By Steve Patterson
The good news began on Saturday
when word came that Maryland cornerback
Darrell Givens had committed to Ohio
State on his visit.
Apparently Terrelle Pryor sealed the deal by convincing Givens that the
Buckeyes where going to get over the hump soon with the help of two great
recruiting classes in a row, in 2008 and 2009. Givens became the ninth member
of the 2009 class.
Givens is a
shutdown corner with 4.46 second speed in the 40 who will take the opposite
side of the field from already committed CJ Barnett who is a top 100 national
prospect. Givens had offers from at least 16 schools including Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, and Miami
(FL).
Givens also cited the family environment at Ohio
State for leading to his
surprise commitment. When he began his trip to Columbus
he had no plan to make Ohio
State his selection but
by half-time of the game, he was sold.
Monday brought two more prospects picking Ohio State
as their college to attend, Dorian Bell and Jordan Hall both from Pennsylvania. Dorian Bell is a Top
100 nationally ranked outside linebacker from Monroeville Gateway. Monroeville
Gateway is a powerhouse in the state of Pennsylvania
and Ohio State has been trying to draw talent
away from there unsuccessfully for some time. The high school is somewhat
comparable to Cleveland Glenville in Ohio and
St Mary’s Orchard Lake in Michigan.
Bell had offers from Penn State,
Tennessee, West Virginia, Alabama, Florida State, Michigan, and Notre Dame to
name a few. He also liked the family environment on his visit to Ohio State.
Everyone welcomed him to campus including coaches, players, fans, 2008 commits,
and the 2009 commits. Unlike Givens, Bell liked Ohio State a
lot before attending and his father felt that Bell would be a Buckeye sooner or later. Ohio
state will be loaded at Linebacker for years to come with Etienne Sabino and
Andrew Sweat in the 2008 class and now Dorian Bell, Jordan Whiting and Storm
Klein in the 2009 class.
The most recent post-Spring Game
commitment came late last night as Jordan Hall from Jeannette Pennsylvania
committed to be the 11th member of the 2009 class. Hall is a 5’9”
running back from the same high school as Terrelle Pryor. Hall will come to Columbus in 2009 with
State Championship wins in both basketball and football. He had offers from Penn State, Michigan
and Notre Dame.
A Top 250 prospect nationally,
Hall will be the next great all-purpose back at Ohio State.
Hall visited earlier in the year with Pryor for the Wisconsin
basketball game and came over again for the Spring Game this past weekend.
Depth at running back was a concern for Ohio State
after losing Devoe Torrence from this year’s class and anticipating Chris Wells
to leave for the NFL after the 2008 season. Now they will enter 2009 with three
solid running backs in Jordan Hall, Daniel ‘Boom’ Herron, and Brandon Saine.