indicating we did not oversign in 2012
Sorry Urban, Woody is still my favorite
Presented without comment..
I'm hoping that this is a joke.
He confuses me.
Urban said yesterday that he has no problem with kids taking visits to other schools....and that a verbal commitment only means you have made the kids final three...
I agree with what has been said in past forums (Jones has taken at least one other visit since verballing): he saw a small class at OSU and wanted to make sure his spot was held, so he verballed. If he finds a better fit than OSU, he could possibly decommit. I don't love it, but it's a smart tactic on his part - he's playing by the rules. Sucks for us fans, though.
But why visit Illinois? Does anybody really think he'll sign with the Illini? It's a road trip for him, a chance to have a little fun away from home. And while he's on this little road trip OSU, the school he is supposedly committed to, will be hosting an important group of visitors, including two potential mates along the OL as well as the QB we hope he'll be protecting some day. Yet instead of being there and forming bonds and recruiting for the team, he's going to Illinois? Disappointing.
He wanted to be the first recruit so he can be " the guy" who helps bring other recruits.. But yet he wants to visit else where shortly after committing? Is this just a free trip type deal?
Yeah, who WOULDN'T want to visit Champaign in February?
Exactly. It's not just that he's taking a visit to another school. It's that as the 1st 2014 commit, you want him to be the flag bearer for the class. Compare this behavior to Cam Burrows from last year.
Not a free trip unless he is riding with someone who is paying for everything (which is probably a violation). Cannot have a free trip unless you are on an official visit.
The poor kid got screwed.........
Townsend just signed with Florida.
Yep. Just saw that. Townsend to Florida.
Perhaps this is a naive rhetorical question, but how hard really is it to learn how to punt a football? I would think there are a ton of Ohio high school soccer goalies who love OSU and have strong legs.
"A guy from Ohio can make it in life if he works hard enough." - Wayne Woodrow Hayes
It's easy to be a good punter but extremely hard to be a great punter. I have no statistical reference for this but it's what I've seen and experienced.
"Attack the Strong, Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead!"
-Former OSU S&C Coach Lichter
I'm not sure if you are aware that a football isn't round. There are a lot of things that go into punting a football besides "drop ball, kick ball". If you've never punted a football in your life, you don't all of a sudden become a punter on a team that will be competing for National Championships because you could kick a soccer ball. Punting a football is a skill that you can either do it or you can't. Punting is a skill that the one's who do it really well (NFL punters), aren't coached on how to pick up the ball and punt. The only coaching they receive is actually to refine their skills and perfect it. So if I were a coach on the team (which obviously I'm not), I would be looking for someone who actually has the skill rather than a project guy to be our punter this year. We will need a good punt at some point this coming season. This ins't Div 6 Ohio High School football where you have your 280 pound guard punting because he can kick the hardest.
Purple Raider
reminds me of another punter who was suppose to sign with tOSU and then chose cryami.
Kevin Niehoff should be our punter next season. We'll see how spring practice goes.
Remember how Urban had them try FG after FG at one point during the spring game last year? I just imagined Urban having one or two guys try punt after punt in a simulated game situation during the spring game this year.
Would still like to see Frank E at least get a shot. He can boom the ball and can you imagine having a WR that runs a 4.5 on fake punts. He would def have made that fake we had against Nebraska.
Is anyone else a little confused why Marcelys Jones committed to us, yet is entertaining other offers and is visiting Illinois. Not exactly what I expected out of the first recruit in the class. I'm looking for more leadership ala Cam Burrows.
My bad, didn't see the discussion a few comments up.
When you're the first signer of the class, I feel like you have a responsibility to be a leader and setting the tone for the class. He should be recruiting folks to tOSU, not visiting other schools. I don't believe in the Hoke method of pulling scholarships if you visit other schools, but I don't know about this one....
The 2012 National Champions.
Completely agree. Especially since it has been mentioned that we are hosting serveral high priority recruits this weekend and he decides to visit Illinois. Not sure where his head is at in regard to the whole recruiting process. Should be pimping tOSU as much as possible.
No offense to Marcelys Jones but this is a big downer. Ur first commit for the class is visiting another school instead of visitng the school hea committed to, to help recruit and stuff. I see Jones signing with us come NSD 2014, but this isnt someone u want as ur first commit. We needed someone like Raekwon McMillan or a Jabril Peppers type of kid. Marcelys is good but i just dont think his head is completely on his shoulders.
In 2011 class, we had guys like Kenny Hayes and Steve Miller lead our class from the beginning and they were top dogs then. In 2012, we had guys like Joshua Perry, Warren Ball, Jacoby Boren who were all very smart and were committed to the university at heart. Jones almost seems to like attention already and dosnt seem very bright. In 2013 we had Cameron Burrows, Jalin Marshall, Billy Price, Eli Woodard (Apple) &Evan Lisle to built this class.
I wish Raekwon McMillan would of been our first commit for 2014 but i like the ohio kid first tradition and someone like Dante Booker, Marshon Lattimore, or Kyle Trout should of been the first in the class.
#Buckeyes
I'd love to hear from the 11W staff on Marcelys Jones. Any insight would be appreciated.
Just a thought on Jones which I didn't see anyone mention. He could be visiting Illinois with a teammate to get them some exposure. I did that a few times when I was getting recruited out of high school where I would go visit a school bring a teammate along with me so they could get the same amount of exposure and get them some looks from schools that weren't initially recruiting them.
Updated
Added quite a bit