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Ohio State Adds #8

Tom Loker — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:17:00 GMT

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel often refers to the punt as the most important play in college football so the mood at the "Sweater Vest" house must be a bit happier today. Ohio State received it's second verbal pledge this week, this one coming from 6'2", 188lbs kicker/punter Drew Basil. Basil, one of the top special teams players in the mid-west and the state of Ohio, recently was a standout performer at the Ohio State advanced camp and obviously came away from his experience in Columbus impressed enough to commit to the Buckeyes. It also helps that Basil is coached by former Buckeye kicker Tim Williams. (Williams was a Buckeye from 1990 to 1993) It remains to be seen where Basil ends up as a Buckeye as he is both a good place kicker and punter. I suspect Basil's talents best translate to that of place kicker but the Buckeyes are in a unique position where their depth chart allows Basil to go to either position. The class of 2009 saw the Buckeyes bring in top flight kicker / punter Ben Buchanan and with the impending departures of seniors Aaron Pettrey (Sr. placekicker) and Jon Thomas (Sr. punter) basically 2010 will sport a dynamic duo of young kickers that can both kick and punt.

Special teams players such as Basil and Buchanan do not get the normal publicity a skill position player gets coming out of high school but make no mistake about it, these two players will insure the Ohio State kicking game will be solid for years to come. Basil chose the Buckeyes over offers from Purdue, Air Force, Cincinnati, and Kentucky.

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Penn State adds #11

Tom Loker — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:25:00 GMT

Jordan Norwood, former Penn State wide receiver left Happy Valley as one of Penn State's all time leading receivers. Today Penn State secured a verbal commitment from Norwood's younger brother Levi Norwood. Norwood who originally was from the State College area (his father Brian was a coach at Penn State and now is Baylor's defensive coordinator) attended the Penn State advanced senior camp over this past weekend. Not much is known about the youngest Norwood other than the fact that he has an exceptionally small physical build checking in at 6'2" and just 170lbs. Norwood's one and only offer currently is from Penn State and one assumes that the Nittany Lions see in Levi many of the same things that lead to Jordan being one of the better receivers in Penn State history.

NAME	POS	STARS	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	40	HOMETOWN
Paul Jones	QB	****	6-3	226	-	McKees Rocks , PA
Kyle Baublitz	TE	****	6-4	254	5.13	York, PA
Adrian Coxson	WR	****	6-2	194	4.45	Baltimore, MD
Evan Hailes	DT	****	6-1	305	5	Chesapeake, VA
Mike Hull	LB	****	6-1	215	-	Canonsburg, PA
Silas Redd	ATH	****	5-10	187	4.45	Stamford, CT
Miles Dieffenbach	OL	***	6-5	277	5.5	Pittsburgh, PA
Daquan Jones	OL	***	6-4	302	5.4	Johnson City, NY
Luke Graham	OL		6-5	260	-	Harrison City, PA
Levi Norwood	WR		6-2	170	-	Waco, TX
Thomas Ricketts	OL		6-6	265	-	Wexford, PA

Buckeyes Land Big Committment

Tom Loker — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:10:00 GMT

The Buckeyes received their 7th verbal for the class of 2010 from 6'3", 220lb, running back Roderick Smith. Smith is a four-star prospect out of Indiana and is the 47th ranked player in the nation according to Rivals.com. Smith flew under the radar until the last few months due to there simply not being a whole lot of film available on him. Luckily for the Buckeyes they were quick to notice his immense talents and offer him relatively early in the process. Smith took a bit longer to commit to the Buckeyes than most expected but it seems Ohio State wanted to make sure Smith had his grades in order to insure his acceptance to the university. Smith is a rare blend of size, speed, and power and joins a suddenly extremely deep stable of running backs in Columbus. Ohio State has already welcomed two top running backs in freshman Jamaal Berry and Carlos Hyde to the university as members of the 2009 recruiting class to go along with current OSU running backs Brandon Saine and Daniel Herron.

Watching film on Roderick Smith despite being a huge running back he is incredibly fast and has a good ability to make defenders miss. I dare liken Smith to a bigger faster version of former Ohio State running back Chris Wells. It goes without saying this is a big pick up for the Buckeyes class of 2010. Smith chose the Buckeyes over offers from Michigan State, Purdue, Tennessee, Iowa, and Michigan.

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COMMITTED/UNSIGNED	Pos	Stars	Ht	Wt	40	Hometown
Roderick Smith	RB	****	6-3	220	4.5	Fort Wayne, IN
Jamel Turner	DE	****	6-3	210	4.6	Youngstown, OH
Andrew Norwell	OL	****	6-7	275	-	Cincinnati, OH
J.T. Moore	DE	****	6-4	220	4.75	Youngstown, OH
David Durham	DE	***	6-3	228	4.7	Charlotte, NC
Scott McVey	LB	***	5-11	215	4.5	Cleveland, OH
Taylor Graham	QB		6-4	211	-	Wheaton, IL

Buckeyes Get Their Quarterback

Tom Loker — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:37:00 GMT

After a few near misses with a couple of other prospects Ohio State received a verbal pledge from Illinois quarterback Taylor Graham. Graham's father Kent is a former Buckeye. Taylor chose the Buckeyes over offers from UCLA, Michigan State, Colorado, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Duke, and Iowa. The Buckeyes got into the process somewhat late with Graham as it was no secret the intial targets for the Buckeyes were quarterbacks Nick Montana and Andrew Hendrix but as soon as the Buckeyes offered it seemed Graham was a lock for the Buckeyes. Graham described getting an offer from the Buckeyes as a "dream" so it was only a matter of time for him to commit. Graham is not as well known a commodity with the various recruiting services as a Nick Montana or an Andrew Hendrix but Graham has put himself on the radar with strong performances at various camps around the nation. He recently got an offer from the likes of UCLA after attending a football camp out there and in large part his good performance at the recent Ohio State advanced camp earned him his Ohio State offer. After looking at limited film Graham seems to have a good over the top motion and after a little work on his footwork he will be an excellent prospect for the Buckeyes. He puts good touch on the ball and throws the ball well when on the move. Graham will prove to be a good pickup for the Buckeyes and provide much needed depth at the quarterback position in 2010.

COMMITTED/UNSIGNED	Pos	Stars	Ht	Wt	40	Hometown
Jamel Turner	DE	****	6-3	210	4.6	Youngstown, OH
Andrew Norwell	OL	****	6-7	275	-	Cincinnati, OH
J.T. Moore	DE	****	6-4	220	4.75	Youngstown, OH
David Durham	DE	***	6-3	228	4.7	Charlotte, NC
Scott McVey	LB	***	5-11	215	4.5	Cleveland, OH
Taylor Graham	QB		6-4	211	-	Wheaton, IL

Ohio State Hires New Coach

Tom Loker — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:06:00 GMT

It is being reported that Ohio State has hired coach Keith Uecker from Wayne State to be the teams new Offensive Quality Control coach. He will replace Nick Siciliano who most recently held this position. Siciliano is moving to take Joe Daniel's position as quarterbacks coach. Daniel's apparently will focus more on his job as passing game coordinator with more of an emphasis and a shift toward taking on a greater role in shaping the offense with offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Jim Bollman.

What is interesting about the hiring of Uecker is that he was the offensive line coach at Wayne State for the past three years and before that served in a similar capacity at the University of Akron. Uecker was an offensive lineman at the University of Auburn where he was a four-year starter and team captain . Uecker then went on to a ten year career in the NFL with both the Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers. With Uecker being a offensive line guy this might signal a shift in position for Joe Daniel's as well. Much has been made in recent Ohio State history about the performance, or lack there of, from the Ohio State offensive line. Largely they have been underachieving in key games and last year a unit that looked to be a strength for the team prior to the season proved to be a disappointment. Ucker is known for getting the most out of his players on the offensive line and whereas his hiring will not be front page news it could ultimately be a huge hire for the Buckeyes in the future.

What do you think about this hire? Talk about it here in the message forums!

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