Scott McVey, Coach Tressel Was The Biggest Difference

The 5’11”, 215 lbs. outside linebacker from Cleveland St Ignatius, Scott McVey, moved up the recruiting board quickly after a great finish to his junior year in the state tournament. He visited four schools and committed to the Buckeyes early in the recruiting process. He is now preparing to finish his senior year and begin college this summer.

By Steve Patterson

Scott McVey had a number of very good offers from teams like Iowa, Michigan, Stanford, and West Virginia. But the Ohio State coaching staff was what convinced him to commit early to the home-state team. “The recruiting process was alright overall but I was ready for it to be over and I was confident with my decision early.” he explained recently. “The only official visit I made was to Ohio State but I also visited Boston College, Notre Dame, and Michigan.” Notre Dame did not offer but should a lot of interest prior to their coaching change.

McVey wanted a level of comfort with the football program. “A college football program for me has to be the complete package, I had to feel comfortable. Coach Tressel made the biggest difference in me making my final decision.” In addition to the coaching staff, he also liked what he saw academically. “I like most about Ohio state is that their expectations are high both in the classroom and on the field.”

He will not wait for the fall quarter but will enroll over the summer with many other members of 2010 recruiting class. “I am enrolling at Ohio State for summer quarter.” he reported to us.

David Durham, Ohio State is a Special Place

Speaking with David Durham makes one realize how much he is looking forward to joining the 2010 class at Ohio State and playing for the Scarlet and Grey. He understands the tradition and values the relationship he has developed with both Head Coach Jim Tressel and Linebackers Coach/Co-Defensive Coordinator Luke Fickell.

By Steve Patterson

David Durham is coming a long distance to become a member of the 2010 Ohio State recruiting class but he saw enough other college programs to understand what he wanted in a football coaching staff. “I did enjoy the recruiting process for the most part. Especially after I committed to the Buckeyes.  I was only the fourth commitment in my class and that was something pretty special to have been committed for that long.  Once I verbally committed things were a lot less stressful and I could relax a little bit and focus on other things.” he told us recently. While wrestling for his high school, he visited many campuses. “I visited schools all over the country throughout my high school career. Probably some of the most important visits for me, were those to schools like North Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia because all of those schools had shown a lot of interest in me and I was very interested in their programs.  During my junior year I also visited Penn State, Alabama, Ole Miss, Texas, Baylor and many others.”

What he liked most about Ohio State was the coaching staff and the relationship he developed with them. “I think the most important thing people look at when they get recruited are the relationships they make with coaches.  I had a very positive relationship with Coach Tressel and Coach Fickell.  I know that Coach Tressel isn't going to be leaving Ohio State any time soon.  I like that they have a big emphasis on developing us as people as well as football players.  I also wanted to be a part of a successful program with a strong defense.  Ohio State obviously gets a check mark on both of those.  I wanted to be at a school with strong academics, that I could get a respectable degree from.  Everything else is just icing on the cake.  Ohio State is a special place and I look forward to being a part of it.”

He also likes the tradition and the consistently strong defensive the Buckeyes put on the field. “The thing I like most about Ohio State football is the tradition that goes along with it.  Ohio State is respected as one of the greatest football programs of all time.  So many unbelievable players have played in the horseshoe.  The people in Ohio take buckeye football very seriously. Success has become a tradition at The Ohio State University and I look forward to being a part of that success in years to come.”

Although Durham was a very good high school wrestler he will not have time when he arrives in Columbus, he reported to us. “No, wrestling has become kind of a year round sport in college.  I don't know if anyone has ever wrestled and participated in other sports in college, mainly because you have maintain a certain weight, which is difficult when you are playing football.  So unfortunately, it looks like my wresting career is coming to a close.”

He plans to enroll over the summer to get a jump on classes and football. “I will enroll in the summer.  I believe June, 21, is the date  when most of the guys in my class will enroll.  We will just be working out with the team, attending a few classes, and getting ready for camp to start.”

Morgan Moses Ready For College Football after FUMA

Morgan Moses spent the last year at Fort Union Military Academy after starring at his local high school, Meadowbrook. Coming out of High School he was a top rated offensive lineman nationally and played in the Army all-star game in San Antonio. But he did not qualify to play for his committed college program at Virginia and went to FUMA instead. Now he is ready to excel on the football field and also in the classroom when he selects a college to attend.

Morgan Moses Meadowbrook High School Highlights

By Steve Patterson

Morgan Moses wanted to attend Virginia last year but now is not sure as they have changed head coaches. Other schools have also come into the picture including North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio State, Florida, and LSU. A couple of current Buckeye recruits (Carlos Hyde and Jamel Turner) were on his team at FAMU and he spent a great deal of time with Hyde who is already enrolled at Ohio State. OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel feels they have a really good chance at landing Moses as he made an in-home visit this past week and wants Moses to official visit before National Letter of Intent signing day.

Moses is currently considered a soft verbal commitment to Virginia with interest in LSU, South Carolina, Florida, and Ohio State. He has made recent visits to South Carolina, on December 4th, and Florida, on December 11th. On his visit to USC, Moses got the chance to meet both coach Shawn Elliot and head coach Steve Spurrier. He liked both coaches very much and is considered leaning towards the Gamecocks according to some associated with the program.

Bradley Roby Switches Vanderbilt to Ohio State

Bradley Roby committed to Vanderbilt in July but continued to discuss opportunities with both Auburn and Ohio State. This past weekend the Shawnee Georgia wide receiver/defensive back switched his committed to the Buckeyes after a visit. He comes from the same high school as current OSU defensive tackle Cameron Heyward and the families are quite close.

Bradley Roby, Peachtree Ridge, Highlight Film

By Steve Patterson

Bradley Roby’s mother might as well be Cameron Heyward’s aunt according to the latest Ohio State commit. Seems the mothers spend a lot of time together at sporting events. Their friendship made Roby’s switch from Vanderbilt to Ohio State easy for the 3 star recruit. He was mostly considering SEC teams until Heyward’s mom began talking about how nice the football program is at Ohio State.

Roby adds an athletic cornerback to the class of 2010 for Ohio State which struck out with two other corners earlier in the recruiting process. Lamarcus Joyner committed to Florida State and Joshua Shaw committed to Florida. Both were thought to be on the verge of joining the Buckeyes at one point during their college selection process.

Ohio State is still looking to add one more cornerback to the class in Cleveland Glenville’s Christian Bryant. Bryant is a 4 star recruit, ranked the 6th best corner in the country by Rivals.com, and comes from the same school that sent Ted Ginn Jr. and Troy Smith to Ohio State among many other top recruits.

Is Texas Ready For Jordan Hicks?

It is almost decision-making time for Jordan Hicks, and he most recently met with Will Muschamp of the Texas Longhorns this previous Saturday. It seems that he is a prime choice for the Texas defense, but to enroll early, he will have to make a decision as quickly as possible. The spring semester commences January 19, so it is definitely crunch time if he is ready to become a Longhorn.

By Chuggin McCoffee

One other potential sway to the vote in favor of Texas is that Hicks' mother previously worked with the Texas coach Jeff Madden, linking her to the team and possibly biasing the decision. Hicks is a skilled outside linebacker at 6'2" and 210 pounds, and he is seen as one of the more promising linebacker recruits this season. The only thing to take into consideration is how well Hicks will be able to adjust to the Texas team, but coupled with the potential for playing early, it may be a decision that he is willing to make. Most recently, Hicks was able to play in the Under Armour All-American game side-by-side with other future Texas players like Mike Davis, Taylor Bible, Aaron Benson, and Adrian White. As for the final Texas decision, only time will tell!

Chuggin McCoffee is a coffee fanatic that has spent the entirety of his career cultivating and studying all of the best uses and brewing styles for optimal coffee and espresso flavor. His specialty site for all coffee needs, supplies, and Bunn Coffee Filters can be found at www.thecoffeebump.com.

Ohio State offers Wide Receiver Bradley Roby

With recruiting season winding down and a couple of players not selecting Ohio State as their college choice, the Buckeyes have had the opportunity to offer scholarships to several new players. Last week Verlon Reed received an offer and this week an offer was made to Vanderbilt commit Bradley Roby. Roby recently opened is recruitment up as he wants to reconsider his current status.

By Steve Patterson

Bradley Roby is a 6’0” 175 lbs wide receiver from Suwannee Peachtree Ridge Georgia. This is the same high school that Ohio State was able to grad Cameron Heyward from three years ago. Roby has good speed with a 4.4 40 yard dash recording. He is a three star recruit according to a number of recruiting organizations. His current offer list includes Vanderbilt, Auburn, Boston College, Indiana, Maryland, Purdue, and West Virginia among others. Auburn is the only other school besides Vanderbilt that he has visited and could be the school to beat.

The Buckeyes are more than likely looking at Roby as a cornerback as they lost both Lamarcus Joyner and Joshua Shaw to Florida schools recently. This leaves only Christian Bryant from Cleveland Glenville as a 2010 cornerback prospect for OSU. Their class is somewhat stalled at 14 prospects and a national ranking of 27th according to Rivals.com. Getting more defensive backfield help is a priority for the Buckeyes who lose their 2 starting corners, Chimdi Chekwa and Devon Torrence, after next season.

Verlon Reed Gets Late Ohio State Offer

Some within the fan base at Ohio State consider the late recruit a rare pearl discovered by Coach Tressel that everyone else overlooked. While others consider the late offer to a recruit, a desperate move by a recruiting staff that does much better at the beginning of the process than at the end. Either way, the athletes tend to contribute in similar fashion to many of the early recruited players.

By Steve Patterson

Verlon Reed got a recent offer from the Ohio State coach staff as a Safety/Quarterback for the 2010 class. He currently has offers from Bowling Green, Kent State, Toledo and Ohio State. A local high school player who attends Marion Franklin in Columbus, Ohio. Rivals.com rates him as a 3 star prospect and the 61st best in the state while BuckeyeGrove.com feels he is the 22nd best in Ohio this year. He also has interest in Cincinnati, Kansas, and Illinois.

Reed has seen his stock soar during 2009 with strong play on the field. In playoff wins over three very good divisional rivals, Reed led Marion Franklin from the Quarterback position and also played defense. Against Columbus Brookhaven, Reed passed for three touchdowns and turned the game around when he enter the defensive backfield for Marion Franklin.

Reed made a visit to Ohio State for their game against Iowa earlier in the year and has been looking for an offer from the Buckeyes. He spoke with Coach Tressel during the visit and feels the discuss went well. Reed would like to continue to play quarterback but Ohio State has talked mostly about defensive back for him.

Ohio State Invites Recruits to Bowl Practice December 12th

A traditionally strong recruiting period for Ohio State is between their Michigan regular season finally and their January bowl game and it should be the same this year with three big recruits scheduled to visit. Christian Bryant, Johnathan Hankins, and Matt James are all schedule to take official visits to OSU on the 12th of December.

By Steve Patterson

Christian Bryant is a 5’10” cornerback from Cleveland Glenville ranked as the 10th best in the country by Rivals.com. Has good speed, size, and strength but his agility and ball skills put him above the rest. He played both offense and defense for Glenville and is big part of their current state title run. He has previously visited Michigan State and favors the Spartans along with Ohio State, North Carolina, Vanderbilt and Virginia. His partner in the defensive backfield for Glenville is five star recruit Latwan Andreson.

Johnathan Hankins is a 3 star defensive tackle from Detroit Southeastern Michigan who also visited Florida and Virginia and plans to visit Michigan this weekend. He has over 8 offers that he is considering with no current favorites. He plans to make his college selection within the month of December after all four of his official visits are complete. Paul Haynes has been recruiting the 6’3” 325 lbs defensive line prospect for the Buckeyes.

Matt James is an in-state recruit that has also been pursued heavily by Cincinnati and Notre Dame. The 7th best offensive tackle in the nation, he is a big need for Ohio State which only has one other offensive lineman in their 2010 class. The big lineman has the size and strength you want in a division one tackle with decent speed and footwork. A great run blocker he comes from St Xavier, one of the best programs in the state of Ohio.

Latwan Anderson Favors West Virginia

Latwan Anderson, a standout defensive back from Cleveland Glenville, named his top three schools recently and West Virginia was at the top of his list. Cincinnati and Ohio State where numbers 2 and 3 for the 2010 Safety prospect with blazing speed. This ranking came after a visit to Morgantown for their game against Marshall.

By Steve Patterson

West Virginia is Most Appealing

Family is very important to Anderson who liked the way the coaches and players interacted with each other on his visit to West Virginia. His parents were along for the visit and they also liked the family atmosphere. The way the team gets along and spends time together reminds Anderson of his High School team at Glenville. Anderson transferred to Glenville after his junior year at Lakewood St Edwards near by.

Michigan State and Other Visits

A visit to Michigan State was not able to move the team up into his top list as his father enjoyed the program more than Latwan seemed to. He has another visit scheduled in December to see what the Buckeyes have to offer. Ohio State will be preparing for the Rose Bowl at the time of the visit. Glenville has been a tradition pipeline to OSU but Anderson being a transfer into the program has some Buckeye fans worried that he will not follow other Tarblodders to Columbus.

Anderson took an unofficial to Cincinnati and likes the way they play on the field. He is looking to setup a visit there sometime soon.

High School Play

He recently played up to his high national ranking when he dominated a game against rival St Ignatius. In the game, Anderson intercepted four passes and returned them 196 yards. One interception he returned 99 yards for a touchdown which put the game out of reach for the Wildcats.

DT Sharrif Floyd Makes a Number of Visits

The top rated defensive tackle in the country, Sharrif Floyd, has made a number of college visits within the past month to make a determination where he will attend school next year. A Florida visit followed by a visit to Pete Carroll and the USC Trojans and finally a trip to Columbus to see what the Buckeyes had to offer.

Film: 2010 DT Sharrif Floyd Highlights

By Steve Patterson

Sharrif Floyd is a 6’3” 310 lbs defensive tackle from Philadelphia George Washington that is rated either the best or in the top 5 defensive tackles nationally for the 2010 high school class. He has over 12 offers from some of the best programs in the country including Ohio State, USC, Florida, Penn State and South Carolina. He utilizes a wide stance to control his opponent, with a strong upper body that allows him to drive the offensive lineman into the backfield where he can make plays. Plays with a chip of his shoulder and could start as a freshman wherever he selects to attend college.

Floyd has made visits to Florida, on the 18th of September, to USC, on the 25th of September, and most recently to Ohio State on the 23rd of October when they played Minnesota. Floyd reported after his visit to Southern California that USC was a school he had to see. After getting delayed in Detroit, he made the most of his visit to USC before leaving early Sunday to get back to Philadelphia. He was able to see the Washington State game while at USC and felt the players were very relaxed going into game time. He also liked the city of Los Angeles and didn’t feel the distance would be a factor for him.

His trip to Ohio State was not planned when he visited USC as he was looking at a final 3 official visits to Penn State, South Carolina, and North Carolina. But he cancelled the South Carolina visit to see the Buckeyes. He plans to reschedule the South Carolina visit while taking an unofficial visit to Penn State. He doesn’t favor any program at this point and will consider all 6 schools when it comes to making a decision towards the end of the process.

An invitation to the Army All America Bowl also fell into his lap while finishing up his senior season.