Well, we’re into the winter lull between National Signing Day and the start of spring practice. Ordinarily, the recruiting fires would be about out, but with Terrelle Pryor still out there, the book hasn’t closed just yet on Ohio State’s 2008 freshman class. Several people have asked me about my stance on Pryor. While I will make it clear that I don’t know the young man or any of his family/entourage personally, I’ll make these points-
While we’ve all seen or heard of what Pryor can do on the football field, his basketball prowess certainly doesn’t take a back seat. There was a minor ripple last week when it was reported that Terrelle had verbally gotten into it with some opposing fans at one of his games. I didn’t read too much into that, but his stat line that night caught my eye- 20+ points AND boards, not to mention a handful of assists and steals. Geez, what Thad Matta could do with him right about now. His team is in the running for a state title (which would duplicate the one they landed in football), which could delay his football decision until mid-March.
Terrelle is obviously a gifted hoopster, but if his immediate future were on the gridiron, would he have been better served to have passed up basketball and taken all the recruiting visits he wanted to (Oregon? Penn State?) My gut tells me that he wanted to come to Ohio State, but having only visited here and Ann Arbor, did he want to take other visits to be sure? It sure seems like his dad forced the issue to visit JoePa, but he could have had these trips in the bag and made a decision by signing day. How much more time do you need?
That being said, I certainly hope Jim Tressel lands Pryor, and more importantly, uses him right away. I’m still sour on how Todd Boeckman played down the stretch, and his insistence on throwing into coverage is going to hurt this team no matter how many returning starters are back. I’d still like to see the playbook to determine if all these deep throws are designed that way or the result of shoddy decision making. I’m not saying Pryor is going to be the next Peyton Manning throwing the football, but Pryor, and even Antonio Henton, seem to possess the Troy Smith-like quality of making something happen even when things break down, something that Boeckman flat can’t do.
So, let’s let the basketball season play out and see what Terrelle decides to do. Yes, he would start right away up north, but without Long, Hart, Manningham and Arrington, how’s he going to move the football? I’ll admit he’d probably fit in well at Oregon- Dennis Dixon had a good grip on the Heisman before he got hurt (subjecting all of us to the endless blather about the “immortal” Tim Tebow). But that’s a long way from home, and how would Terrelle get any press coverage out there anyway? Putting Pryor in Paterno’s hands is like giving Stevie Wonder the keys to a Rolls Royce. When it’s said and done, I think he’ll be in Scarlet and Gray. Then it’s up to Tressel to use him.
There’s no question that this year’s recruiting class is one of the most highly decorated in school history. You’d think with so many four- and five-star guys that more title game appearances are in the future. But as I looked back on our recent article listing Ohio State’s recruiting classes from the last 15 or so years and the number of stars each player earned, I took note of those who helped comprise the 2002 national title team.
Six guys in the ’98 class made significant contributions in their senior seasons. The one with the least notoriety of the group, offensive lineman Scott Kuhnhein, was actually the highest rated of the six along with Kenny Peterson. Of course, K-Pete battled injuries and other obstacles before finally striking gold his senior season. And how many stars did Donnie Nickey get from the recruiting know-it-alls? How about one. Multiply that times four and you get the number of years Donnie started after redshirting in ’98.
Only two of 1999’s 24 commitments earned five stars. Offensive lineman Bryce Bishop would be one of only two O-linemen to start every game in the championship season, while defensive back Curtis Crosby couldn’t make the grade and disappeared. The 8 guys who earned four stars broke even as far as key contributions to the title team. Tim Anderson, Adrien Clarke, Mike Doss and Matt Wilhelm were vital cogs, while Maurice Harris, Kelton Lindsay, Richard McNutt and Fred Pagac, Jr. didn’t exactly rewrite Buckeye history.
How about the five-star duo of the 2000 class? Tailback Sam Maldonado ended up at Maryland. I’ll never forget how John Cooper said after the 2000 Penn State game (a 45-6 Buckeye blistering of JoePa) that he had gone up to Maldonado when the game was out of hand and said “Sammy, we need to make a decision (whether or not you want to play)”. What do you think he’s going to say? Maldonado ended up with a few garbage yards and there went his redshirt. He had all of 16 carries the rest of the season and was gone at year’s end. I’m not saying he would have taken time away from Maurice Clarett in ’02, but he couldn’t have been any worse than Lydell Ross.
The other half of the 2000 five-star pair? None other than linebacker Marco Cooper, whom I believe watched the national title game from prison after his drug and gun shenanigans after the ’02 spring game. So there’s a total of ten recruiting stars that contributed zilch to the championship. The four-star group was stellar- Shane Olivea, Robert Reynolds, Darrion Scott, Will Smith and Alex Stepanovich. Of the other 18 guys in the class, only THREE (Will Allen, Michael Jenkins and Brandon Joe) made their mark on the title team.
2001’s higher-rated guys were pretty well pegged. Again, there were only two five-star guys, but Dustin Fox and Simon Fraser chipped in their part to aid in the championship run. And the four-star cast wasn’t shabby- Chris Gamble, Mo Hall, Chris Vance and Lydell Ross. And I mean the Lydell Ross of the ’02 team, not the ’04 version who literally fumbled every single game that year. Of course, only one star went to Mike Nugent, who merely went on to become one of college football’s greatest kickers ever.
Jim Tressel hauled in six guys who were five-star rated in the 2002 class, but only Maurice Clarett made any contribution immediately. Two of the six- Mike D’Andrea and Justin Zwick, serve anymore as cautionary tales of not getting overly caught up in all of this recruiting frenzy.
So there you have a national championship team with only four guys on the roster who earned five stars coming out of high school AND contributed to the dream season. Look, it’s always exciting to have a big fish commit to Ohio State, and Jim Tressel certainly got a nice haul this year and may not be done yet. And there’s no question you have to have talent to win. But I’m not going to get all caught up in this recruiting hype. I know I’m biting the hand that feeds me in a way, but I’ve made it pretty clear to Gregg, Pat and Brent that I prefer to cover the Buckeyes after they become Buckeyes. The Tom Lemming’s, Allen Wallace’s and Bill Kurelic’s of the world may be making a pretty penny off their magazines and pay sites, but is it really worth it?
I also realize that a lot of you subscribe to those very sites. In fact, you may remember last year we asked one of our forum members, “Progolfer”, to do some recruiting write-ups for us. I’m sure you guys enjoy the process and in no way am I trying to belittle you. This seemingly constant need to find out any scrap of info on these kids is just not up my alley. Troy Smith was an “athlete” throw-in in ’02. A.J. Hawk was the lowest rated of the four linebackers in that same class. The examples of how inexact this recruiting science are go on and on, so forgive me if I wait to see how it translates on the field.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on my thoughts. Feel free to send me a note to Joe-S-U@buckeye50.com.
Editorial: Seeing Stars?
By Joe-S-U
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February 27th, 2008
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