OSU Hosts McDowell As Jones Visits MSU

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Recruiting Update • Jan. 31, 2014
OSU Hosts McDowell As Jones Visits MSU
Ohio State is one of four schools vying for
McDowell’s services alongside Michigan,
Ohio State might still get some late good Michigan State and Florida State. The
news, but it will also spend the upcoming recruitment has taken a few turns and is
weekend sweating out what could be a one of the wildest in memory, according
to Greene. His parents steadfastly oppose
looming big loss for the program.
The Buckeyes will try to win the services his desire to play for the Spartans and
of Southfield, Mich., five-star defensive line- haven’t been wild on the Buckeyes, either,
man Malik McDowell, who chose to visit but they’ll be joining him in Columbus for
Ohio State on the final weekend before the official visit, giving head coach Urban
Meyer a chance to change their minds.
Wednesday’s National Signing Day.
“That’s one of the craziest ones I’ve seen,
However, a visit from OSU offensive line
coach Ed Warinner, running backs coach and I’ve seen millions of them,” Greene said.
Stan Drayton and defensive line coach Larry “Believe me, this ranks right up there. His
Johnson Sr. on Jan. 30 appears to have failed mother and father want him at Michigan
to dissuade Chicago De La Salle four-star – badly. He has made it pretty clear that he
offensive tackle Jamarco Jones from visiting absolutely doesn’t want to go to Michigan, so
that’s where all the fun starts. He has friends
Michigan State over the weekend.
De La Salle head coach Mike Boehm at Michigan State, and he’s very comfortconfirmed to Scout.com, the parent network able at Michigan State. I think that’s where
of BuckeyeSports.com, that an in-school he wants to go, and his parents are saying
visit had taken place and that Jones was still absolutely not to Michigan State. For a while,
expected to head to East Lansing for his Ohio State was in the ‘absolutely not’ range
official visit. Jones’ mother also tweeted a too, but that’s shifted to ‘possibly’ because
picture showing that the trio of OSU assis- they’re coming to OSU this weekend.”
Of course, the three Big Ten schools
tants had conducted an in-home visit that
night. The Spartans visited Jones on Jan. 29, and the animosity generated by the parties
involved could cancel each other out and
the day before OSU paid him a visit.
bring into play a fourth possibilThe Jones news almost cerity – reigning national champion
tainly puts a damper on the
Florida State. The Seminoles
Buckeyes’ unexpected surge
have 27 verbal commits already,
in the McDowell sweepstakes.
but they would certainly make
According to Scout.com recruitroom for the nation’s seventhing analyst Bill Greene, Ohio
ranked defensive end, whose
State’s hopes of holding on to
family has ties to the Sunshine
Jones likely resided in keeping
State.
him away from the Michigan
“Florida State is also in there,
State campus this weekend.
and the mother has a lot of family
“I don’t see a scenario in which
he goes to visit Michigan State Jamarco Jones down there and has said that she
and walks out of there Sunday sticking would like to move to Florida at some point, so
with Ohio State,” Greene said. “It’s hard maybe this is the tipping point,” Greene said.
However, Greene isn’t ruling out the
for me to see that. It’s recruiting and the
craziest things happen, but that would be combination of Johnson and Meyer, both
a tough one for me to see. Going through of whom have experience with coming up
the in-home visit with Michigan State on big on the final weekend of the recruiting
Wednesday, facing Ohio State on Thursday cycle. The fact that McDowell has given
and still taking that visit … that would be a the Buckeyes the last visit may bode well in
their quest to lure a second five-star recruit
bad sign for Ohio State.”
Although the Buckeyes will be disap- alongside Cincinnati Moeller linebacker
pointed if Jones follows through on his Sam Hubbard.
“I’ve seen what Larry Johnson has been
intent to visit Michigan State, suddenly landing McDowell could end any perception that able to do on final weekend visits where he
OSU’s “Dream ’14” recruiting class is limp- has pulled rabbits out of a hat for Penn State
numerous times,” Greene said. “I’ve seen
ing to the finish after an incredible start.
By Ryan Ginn
Scout.com Team Rankings
Rk.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
School
Alabama
Tennessee
Ohio State
Texas A&M
Florida State
Notre Dame
LSU
Miami (Fla.)
Auburn
Arizona State
Commits
25
34
22
21
27
22
19
26
20
25
Urban Meyer do the same thing over the
years at both Ohio State and Florida. It’s hard
for me to bet against Urban Meyer and Larry
Johnson in this situation, and the fact that
they have a whole weekend with both parents and the kid, I think Ohio State is in the
best shape of the four schools right now.”
Even pulling McDowell, though, won’t
make up for the loss of Jones if the offensive
tackle does indeed switch his commitment
to Michigan State. After taking just two offensive linemen (four-star tackle Evan Lisle
and three-star guard Tim Gardner, who was
sent home for running afoul of the law over
the summer) in the 2013 class and losing
four starters from the 2013 team, Ohio State
needed a big year on the offensive line.
Instead, the Buckeyes missed out on
big names such as four-star JUCO lineman
Chad Mavety and might also lose their most
highly rated blocker and the No. 63-ranked
overall prospect in the country in Jones.
That doesn’t mean that the class won’t be
wildly successful. It is, after all, filled with
a boatload of playmakers. However, OSU
struggled in two areas it needed to address
– quarterback and offensive line.
“At the end of the day, you can collect all
the talent that you want, but you can’t come
up blank in an area as important as offensive
line,” Greene said. “To me, Jamarco Jones is
the key to the whole class. You could bring in
25 wide receivers, the Nos. 1-25 wide receivers in the county, and you’d end up with a
high-rated class. They would be rated really
well. But you have to fill your needs. This is
an amazing group of kids, but they needed to
hit five offensive linemen this year.”
Ohio State Commitments & Offers
Players in the class of 2014 who have issued verbal commitments to play football at Ohio State. (^
– Player already enrolled at Ohio State)
Player
Pos.
Ht.
Wt.
Kyle Berger
Dante Booker
Noah Brown
Parris Campbell
Stephen Collier^
Johnnie Dixon^
Jalyn Holmes
Malik Hooker
Sam Hubbard
Jamarco Jones
Marcelys Jones^
Demetrius Knox
Marshon Lattimore
Terry McLaurin
Raekwon McMillan^
Sean Nuernberger^
Curtis Samuel^
Erick Smith
Brady Taylor
Dylan Thompson
Kyle Trout^
Damon Webb
OLB
OLB
WR
RB
QB
WR
DE
WR
OLB
OT
OG
OG
CB
WR
MLB
K
WR
S
OT
DE
OT
CB
6-2
6-3
6-2
6-1
6-4
5-10
6-5
6-3
6-6
6-5
6-4
6-4
6-1
6-0
6-2
6-1
5-11
6-1
6-5
6-5
6-6
6-0
215
217
215
180
210
195
240
185
221
285
340
305
180
175
242
235
185
195
285
265
295
175
Stars
High School
Cleveland St. Ignatius
Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary
Sparta (N.J.) Pope John XXIII
Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary
Leesburg (Ga.) Lee County
Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) Dwyer
Norfolk (Va.) Lake Taylor
New Castle, Pa.
Cincinnati Moeller
Chicago De La Salle
Cleveland Glenville
Fort Worth (Texas) All Saints’ Episcopal
Cleveland Glenville
Indianapolis Cathedral
Hinesville (Ga.) Liberty County
Buckner (Ky.) Oldham County
Brooklyn (N.Y.) Erasmus Hall
Cleveland Glenville
Columbus Bishop Ready
Lombard (Ill.) Montini Catholic
Lancaster, Ohio
Detroit Cass Tech
Other players in the class of 2014 who have received offers from Ohio State, according to Scout.com,
and have yet to verbally commit elsewhere.
Player
Pos.
Ht.
Wt.
Terrence Alexander
Myles Autry
Corey Avery
Will Dawkins
Shattle Fenteng
Nick Glass
Roderick Johnson
Malik McDowell
Mattrell McGraw
Raymon Minor
Kevin Mouhon
David Njoku
Derrick Nnadi
Frank Ragnow
Elisha Shaw
Tee Shepard
Braden Smith
Juju Smith
Solomon Thomas
Petera Wilson
CB
RB
RB
WR
CB
OLB
OT
DE
S
OLB
MLB
WR
DT
OG
DT
CB
OT
S
DE
MLB
5-10
5-11
5-10
6-0
6-2
6-2
6-7
6-6
5-11
6-3
6-1
6-4
6-2
6-6
6-4
6-1
6-6
6-1½
6-3
6-2
180
170
185
180
184
200
320
292
175
215
215
215
295
285
293
195
292
185
256
220
Stars
High School
River Ridge (La.) John Curtis Christian
Norcross, Ga.
Dallas Carter
Vero Beach, Fla.
Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College
Suwanee (Ga.) Peachtree Ridge
Florissant (Mo.) Hazelwood Central
Southfield, Mich.
River Ridge (La.) John Curtis Christian
Richmond (Va.) Benedictine
Norcross, Ga.
Cedar Grove, N.J.
Virginia Beach (Va.) Ocean Lakes
Chanhassen, Minn.
Tucker, Ga.
Goodman (Miss.) Holmes
Olathe (Kan.) South
Long Beach (Calif.) Poly
Coppell, Texas
Memphis (Tenn.) White Station
Players in the class of 2015 who have issued verbal commitments to play football at Ohio State.
Player
Pos.
Ht.
Wt.
Jamel Dean
Eric Glover-Williams
CB
RB
6-1
5-10
185
165
Stars
High School
Cocoa, Fla.
Canton (Ohio) McKinley
Players in the class of 2017 who have issued verbal commitments to play football at Ohio State.
Player
Pos.
Ht.
Wt.
Stars
Danny Clark
QB
6-3
205
NR
High School
Massillon (Ohio) Washington
Originally Published: Oct. 3, 2009
OHIO STATE FOOTBALL RECRUITING
By ADAM JARDY
Buckeye Sports Bulletin Staff Writer
Ohio State had no intention of taking
Drew Basil or any other kicking specialist in
its recruiting class of 2010. In addition to the
fact that kicker/punter Ben Buchanan is currently enjoying his redshirt freshman season
and has three more years of eligibility, space
is limited in a class that expects to total only
around 17 members this year.
During the tail end of Basil’s junior year
at Chillicothe, Ohio, his head coach, Bill
Davidson, was speaking with OSU defensive
coordinator Jim Heacock.
Although Heacock had been Davidson’s
position coach in college, the Buckeye coach
did not like his chances of pitching Basil to
OSU head coach Jim Tressel.
“He told me that Drew was really, really
good, but they had (Buchanan),” Davidson
told BSB. “Coach Heacock told me, ‘We
love him, but we don’t think Coach Tressel is
going to let us give that scholarship away.’ ”
Undeterred, Basil trekked to Columbus in
late June to take part in Ohio State’s kicking
camp. A few days later, Davidson received
another phone call from Heacock with a
decidedly different tone.
“The next thing I know Ohio State has
made an offer,” Davidson said. “The answer
was that Drew was just so good that they
really didn’t feel they had a choice.”
A 6-0, 180-pound multisport athlete who
enjoys contact, Basil is ranked by Scout.com
as the No. 5 kicker in the country and a threestar prospect. Despite the ranking, however,
Basil is not a lock to settle in at kicker for
the Buckeyes when he arrives on campus
next year.
Basil also handles Chillicothe’s punting
duties and could end up punting for OSU –
OSU starter Jon Thoma is a fifth-year senior
– but his first love is placekicking.
“I’ve been kicking since I was in fifth
grade and I’ve been kicking on a team since
eighth grade and I really enjoy it,” he said.
“It’s something I have a lot of fun doing and
I work really hard at it. The right chances
came at the right time.”
The path that led Basil to Columbus actually started in Cincinnati where his older
brother attended a kicking camp nearly a
decade ago. Basil also made the trip and spent
time there working with former University of
Kentucky and Cincinnati Bengals kicker
Doug Pelfrey and got some early pointers.
He joined the seventh-grade football team
and assumed the kicking duties, and by the
time his eighth-grade season rolled around,
Davidson was eagerly awaiting the day Basil
could suit up for the varsity.
“We were one of the few seventh- and
eighth-grade teams from this part of Ohio
who actually lined up and kicked extra
points,” the coach said. “When he was in the
eighth grade warming up, I’d be sitting over
there on the practice field going, ‘If this was
Kentucky, I could bring him up and let him
kick for (the varsity).’ He’s done a real good
job for our program.”
Pelfrey is not the only big-name kicker
to have worked with Basil. The Buckeye-tobe has also trained under the watch of Tim
Williams, who sits third all-time in the OSU
record book with 49 career field goals made.
Basil’s success to this point has come
despite splitting time with his school’s soccer
www.BuckeyeSports.com
team. After three seasons playing midfield
and earning second-team all-state honors as
a junior, he has switched to forward for his
final season. He will not play club soccer this
winter and will instead put his focus on getting ready for football season.
Kicking a soccer ball and a football
require different techniques, he said.
“A lot of people think it’s the same but
it’s quite different once you break it down,”
Basil said. “When you watch a soccer player
kick a ball, they swing around the ball. In
football you need to be able to still swing
around it but in a more direct path.”
Although Basil said he has the differences under control now, he did have some
struggles along those lines last season.
“Last year, I found myself kicking the
soccer ball like a football a lot,” he said. “I
kicked the ball over the goal probably 35
times. I think they kind of expect that, but
this year I’m doing a lot better.”
Halfway through his team’s 16-game
regular-season schedule, Basil had knocked
in eight goals. He will go to a full soccer
practice on some days and then finish off his
evening with football practice.
On Sept. 16, Davidson decided to challenge Basil.
“I put pressure on him and he was lined
up at 63 yards,” the coach said. “I said, ‘If he
makes this one, we have no conditioning and
no up-downs at the end of practice.’ I was
thinking, ‘There’s no shot (he’ll make it).’
But he hit it, and the kids mobbed him.”
According to Basil, the kick came after he
had already hit one from 58 yards.
“We just kept moving back,” he said.
“After I hit a 58-yarder the whole team ran
out on the field and tackled me and started
hitting me on the helmet. I just looked at
them and said, ‘Guys, what are you doing?
We still have one more kick to do.’ They
looked at me like I was crazy, but we backed
it up 5 yards and I ended up hitting it.”
One of the toughest adjustments for kickers transitioning from high school to college
is kicking from the field instead of off a tee.
Davidson said Basil uses a tee when kicking
on Chillicothe’s natural grass home field
but kicks off the ground when playing on
artificial turf.
Davidson said Basil is not a typical kicker
in that he enjoys contact whenever possible.
If not for the demands soccer places on his
time, Basil would play other positions for the
Cavaliers.
“Unlike a lot of kickers, he likes to lift
weights,” the coach said. “He’s one of the
strongest kids on the football team. We’ve
run a couple of fakes with him this year and
he’s picked up yards every time.
“He makes it well known on punts and
kicks that he hopes everybody else misses.
He wants to be that kid to make the tackle.”
As for Basil’s punting skills, Davidson
said he had a 47-yard net average on four
punts during a game earlier this season.
“I had one that went up above the lights,
which was pretty cool,” Basil said.
Through the first four games of his senior
season, he averaged 40.1 yards per punt and
had converted five field goals.
During fall camp, Basil was in attendance
for OSU’s annual kick scrimmage and came
away excited for his own chance to take part
in the event next season.
“It was really quite the experience,” he said.
“The kickers up there know me. They came
The Basil File
NAME – Drew Basil
HIGH SCHOOL – Chillicothe, Ohio.
POSITION – Kicker/punter
HEIGHT, WEIGHT – 6-0, 180 pounds
VITAL STATISTICS – Scout.com lists
Basil as a three-star prospect and the No.
5 kicker in the country.
COACH’S COMMENTS – “You just have
to see him. If you’ve not seen him in perDrew Basil
son, it’s just amazing. I’ve coached high
school football 33 years, been around football since 1969 in
one capacity or another, and I’ve never seen a kid whose
kicks look like his when they’re coming off the ground. It’s
amazing.” – Chillicothe High School head coach Bill Davidson
HOBBIES – In addition to his roles on the school football and
soccer teams, Basil boasted a 220 average on the Chillicothe
bowling team as a junior.
SCHOOLS INTERESTED IN – Basil issued a verbal commitment to Ohio State in July. He also held offers from Air Force,
Cincinnati, Kentucky and Purdue.
SCOUT.COM
Basil Wowed Coaches,
Earned OSU Attention
over and talked to me. It’s pretty cool they
know what’s going on in their recruiting.”
Although Basil held offers from a limited
number of schools, Davidson said a number
of other major colleges were showing interest when he committed to the Buckeyes. He
had been in contact with Michigan, LSU,
Alabama, Purdue, Tennessee and Michigan
State among others.
The decision to become a Buckeye was a
pretty easy one once the offer arrived, Basil
said.
“I picked it because that’s the school I’ve
been wanting to go to since I was a little kid
and also it’s a short distance from home,
which is nice,” he said. “It just seems like
a great school to go to and they have great
tradition there.”
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BUCKEYE SPORTS BULLETIN October 3, 2009 • 31
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Originally Published: Nov. 14, 2009
OHIO STATE FOOTBALL RECRUITING
Bryant Latest Buckeye
Target From Glenville
By ADAM JARDY
Buckeye Sports Bulletin Staff Writer
Christian Bryant does not have to ask
questions or peruse back issues of Buckeye
Sports Bulletin to gain an appreciation
for the Cleveland Glenville-Ohio State
football pipeline. The senior cornerback
prospect has more than enough firsthand
knowledge to suffice.
Now a four-star prospect for the
Tarblooders, Bryant’s career has come
full circle. When he reached fifth grade,
his father began taking him to the football
field to see an old friend of his – Ted Ginn
Sr., head coach of the Tarblooders.
Running around on the field at that
time were the likes of Ted Ginn Jr., Donte
Whitner, Troy Smith, Darius Hiley and
Jamario O’Neal. Some of them have gone
to NFL careers, while others have come
up short.
As one of the next Glenville players in
line to play major-college football, Bryant
has an understanding of what it takes to
make it – both on the football field and in
the game of life.
“I think he understands the whole
Glenville motto – that it’s more than just a
family,” Ginn Sr. told BSB. “It’s put him
in position to be who he is today. That’s
an advantage that he has over a lot of the
other kids.
“When you start talking about being
successful, being a student-athlete, giving back and all that stuff as you try to
teach the core values of life, it’s easy for
Christian because he saw it from his childhood. That’s what makes him be a better
leader.”
It was the philosophy Ginn preaches
that drove Bryant’s father to bring his
young son to Glenville practice. Bryant
said that he can remember watching the
black and red jerseys flying around at
practice and hoping that he would grow up
to wear one of them.
“I just looked up to some of the athletes
who were on the team then, and I always
thought in the back of my mind I wanted
to be just like them when I was their age,”
he said. “Now I’m their age and now I’m
there. It seems like just yesterday that I
saw it all.”
When it came time to play football,
however, Bryant nearly decided the sport
was not for him. At the age of 4, he was
playing football with his cousins in his
back yard. But after lining up at quarterback for the East Cleveland Chiefs at the
age of 8, he came home and announced
that he did not want to go back.
“I just didn’t feel comfortable being out
there,” he said. “But then going back in the
back yard with some of my older cousins
and having them knock me around with the
blocking dummies got me tougher.”
Bryant estimated that he missed no
more than one Chiefs practice.
Nearly a decade later, things have
improved for Bryant enough that the 5-10,
175-pounder is ranked the No. 6 cornerback prospect in the country by Scout.com
and the No. 7 prospect from Ohio.
Despite where he is ranked, Bryant
plays a number of different positions for
his team. In addition to duties at cornerback, wide receiver and kicker, he has
www.BuckeyeSports.com
been pressed into action at quarterback
this season.
In a key nonconference meeting Sept.
11 with Huber Heights Wayne, Bryant
completed 4 of 5 passes for 51 yards
and a touchdown and carried the ball 10
times for 131 yards and another score.
Defensively, he picked off a pass thrown
by Braxton Miller – an OSU recruit for the
class of 2011 – and returned it 82 yards for
a touchdown. On special teams, he kicked
a 35-yard field goal as the Tarblooders
rolled to a 57-28 victory.
Ginn described Bryant as a player who
can do it all but singled out a few areas of
his game as being better than the rest.
“I think he’s a great tackler,” the coach
said. “He plays the whole game of football. He knows every position on the field.
It’s not just like he’s just out there. He’s
got a Ph.D. in the game.”
After receiving recruiting interest from
across the country, Bryant has narrowed
his list to OSU, Michigan State, Tennessee
and North Carolina. He took an official
visit Oct. 24 to see the Spartans and
plans on taking similar visits to see the
Volunteers and Tar Heels after his season
ends.
The Buckeyes will receive an official
visit for the Dec. 12 weekend.
Bryant’s primary OSU recruiter is cornerbacks coach Taver Johnson, and he said
the two speak by phone every two weeks
or so. Tennessee landed former Glenville
cornerback Mike Edwards last season, and
Bryant said the two remain in contact.
“(Edwards) said he likes it a lot and
they treat you like a professional athlete,”
he said.
Bryant said he prefers cornerback to
all other positions and is being recruited
to play there.
“Throughout this whole season I’ve
just been working on my coverage ability with some of the coaches,” he said. “I
went to some camps during the summer
The Bryant File
NAME – Christian Bryant
HIGH SCHOOL – Cleveland Glenville
POSITION – Cornerback
HEIGHT, WEIGHT – 5-10, 175 pounds
VITAL STATISTICS – Scout.com lists
Bryant as the No. 6 cornerback in the country and the No. 7 prospect from Ohio.
COACH’S COMMENTS – “Christian can
do it all. He can return kickoffs, he can
Christian Bryant
play quarterback, he can kick, he can punt,
he can play corner, he can play receiver. He can do it all.”
– Glenville head coach Ted Ginn Sr.
HOBBIES – Reading. Bryant recently finished “Problem Solved”
by Stephanie Moore, a fictional account of a prep football player
dealing with the pressures of football and campus life.
SCHOOLS INTERESTED IN – Bryant has narrowed his list to
Ohio State, Michigan State, Tennessee and North Carolina.
He will take official visits to all four schools before making a
final decision.
and they showed me some technique,
and that’s what I’m using throughout this
season.”
Asked if he ever gets bored playing
cornerback if opposing defenses do not
throw the ball, Bryant said, “I find ways to
make plays no matter where I am.”
That mentality was preached to him
when he entered the Glenville program
as a freshman. That year, such seniors as
Jermale Hines and Kyle Jefferson began
instilling an appreciation for the program
into the young playmaker.
This year, Bryant has found himself on
the other side of that equation. As one of
the leaders on the team, he is hoping to
leave the program in better shape than it
was when he arrived.
“As a senior at Glenville, you just try to
lead these younger guys to something,” he
said. “I know when I was a freshman the
seniors took me in and showed me how the
program was supposed to be run so when I
became a senior I could do the same things
they had done. That’s what the rest of the
senior class and I are trying to accomplish right now – leave something for the
underclassmen so the program won’t lose
its value.”
Although his words carry extra weight,
Ginn said it can be tough preaching a
message to kids who sometimes do not or
cannot understand. The fact that Bryant is
preaching it helps validate what the coach
is trying to build.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Ginn said.
“You hope that for every kid – that they
can be in the program and see everything
they can get through the program. They
can become a man.
“We love them and teach them the
core values of life – knowing that it’s not
about you, it’s about the people who are
behind you who are looking at you. That’s
so rewarding because that’s a reflection
on me.”
BUCKEYE SPORTS BULLETIN November 14, 2009 • 29
Originally Published: Feb. 20, 2010
OHIO STATE FOOTBALL RECRUITING
By ADAM JARDY
Buckeye Sports Bulletin Staff Writer
It’s a wonder that Corey Brown ever found
his way to Ohio State.
The Buckeyes were set to host a number of
recruits from across the country for their earlyseason home showdown Sept. 12 with USC,
and Brown was one of them. The four-star
wide receiver prospect from Springfield (Pa.)
Cardinal O’Hara hopped into the car with his
mother, Delene Williams, and made the sevenplus-hour drive to Columbus.
One wrong turn later, they were in Ashland,
Ohio, about an hour north of Columbus on
Interstate 71 with no idea how they got there.
A phone call was placed to OSU wide receivers
coach Darrell Hazell, who offered a new set of
directions.
“I think he gave us the wrong directions
(first),” Brown told BSB with a laugh.
After the detour, Brown and his mother
eventually arrived on campus and took in the
night contest with the Trojans. Upon his arrival,
Brown said he did not say much about the
wrong-way directions to the position coach.
“Coach Hazell messes up from time to
time,” the wideout said. “When we finally met
up there, all the other coaches were there so I
didn’t want to joke around and make that my
first impression.”
The Buckeyes came up short against USC,
but they would earn a small victory the next
afternoon – and Hazell was among the first to
know.
Before Williams’ car was past the outer belt
in Columbus, the recruit was placing another
call to the OSU assistant.
“When they were leaving, I wrote (his mom)
directions and I got a call 10 minutes later when
they were on (the outer belt) and naturally I
thought they were calling for directions but
they were calling to commit,” Hazell said on
National Signing Day. “That was a great phone
call.”
According to Brown, he was planning to visit
other schools before making a final decision
until he took that unofficial visit to Columbus.
“We were talking (about committing) the
whole time up there really,” he said. “When
we first were talking, I was thinking we were
going to go visit other schools (but) then the
next day when we went to see everything else
(at Ohio State), we were talking about it with
(my family) and everybody. They wanted me to
(commit) so I just did it.”
His verbal gave the Buckeyes three wide
receivers for their class of 2010. Brown joined
James Louis of Delray Beach (Fla.) Atlantic
and Tyrone Williams of East Cleveland (Ohio)
Shaw. All three are similarly ranked nationally
by Scout.com – Brown at No. 25, Louis at No.
29 and Williams at No. 32 at their position.
In addition to being the highest-ranked member of the trio, Brown is also the most likely to
win in a footrace. The 6-1, 184-pounder runs the
100 and 200 meters as well as the 4x400- and
4x100-meter relays for his high school.
This track season, his goal is to win at
least two state championships. Not surprisingly,
Hazell referenced his speed when discussing the
wideout, classifying the athlete who has been
timed at 21.4 seconds in the 200-meter dash as
an explosive player.
While he was being recruited, Brown said
his speed was typically the first topic that came
up with college coaches. Speed or no speed,
though, Cardinal O’Hara head coach Dan Algeo
www.BuckeyeSports.com
had one prevailing thought the first time he saw
Brown as a freshman.
“I thought, ‘Can this small, skinny kid play
football?’ He was as thin as a rail,” Algeo said.
“Then I watched him on the field and said,
‘Holy smokes. This kid can play.’ ”
Brown said that he managed to overcome a
perceived lack of size by learning the playbook
and being able to catch on quickly to the pace of
playing football in high school.
“The size was big, but it was more about
the speed of the game,” he said. “The change
of speed was harder to get used to than the size.
Even when I was a freshman, it wasn’t really a
big deal because once you get the speed thing
down you can do your thing and it doesn’t really
matter about size.”
Brown suited up for the varsity for four seasons – a rarity at O’Hara.
“Once you saw him play as an eighth-grader,
you knew this kid was going to be a Division I
player,” Algeo said.
As a freshman, Brown said he felt he started
to turn the corner in what proved to be a shutout
loss. O’Hara traveled to Ohio and faced perennial power Cincinnati Colerain, dropping a 28-0
decision that the future Buckeye said was closer
than the final outcome.
It did not dim his appreciation for Keystone
State football, however.
“I think (Pennsylvania) football is the best,”
he said. “Everything – the size, the speed, the
competition, everything. Down South, they
have a lot of speed. Everybody thinks up here
there’s nothing but size, but there’s a lot of
speed up here.”
That was not enough to get him to stay instate, however. Brown never camped at Penn
State and said the Nittany Lions never showed
much interest in recruiting him. He did land
offers from several schools, however, including
Florida and Florida State.
Late during Brown’s junior year, Algeo told
him to cut his list of potential schools to 10.
Once that was accomplished, the goal was to
trim the list in half by midsummer.
He was successful on both fronts with his
final list including Miami (Fla.), Pittsburgh,
Rutgers and West Virginia in addition to Ohio
State. After he issued his commitment to the
Buckeyes, Brown said both Pitt and Rutgers
continued to recruit him.
“It was hectic,” he said of his recruitment.
“There were coaches in the school every day.
It was real confusing and time-consuming, too.
You had to try to find out who you could really
trust and who was feeding you a line and who
was keeping it real.
“When you start to visit these places and
you get to see the players and talk to them, the
players tell you how the coaches really are. That
helped a lot.”
Now that the Buckeyes have Brown, they
have to figure out how to best use him. In addition to his track prowess, Brown seldom came
off the field for the Lions.
“He lined up all over the place – halfback,
tailback, wingback, slot, wideout,” Algeo said.
“Honestly, it was probably pretty well divvied
up 20 percent across the board. We just tried to
get him the ball as best we could.”
As a senior, Brown scored 21 touchdowns
– 11 rushing and 10 receiving. The Buckeyes
view him as a wide receiver.
“He’s got very good hands and runs very
good routes,” Algeo said. “He’s got great ball
skills and he’s explosive with good hips. The
thing about him is he could play safety (or) he
could play corner. If he puts enough weight on,
The Brown File
NAME – Corey Brown
HIGH SCHOOL – Springfield (Pa.)
Cardinal O’Hara
POSITION – Wide receiver
HEIGHT, WEIGHT – 6-1, 184 pounds
VITAL STATISTICS – Scout.com lists
Brown as a four-star prospect and the No.
25 wide receiver in the country. During
his four-year varsity career, he rushed for
about 3,000 yards, recorded around 1,500
Corey Brown
receiving yards and scored 50 touchdowns.
COACH’S COMMENTS – “He’s got very good hands and
runs very good routes. He’s got great ball skills and he’s
explosive with good hips. The thing about him is he could
play safety (or) he could play corner. If he puts enough weight
on he could probably play (weakside) linebacker. I think his
most natural spot will be either receiver or as a cover corner.”
– Cardinal O’Hara head coach Dan Algeo
HOBBIES – Brown said he is enjoying being enrolled in a
boxing class at school.
SCHOOLS INTERESTED IN – Brown committed to Ohio
State after narrowing his list to include the Buckeyes as well
as Miami (Fla.), Pitt, Rutgers and West Virginia.
SCOUT.COM
Brown Eventually
Made Way To OSU
he could probably play (weakside) linebacker.
I think his most natural spot will be either
receiver or as a cover corner.”
However, Brown said he feels he still has a
lot to learn about the wide receiver position.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do to be able to be
a good receiver – a lot of work,” he said. “I’ve
never just studied receiver. It will be different,
but it’s fine. It’s going to be easier (to play one
position).”
Two years ago, the Buckeyes landed four-
star prospect Lamaar Thomas from Maryland
and began the process of converting him to
a wide receiver. Primarily a running back
throughout his prep career, Thomas found the
transformation more difficult than initially
thought and wound up transferring out of the
program following this past season.
Brown’s high school coach does not foresee
him struggling to adapt to any position.
“A lot of things he does, you don’t coach,”
Algeo said. “He just has it.”
BUCKEYE SPORTS BULLETIN February 20, 2010 • 23