Ohio State Playoffs in Columbus 2014 and 2015

Stark County and Columbus High Schools were awarded the right to host two state football championships each starting in 2012. The Board of Directors for the Ohio High School Athletic Association cast their vote during a conference call today. The special meeting and vote was called after a recommendation was handed down by the eleven members of the football finals subcommittee.

Ron Tanner Joins the Buckeyes 2011 Recruiting Class

Local In-State recruit Ron Tanner joined Ohio State’s quickly expanding 2011 recruiting class earlier this week increasing the number of recruits to 17. The 6’1” 190 lbs safety prospect from Eastmoor in Columbus is rated the 46th best safety in the country and the 38th best prospect in Ohio for 2011, according to Rivals.com. He selected Ohio State over Arizona, Boston College, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, NC State and many others. A long time Buckeye fan, selecting any other school would not have gone over well with his family.

Eastmoor Saftey Ron Tanner Commits to the Buckeyes

Devin Smith from Massilon Commits to Ohio State for 2011

The 15th commit of Ohio State’s 2011 recruiting class came with wide receiver Devin Smith from Massilon Washington. The 6’2” 175 lbs prospect is rated the 44th best receiver in the country by Rivals.com. He received a scholarship offer from the Buckeyes after he performed well at their senior camp this past weekend. As a junior last year he scored 15 times and had 989 yards receiving. It was his dream to play for Ohio State, growing up in Ohio and being a fan all his life.

Braxton Miller Huber Heights Wayne

Cornerback Dondi ‘Tweak’ Kirby Jr. from Monroeville Gateway

Dondi Kirby is a 6’3” cornerback from Pennsylvania powerhouse Monroeville Gateway. He currently holds 12 offers from some of the top schools in the country including Ohio State, Iowa, Maryland, NC State, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia. With size and 4.5 speed, teams are excited about the tall cover corner with run stopping ability.

Ohio State’s 2011 Recruiting Class Grows

Ohio State’s 2011 Recruiting Class started slowly with two very good defensive line prospects and then exploded with five new recruits committing to be Buckeyes in the middle of March. Now the OSU coaching staff has secured their eighth commitment from Firestone’s Tommy Brown. At eScoutRoom.com, all the recruiting action is covered.

2011 Strong Safety Prospect Wayne Lyons

Wayne Lyons from Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale current has 32 offers from some of the best programs in the country. An early 250 Rivals to Watch for 2011 member, the 6’0” 190lbs defensive back makes plays all over the field and finishes tackles well. He doesn’t have a favorite college program at this time but has almost a year to make his selection.

Dillard Strong Safety Wayne Lyons Junior Highlights

Wayne Lyons 2011 Strong Safety Hits Hard

By Steve Patterson

We asked Lyons recently about his play on the field from Dillard High School. “My best attributes are my ability to fly to the ball and make big hits on the field.” he told us. A little surprising, he enjoyed his first night at Dillard the most. “I have to say the highlight of my career was my first high school game when we played Booker T. Washington and I started that game and played pretty good under the bright lights.”

His statistics the last two seasons have been phenomenal. “Last year I had 75 tackles, 21 for loss, 6 forced fumbles,  and a defensive touchdown.” he reported when we asked. And his highlight films from Diamond in the Rough are quite outstanding. Although Lyons will not qualify as a diamond in the rough when fans turn their attention to 2011 recruiting.

He has made a number of visits already. “I have visited Stanford, Notre dame, Florida, Michigan and FSU. And i will visit more in the future.” He seemed to like all five programs that he visited. “All of those places were great.” he explained.

“I look for a program that has a good winning record and also has a good academic background in engineering.” He told us about what he values in a college and a college football program. But one factor might set some schools apart, “I am also looking into early playing time.” he said. “There are many schools that have shown interest because I now have 32 offers from big named BCS schools.”

An early favorite for one of the sure to be most recruited players of 2010? “I don’t have any favorites yet."

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Drew Basil, Jumping into the Rotation this Spring

Drew Basil made many visits to colleges on his way to committing to the Ohio State Buckeyes this past Wednesday. He plans to enroll in the spring and began practicing with the team during spring camp. The Buckeyes are in need of depth at both the place kicker and punting position, so he has a good chance of seeing playing time early.

By Steve Patterson

Drew Basil is a 6’2” 188 lbs kicker out of Chillicothe Ohio who was ranked in the top 15 at his position nationally by a number of rating agencies. With offers from Air Force, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Kentucky, and Purdue, Basil was busy visiting campuses before committing to Ohio State. “I enjoyed the recruiting process very much.” he told us this week. “I enjoyed every single part of it, including the traveling and all of the mail I received. I visited Northwestern, NC State, Purdue, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Air Force, Alabama, Iowa State, and Ohio State. There might be a few that I am forgetting.”

He likes Ohio State for its winning tradition in addition to the academics. “I was looking for where I could get a good education and feel comfortable living there for the next 4-5 years. I was looking for a football program that will be successful every year.”

Basil also liked the fan support and what he saw around the OSU campus when he was visiting. “I liked how everyone supports the athletics and how involved everyone on campus actually is.” he explained.

A bit of a surprise, he plans to enroll quickly and get started training with the team. “I plan to enroll for Spring Quarter and start practicing as soon as I get there.” he told us. The Buckeyes return Devin Barclay and Ben Buchanan this year to handle the roles of kick offs, place kicking and punting. Possibly Basil can secure on of these positions as a true freshman.

Verlon Reed, Ohio State was Everything that I Hoped it Would Be

Verlon Reed is a local product for the Ohio State Buckeye’s 2010 class but provides versatility and tremendous upside. Playing quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back for Marian Franklin, Reed led the Red Devils to four city league titles. He will get a shot at quarterback when he arrives on campus but could also play safety during his career.

Verlon Reed 2010 Quarterback/Safety Prospect

By Steve Patterson

Verlon Reed is a standout not only in football but basketball and track also at Marian Franklin. He didn’t have a long recruiting season as other sports and school activities kept him occupied, but he did visit two programs. ”I was only able to visit Toledo and Ohio State. And I really enjoyed my recruiting process.” he told us about the process of being recruited.

He was looking for academics and football he explained when we contacted him this week. ”In a college I was looking for a strong academic department also with my major which is sports management. As far as a football program I was looking for a school with a great chance of winning and not just in their conference but also huge bowl games. Also a school with great tradition.”

“I liked the fact that Ohio State was everything that I hoped it would be.” He told us about his selection of Ohio State. “I felt Ohio State had everything that I would need to be more successful in life as a student player and most of all a better person.”

He plans to come in over the summer which has become very common with recruits in the last couple of years. “I will probably be enrolling in June and hopefully start practicing by June or July.”

Jordan Hicks Selects Texas over Ohio State and Florida

Westchester Ohio linebacking prospect Jordan Hicks selected the Texas Longhorns over scholarship offers from Ohio State, Florida and many others. The best outsider linebacker in the country, according to most recruiting services, flashed the hock’em horns and said that his heart was with Texas at a press conference at his high school this afternoon.

Jordan Hicks 2010 Linebacker Highlights

By Steve Patterson

The Lakota West football program has sent a number of top prospects to Ohio State in the past but Jordan Hicks grew up a fan of Texas and wanted to play for the Longhorns next year. Narrowing his list down to Texas, Ohio State and Florida a little over a month ago, rumors circulated for each school since. Tuesday night, reportedly, Hicks made up his mind that his heart was in Texas and scheduled the press conference for today at 12:30pm.

At 6’2” and 220 lbs, Hicks has all of the skills to be an elite linebacker at the next level. He excelled in high school coming off the edge and should put on some weight over the next year to be a completely dominant pass rusher. He finished his junior season with 88 tackles, 16 for a loss, and 4 sacks.

Ohio State will now focus on Seantrel Henderson, Matt James, and Dominique Brown with possible scholarships still available for offensive lineman Morgan Moses and West Virginia soft verbal Latwan Anderson. Henderson, James, and Brown are going to make their college selections next Wednesday when they sign their letters of intent.

Glenville’s Christian Bryant Selects Ohio State

Christian Bryant got the opportunity to make his college selection at his high school today, Cleveland Glenville. Like many Tarblooders before him, he waited till close to signing day to continue the pipeline to Columbus for the athletic Cleveland High School coached by Ted Ginn Sr. Bryant was a multi-talented player for Glenville and help take the team to the state championship game as a senior. He was recruited as a cornerback at the next level by Ohio State in additional to North Carolina, Michigan State and many others.

By Steve Patterson

Christian Bryant was highly sought after by schools like Minnesota, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Michigan State, Ohio State, North Carolina, West Virginia and Notre Dame. He was recognized as one of the top 125 football prospects in the country and a top 10 cover corner for the class of 2010. For the Tarblooders he put up stats all over the field including corner, quarterback, tailback, receiver, and returns. He became the 18th member of Ohio State’s current recruiting class that will finish ranked slightly below were the team is used to finishing on National Letter of Intent Signing Day.

Bryant at 5’10” and 175lbs is one of the top players in the 2010 OSU Class which also includes receiver Corey Brown, offensive tackle Andrew Norwell, tailback Roderick Smith and quarterback Taylor Graham. Ohio State is still hoping to land a number of other top talent nationally in offensive tackles Seantrel Henderson, Morgan Moses, and Matt James, linebacker Jordan Hicks, and defensive back prospect Dominique Brown from Winton Woods Cincinnati.

Ohio State 2010 Recruiting Class Final Stretch

The coaching staff at Ohio State hit the road shortly after the win in Pasadena to land the final 5 recruits for their 2010 class. The Buckeyes scored a defensive tackle in Johnathan Hankins from Detroit Michigan but came up short with two highly recruiting players this last Saturday. At the Army All American Bowl, defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd selected Florida over Ohio State while Cleveland Glenville safety prospect Latwan Anderson selected West Virginia over the Buckeyes.

By Steve Patterson

With Charlie Weis no longer recruiting in South Bend, Urban Meyer having a short retirement in Gainesville and Pete Carroll leaving USC, Ohio State should be cleaning house this year in recruiting top talent locally and nationally. They got some important commitments early in wide receiver Corey Brown, offensive tackle Andrew Norwell, and running back Roderick Smith but have gone for more mid-tear recruits down the stretch.

The Buckeyes still hope to land a couple nationally top ranked recruits before the beginning of February including Seantrel Henderson, Matt James, Jordan Hicks and Christian Bryant. But may end up with only 50% of these ideal four and therefore give scholarships to recent Columbus visitors Bradley Roby and Dominique Brown, great athletes in their own right, but not the blue chippers top programs covet.

Seantrel Henderson is the top ranked offensive tackle in the country and is believed to be leaning to Ohio State after only taking a couple of official visits. He had interest in Southern California but the recent departure of Pete Carroll could seal the deal for the Buckeyes. He’s the latest ‘next Orlando Pace’ left tackle.

Matt James is an in-state offensive tackle from Cincinnati St Xavier. He was leaning towards the Bearcats while also considering Ohio State and Notre Dame. Now with Brian Kelley in South Bend, Notre Dame is the favorite. Florida has also come on lately and is always hard to beat for a recruit. He plans to decide on National Letter of Intent Signing Day.

Jordan Hicks is an another in-state national top recruit that doesn’t seem too interested in the Buckeyes. He has favored either Florida or Texas for the majority of his recruitment but has kept the Buckeyes in his top 3. The Lakota West linebacker made an official to Ohio State for the USC game and knows the coaching staff well. But he is a fan of Texas and seems to want to leave Ohio.

If there was a lock (for sure commitment) in this final four it would be Christian Bryant. The Cleveland Glenville corner back plays a position of need for the Buckeyes and grew up watching the Scarlet and Gray. He is the normal Glenville player that has been in the program for more than a year and respects the coaching staff at Ohio State the way he respects the Glenville coaches. He is waiting till the end to make his announcement as many Ted Ginn Sr players have done in the past.

Ohio State Buckeye Recruiting Heating Up

This coming weekend a good number of recruits will be on campus as Ohio State tries to encourage the remaining members of their 2010 class to commit to play for the Buckeyes next year. Christian Bryant, Latwan Anderson, Johnathan Hankins, Matt James and Verlon Reed will all be on campus as OSU continues preparing for their Rose Bowl appearance on January 1st. Head Coach Jim Tressel and his staff would like to secure verbal commitments from all five high school recruits.

By Steve Patterson

Our partner site eScoutRoom.com has stories on Latwan Anderson, Christian Bryant, Matt James, Johnathan Hankins and Verlon Reed. Plus an additional article on defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd who visited the Buckeyes the weekend of October 24th. Floyd is the fourth best defensive tackle in the country. He attends Philadelphia George Washington and is also considering Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Penn State and USC. His top two currently are Florida and South Carolina.

Verlon Reed Gets Late Ohio State Offer

Ohio State Invites Recruits to Bowl Practice December 12th

Latwan Anderson Favors West Virginia

DT Sharrif Floyd Makes a Number of Visits

DT Jonathan Hankins Gets Ohio State Offer for 2010

Christian Bryant, Glenville Recruit Heading to Ohio State?

Matt James 2010 Offensive Lineman from St Xavier

Ohio State Buckeyes 2011 Class Prospects and Offers

With colleges making early offers to juniors starting in September, Ohio State has jumped on earlier with offers to 15 high school juniors who could make up their 2011 class. A lot can change between now and when 2011 recruits sign their letters of intent in February 2011, but at the current time there should be 14 scholarships available for the class as 14 seniors will be leaving the program to graduation.

By Steve Patterson

Here is the list of current 2011 recruits with offers from Ohio State. The Buckeyes have a good distribution of offers across all positions with only the tailback position not present in the current offer list.

QB Everett Golson
6-0 170
Myrtle Beach, SC

QB Braxton Miller
6-2 185 4.47
Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne

WR Shane Wynn
5-8 160 4.43
Cleveland (Ohio) Glenville

WR Karlos Williams
6-0 187 4.5 
Davenport Ridge (FL)

TE Ben Koyack
6-5 230 4.75
Oil City, Pa.

OT Tyler Moore
6-5/280
Clearwater Countryside (FL)

DE Kenny Hayes
6-5 230
Toledo (Oh.) Whitmer
Committed to Ohio State

DE Steve Miller
6-4 205
Canton (Oh.) McKinley
LB Trey DePriest
6-1 215 4.5
Springfield, Ohio

LB James Vaughters
6-2 215 4.6 
Tucker, GA

CB Doran Grant
5-11 175 4.45
Akron (Ohio) St. Vincent-St. Mary

CB Keelin Smith
6-3 185
Port St. Lucie Treasure Coast (FL)

S Jeremy Cash
6-2 185
Plantation (FL)

S Eilar Hardy
6'0 175
Pickerington (Ohio) Central

S Lamarcus Brutus
6-1 185 4.6
Port St. Lucie Treasure Coast (FL)

Ohio State 2010 Recruits Latwan Anderson, Jordan Hicks, and Tyrone Williams

The eScoutRoom.com continues to write about some of the top Ohio State recruits for their 2010 class. From recent offer to Latwan Anderson to the commitment of Tyrone Williams they cover a number of high school prospects you want to know more about. Also find corresponding video for many of the recruiting stories available.

By Steve Patterson

Latwan Anderson Finally With a Buckeye Offer

Cleveland Glenville has been a pipeline high school to Ohio State for the best athletes in the program since Jim Tressel took over the Buckeyes in Columbus. Very few Tarblooders with offers from Ohio State have gone elsewhere. 2010 was going to a year when only one Glenville player received an Ohio State offer until last night.

Buckeye Recruit Jordan Hicks Will Hold Weekly Teleconference

High School standout Jordan Hicks and his high school Athletic Director Todd Hummer have decided that the only way to handle the overwhelming requests from the press is to hold weekly teleconferences. This just demonstrates the overwhelming interest in recruiting. His first one was held on Monday, August 31.

Tyrone Williams Commits to Ohio State

Tyrone Williams has made his choice; he will become a Buckeye in 2010. He shared that he committed for one reason. “I couldn’t wait. I just like it down there. I like the school, the coaches, the players, Terrelle Pryor. I was ready.”

2010 Star Prospects Attending Ohio State vs. USC

Ohio State is bringing in as many high caliber prospects for the 2010 class as possible on September 11th for the weekend that could be the making of a historic year for the Buckeyes. That is of course if Ohio State can do to USC what the Trojans did to the Buckeyes last year in beating them at home and practically knocking them out of National Championship contention with one game.

Latwan Anderson Junior Highlights

Roderick Smith Highlights and Commitment

Jordan Hicks 2010 Linebacker Highlights

Ohio State 2010 Commit Chad Hagan