Ezekiel Elliott reaffirms his love for Buckeye Nation

Usually I wouldn’t redo a recruiting post but Ezekiel committed to OSU nearly a year ago and since then he and his family have become favorites of Buckeye Nation on Twitter. A few weeks back Zeke as he is known made a visit to his home state school and the Alma Mater of both his parents. This ruffled the feathers of some OSU fans and made most of them nervous. I never really bought the whole thing and just felt like he was enjoying the process and free trips. In the end he proved me right and today he confirmed to the world he is 100% Buckeye.

EZKEIEL ELLIOTT

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Ezekiel Elliott is a 6’1″ 210 lbs RB from St. Loui, Missouri. Big Zeke is a scat back at heart. He isnt small by any sense of the word but has elusiveness and shiftyness that will fit so well in Urbans system. He has great hands and will be a threat to catch the ball a lot and make plays out wide. Rivals ranks him a 4 star and 84th best prospect in the country. ESPN ranks him a 4 star and 109th best recruit in the country. Scout ranks him a 4 star and 9th best RB in the nation. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and 70th best recruit in the country. Below you can view his highlight reel.

Vonn Bell becomes a Buckeye

OSU FootballNo one knew who Vonn was going to pick or even where he was leaning all year long but quietly OSU was always his leader according to former Vols coach Derrick Dooley. Even with Bruce Feldman of CBSsports telling the world that Vonn Bell was going to pick UT I had my doubts. Urban Meyer is a closer and he is just that good. So Vonn Bell went to his ceremony and without further drama choose Ohio State proving Urban to be the recruiter we all believed he could be.

VONN BELL

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Vonn Bell is a 6’1″ 190 lbs Safety from Rossville, Georgia. Vonn is a big time Safety who has a knack for finding the ball and will hit you like a mack truck. He will get plenty of time in his first year to get some playing time on Special teams for sure and learn from Bryant and CJ. Rivals ranks him a 5 star and the no. 32 best recruit in the nation. ESPN ranks him a 4 star and the 50th best recruit in the nation. Scout ranks him a 5 star and the 2nd best Safety in the country. 247sports ranks him a 5 star and the 29th best recruit in the country. Below you can watch his highlight reel and see why he is a 5 star recruit.

James Clark brings speed to 2013

OSU FootballAs of 1 week ago most OSU fans were fretting over whether Urban was going to be able to land his much needed WRs and playmakers to the class of 2013 he so desperately needs… You can put that talk to rest with the additions of Dontre Wilson, Jalin Marshall, and now….

JAMES CLARK

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James Clark is a 5’11” 175 lbs WR from New Smyrna Beach, Florida. James is a true WR that OSU has been chasing and has the speed and deep threat capabilities that OSU needs. He is a barn burner with great hands and great route running he does need to build up his size a touch though. Rivals ranks him a 4 star and the no 45 WR in the nation. ESPN ranks him a 4 star and the no. 49 best WR in the nation. Scout ranks him a 4 star and the no 30th best WR in the nation. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and the 174th best recruit in the country. Below you can see his Highlight video which is of course super impressive.

NSD Open Thread

Here it is folks a day full of excitement and heart break. Ohio State has a top rated class but will they be able to keep everyone in the fold? That is the major question for all day today. As each Letter of Intent is faxed in I will update this post with the info. Mark Pantoni is the man on the spot manning the archaic FAX MACHINE all day long.

Already enrolled at Ohio State and not faxing a LoI today- Eli Apple, JT Barrett, Cam Burrows, Tyquan Lewis and Tracy Sprinkle.

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Dontre Wilson Flips from Oregon

When the rumors started that Chip Kelly was considering jumping to the NFL rumors started swirling that several of the Oregon commits could be flippable and that Coach Meyer would pounce on them all but in reality he only had his mind focused on one of them and after Chip took the job in Philly he pounced. Landing the 24th prospect in the 2013 class tonight.

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Dontre Wilson is 5’10” 175 lbs RB/WR from Desoto, Texas. Wilson who has been a commit to Oregon since last May has been wavering on his commitment since Chip Kelly was rumored to be heading to the NFL. Once that actually happened he full on started taking visits to other schools. He has visited Ohio State and his home state school Texas in the past few weeks. Dontre is the epitome of what Urban Meyer has been looking for to fill his Percy Harvin role. He is a RB who can play slot receiver run jet sweeps and be a part of the pistol package as a RB. He is a burner in the speed dept. and has the kind of moves that breaks ankles. Rivals ranks him a 4 star and the no. 100 recruit nationally. ESPN ranks him a 4 star and the 55th best recruit in the nation. Scout ranks him a 4 star and the 10th best RB in the nation. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and the 113th best recruit in the nation. Below you can see his highlight reel.

Last Minute Recruiting

OSU FootballWith just 48 hours to go in the recruiting process for the 2013 class the Buckeyes are still recruiting hard and trying to finish out the class before going balls to the wall for the 2014 class starting this upcoming weekend. I thought there is no better time to take a last look at the guys still in play for and hoping to land. The truth is no one knows how many spots OSU needs to fill except OSU. So maybe all these guys will end up Buckeyes or maybe none of them will but these are the guys with the best chance of becoming Buckeyes.

EZKEIEL ELLIOTT

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Ezekiel Elliott is a 6’1″ 210 lbs RB from St. Loui, Missouri. Big Zeke has been an OSU commit since April of last year but recent rumors and a visit has had some fans worried he is considering flipping to his home state school and parents Alma Mater Missouri. While I have never been convinced he is truly looking elsewhere the rumors were out there and He and his family haven’t completely quelled them although they have given some descriptive hints that he is still 100% Buckeye. Rivals ranks him a 4 star and 84th best prospect in the country. ESPN ranks him a 4 star and 109th best recruit in the country. Scout ranks him a 4 star and 9th best RB in the nation. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and 70th best recruit in the country.

My best guess – Ezekiel will be a Buckeye no matter what the rumors say.

DONTRE WILSON

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Dontre Wilson is 5’10” 175 lbs RB/WR from Desoto, Texas. Wilson who has been a commit to Oregon since last May has been wavering on his commitment since Chip Kelly was rumored to be heading to the NFL. Once that actually happened he full on started taking visits to other schools. He has visited Ohio State and his home state school Texas in the past few weeks and will announce his decision tonight. Rivals ranks him a 4 star and the no. 100 recruit nationally. ESPN ranks him a 4 star and the 55th best recruit in the nation. Scout ranks him a 4 star and the 10th best RB in the nation. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and the 113th best recruit in the nation.

My best guess – All signs seem to be pointing to Dontre becoming a Buckeye tonight so I will go in that direction.

VONN BELL

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Vonn Bell is a 6’1″ 190 lbs Safety from Rossville, Georgia. Vonn has been an enigma to recruiting analysts being quiet and not forthcoming into how his recruiting is going and who his leader has been for most of his recruiting process. Vonn will declare his choice on NSD and will be choosing between OSU, Tennessee, and Alabama. Rivals ranks him a 5 star and the no. 32 best recruit in the nation. ESPN ranks him a 4 star and the 50th best recruit in the nation. Scout ranks him a 5 star and the 2nd best Safety in the country. 247sports ranks him a 5 star and the 29th best recruit in the country.

My best guess – This one is a crap shoot and all 3 fan bases seem to think they are landing him. Most of the experts are leaning towards Tennessee as of right now. I believe Bama is out of the chase due to a numbers game. My heart is saying he will go OSU but my head says he will go to his childhood favorite team UT Vols.

JAMES CLARK

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James Clark is a 5’11” 175 lbs WR from New Smyrna Beach, Florida. James is the only true WR left of the bunch that OSU is chasing and has the speed and deep threat capabilities that OSU needs. He is down to a final 3 of Ohio State, Clemson, and Florida. Rivals ranks him a 4 star and the no 45 WR in the nation. ESPN ranks him a 4 star and the no. 49 best WR in the nation. Scout ranks him a 4 star and the no 30th best WR in the nation. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and the 174th best recruit in the country.

My best guess – Florida has 5 WRs already in this class but that doesnt seem to bother Clark. Clemson seems to be the odd man out. Ohio State has the bigger need and quicker playing time for him but I am not sure they have the room if 2 of the 3 ahead of him on this post go OSU. I think he will go Gators.

No. 23 brings a playmaker for OSU

We are a week away from National Signing Day A.K.A. Christmas for CFB coaches and fans alike. Sure some people get better presents then others but none the less this is an exciting time for all coaches and fans of the recruiting process. For Coach Meyer and OSU fans it is the WR position that is needed most in those presents. You see OSU has most everything they need in life but a few play makers are what every one knows we need and want. Today, we got one step closer with recruit no 23 in the 2013 OSU recruiting class.

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The news was broke by Bill Greene of Scout on his twitter….

Corey Smith is a 6’1″ 180 lb 4 star WR from Akron, Ohio. Corey is a JUCO guy who went to East Mississippi Community College to get his grades up to get back into the NCAA. Corey is a talented WR who also excels at Safety. There is no doubt he is a play maker in every sense of the word. He isn’t a barn burner with his speed but he uses his route running abilities to make the DBs look stupid and get things done. ESPN ranks him a 4 star. Rivals ranks him a 4 star. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and the no 9 JUCO player in the country. Scout ranks him a 3 star. Below you can see some of his highlights.

Former Buckeyes represented in Super Bowl XLVII

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The B1G Conference is highly represented in Super Bowl XLVII between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens. The conference represents the second most players in the game with 15, ranking second behind the 17 players that came from the SEC. Out of the 15 players that came out of the B1G, four players came out of The Ohio State University, right behind the five that rep the U of Miami. Donte Whitner, Ted Ginn, Alex Boone and Larry Grant all play for the 49ers and all of them played here under Coach Tressel. Three of them (Boone, Whitner, Ginn) went to high school in Ohio, while two of them (Whitner, Ginn) went to Glenville High School. We remember them all and it would be great to see them bring home the Lombardi Trophy.

Donte Whitner: Donte Whitner left the Buffalo Bills in 2011 to sign with the 49ers in free agency. Last year Whitner launched himself into the spot light by not only quarterbacking one of the league’s best secondaries, but also his knockout hit on Pierre Thomas in last years playoffs. Whitner was elected to his first career Pro Bowl this year after finishing third on the team with 83 total tackles. Watch for Whitner and fellow safety Dashon Goldson to wreak havoc on Baltimore’s receivers,  something that the Patriots did not do last weekend.

Ted Ginn: Ted Ginn is known as a first round bust but he still has the same blazing speed and big play capability that he showed while wearing the scarlet and gray. Coach Harbaugh rarely plays Ginn at wide receiver due to his inefficient route running and the 49ers depth at wide receiver but Ginn could make a game changing play in the return game during the Super Bowl.

Alex Boone: Alex Boone still brings the same nastiness to the 49ers offensive line that he brought to Columbus a few seasons ago. After only appearing in one game his rookie season, Boone appeared in all 16 games last season and started all 16 this season at right guard. He was named second team All-NFL by Pro Football Focus and led the way for Frank Gore’s 1,214 yard season. Look for him to create running lanes for the 49ers spread option and heavy ground attack.

Larry Grant: We will not be seeing much of Larry Grant next Sunday as he is mostly a special teamer and a back up linebacker to the league’s deepest linebacking core. Although he appeared in all 16 regular season games, Grant only recorded one tackle on the season.

Basketball Week In Review/Preview

Ohio State 56 – Michigan State 59

Last Saturday OSU traveled to East Lansing riding a 3 game winning streak and their first quality win. Every game against MSU will be tough to win especially at their home court. A lot will be written about the last play of the game where Shannon Scott made a blunder but this game was winnable all game long and several times the Buckeyes failed to capitalize on those chances. Most of the talk was centered on DT and his 28 points which equaled what the rest of the team scored. The real problem as I see it is that OSU had a starter (Amir Williams) with ZERO shots. They had another starter (Sam Thompson) with 2 attempted shots. How you can win games with 40% of your starters only taking 2 shots is a skill only Thad Matta has mastered but sometimes it leads to losing a game that OSU could have won so easily. To me this team is heading in the right direction with Thompson slowly losing his minutes to Shannon Scott and Amir and Evan Ravenel splitting time as well. If they can find a way to score some points down low in the post on a more consistent basis this team can dominate but until then they will struggle against bigger teams like MSU.

Iowa at Ohio State Tuesday January 22nd at 6:30 on BTN

If I told you today that OSU and Iowa had the same number of wins (13 each) and nearly the same number of losses (OSU 4 to Iowas 5). Yeah I was just as surprised. Iowa is coming off of back to back B1G wins over Northwestern and Wisconsin. Although Wisconsin is their best win on the season that is the same Wisky team that went into Bloomington and beat Indiana. Iowa is right now at the same place as OSU trying to prove they belong in the elite discussion and a win against OSU in Columbus would do just that.

Iowa is led by 6’6″ G/F Roy Marble (yes the son of former great Roy Marble) who is averaging 15 points a game and 4 rebounds. As well as 6’8″ Ohio native Aaron White who is averaging 13.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Iowa will put up a fight and if OSU doesn’t solve some of their issues it could be a long night but Thad Matta always has this team well prepared following a loss and tonight will be no different.

Prediction- OSU 64 – Iowa 52

Ohio State at Penn State Saturday January 26th at noon on ESPN 2

Penn St. is Penn St. they are bad at basketball. Currently they are 8-10 and 0-6 in the B1G. They are led by 6’4″ G DJ Newbill and is 15 pts and 6 Rebs. and 4 assts. per game. He is their do it all guy and will most likely be hounded by Aaron Craft all game long. Also leading the PSU team is 6’4″ Jermaine Marshall and his 15 PPG and 4 RPG and 2 APG. It is never easy to win a road game in the B1G but OSU has to take advantage of this game because it will most likely be their easiest road test of the year and every win counts and is needed come seeding time. They can’t allow a game like this one to slip away so they will have to do all they can to pull out a victory.

Prediction- OSU 80 – PSU 62

Coach Meyer taps into TTUN pipeline

OSU FootballThis weekend couldn’t get much better could it? First, OSU lands a commitment from 2013 LB/Safety Christopher Worley. Then the Mens Basketball team defeated previously unbeaten and destined to be no 1 in the country Michigan. Those things in and of them self would make for a great weekend for OSU. Then though Coach Meyer wanted in on some of the beating TTUN action and decided to swoop in and steal a 2014 recruit direct from Detroit Cass Tech the biggest HS pipeline that TTUN and Brady Hoke have at the moment. Cass Tech is sort of like Cleveland Glenville is for OSU only on a lower level and with much less success. With this new recruit OSU now has 2 players in the class with Marcelys Jones being the first.

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Damon Webb is a 6’0″ 180 lbs 4 star DB from Detroit, Michigan. Damon is a shutdown corner who isn’t afraid to hit a guy and help on run defense. He comes from a school that has had a lot of success in Michigan. Damon had offers from the likes of LSU, Michigan, Michigan St., and a host of other school. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and the 146th best recruit in 2014. ESPN doesnt have rankings out yet but he is on the 150 watch list. Rivals ranks him a 4 star. Scout ranks him a 4 star and the 7th best CB in the country for 2014. Below you can see his JR year highlights.

Damon Webb confirmed his commitment via his twitter account.