Caleb Troop

* January 31st

- Lots of good, credible information regarding the football program in the last 24 hours.

-  A source has told me that if the ‘Cats do not get Tavieon Cuffee from Fork Union prep school, Ohio will be satisfied with just one cornerback recruit for the 2008 class.  If Cuffee does not commit, instead of going after a less-heralded CB recruit, I’m told Ohio will instead just try to get the best athlete available.    

-  Starting cornerback Mark Parson is from Fork Union military academy as well as utility man Chris Garrett.  The ‘Cats will lose both Parson and back up Dustin Tatum after next seasons.  So while the possibility of recruiting just one CB this year makes sense, at the same time it only places more importance on heavily recruiting corners for the 2009 class.

-  And what about the missing offensive lineman prospects that have committed?  Well, Eric Herman will come in having been recruited to play the O-Line, not on the defensive side.  So that gives Ohio (Herman, Matt Britain, Vince Carlotta) three offensive line prospects in the class.

-  One extremely reliable source confirmed to me that the Jordan Thompson recruitment “will go down to the wire.”  The two-star prospect clearly is still up in the air.

-  VMI transfer Barrett Way will be a walk-on.

-  Speaking of walk-ons, the word is that a few of the walk-ons already in the program could earn scholarships after spring practices.

-  I’ve also been informed that the 2008 recruiting class will be between 17-18 guys.  Right now it is at 15 commits and Ohio is still awaiting word from Cuffee, Thompson, and Josh Lott.  If either Lott or Thompson fall through, Dominique Gaston appears to be the back-up option.

-  With all this said, Carlin Isles is clearly out of the picture.  Whether Corey Gamble is still on the radar or not is currently unknown.

-  Stay tuned to TroopSports.com for the very latest as this class wraps up.

-  On Friday night I will be doing the Athens-Chillicothe High School Basketball match-up at Chillicothe aired on 970 WATH.  I will try to run down the latest on 6-7 prospect Ray Chambers if I can.

 

* January 30th

-  Chris Goins (5-8, 162) is a CB/S from Hamilton High School in Ohio.  He had sparse interest from Ohio a long time ago, but he said he will probably be going to Tiffin University to play.

-  Cardinal Mooney two-star athlete Tim Marlowe (5-10, 165) has an offer from Nebraska, and is likely to head there.  Marlowe said Ohio “never really took an interest” in him.

-  Craig Chavis (5-9, 166) from New Albany High School (OH) is another DB that could have possibly been on Ohio’s board, but he says otherwise.  “I have only received a few letters from OU. Nothing more than that.”

-  Gary Thornton (5-8, 200) from Rayen High School (OH) informed me that Ohio is not recruiting him anymore.  Thornton, a Rivals.com two-star recruit, will narrow down his list of schools this week.

-  As expected, two-star linebacker Josh Stover from H.D. Woodson High School committed to Kent State.

-  It is amazing that websites like Scout.com, Rivals.com and CSTV.com tag themselves as the go-to source for recruiting, yet are sometimes so off.  CSTV has 12 commitments for the Bobcats right now.  Scout has the ‘Cats with 10.  Rivals has Ohio with 11.  Thanks in large part to the community journalism effort in and around Athens, TroopSports.com has Ohio with 16 as of 3 p.m.

-  On a different note, 3,705 fans on Tuesday night for a basketball game at The Convo?  Wow.  While I was not in attendance due to a high school basketball broadcast, I imagine the place was dead.  I worry about the Tuesday night games remaining in The Convo against Bowling Green and Akron.  Hopefully people will show up for those two important games.

-  Women’s basketball coach Sylvia Crawley has closed practices to the media for the rest of the season.

-  Warren Swain, the Voice of the Bobcats, will join Jimmy and I on “The SportsFan” tonight at 6:06.  We will recap the ugly men’s win last night.

 

* January 29th

-  Ohio has a verbal from cornerback Tyler Futrell (6-0, 160) from Altoona Area High School in Pennsylvania.  Futrell is a teammate of Ohio linebacker commit Alphonso Lewis.  Futrell is a Scout.com one-star recruit.  Scout says he has a 4.53 40-yard dash and a 31-inch vertical leap.  He is not listed on Rivals.com, and he committed earlier this month.

-  The ‘Cats have actually only received a verbal from one corner.  Sources say Kenard Harris (5’7) was deemed too short, which was the reason his verbal was taken aback by the ‘Cats coaches.

-  The ‘Cats are waiting on another cornerback to make his decision.  Tavieon Cuffee (6-0, 180) from Fork Union prep school in Maryland has an offer on the table from Ohio, Akron, Bowling Green, Memphis and Middle Tennessee State.  Cuffee is a year removed from high school, where he attended First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  Last year he was a two-star Scout.com recruit and reportedly ran a 4.5 40-yard dash.

-  I spoke with his Fork Union head coach, John Shuman, on Tuesday.  Shuman said that he had also visited Maryland, but no offer has risen from that trip.  Cuffee is set for a mid-week visit to Temple in the next day or two, and he is leaving this weekend open to a possible visit to Memphis or Middle Tennessee State. 

-  Shuman said Cuffee visited Ohio on December 10^th.  Shuman added that Cuffee would hold out until National Signing Day to see if a larger BCS school comes along with a last minute offer.

-  As previously mentioned, the ‘Cats are hard on the recruiting trails for another linebacker or two.  Obviously plan A would be to snag any mix of Josh Lott Steve Greer, Jordan Thompson, Dion Guy, or Josh Stover.  But it sounds like Ohio is making sure they have a back-up plan in case all of those recruits fall through.

-  Dominque Gaston (6-1, 205) from Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey might be that back-up plan.  “They (Ohio) had invited me down for an official visit (last weekend),” said Gaston.  “ They…took me on a tour of all the football facilities and the school.  Everything was nice.  The school is a good school.  They are looking at me to play the WILL linebacker, and I still didn’t get an offer from them.  I have to keep in touch with them this week, but I liked everything, and I would commit as soon as they offer.”  Gaston had 107 tackles his senior year, and runs a 4.7 40-yard dash.

-  More to come.

 

*  January 28th (Part II)

-  I spoke with Westlake High School (Waldorf, MD) head football coach Dominic Zaccarelli about cornerback Kenard Harris.  Zaccarelli said that Ohio revoked their scholarship offer because they told Harris and company they have filled their commits at the cornerback position.  Harris has an offer from VMI, and had taken an unofficial visit to Ohio a while back.  Zaccarelli told me that Harris had planned on taking an official to Ohio in early January when school resumed, and that Harris was set to commit right after that proposed visit.  However by then Ohio told Harris that two cornerbacks had just verballed.

-  A report on CSTV.com has 6-8, 295-pound offensive lineman Joe Pachuta from John Glenn High School in New Concord, Ohio, headed to Ohio University.  That report is false.  Rivals.com reports and John Glenn head coach John Kelly confirmed that Pachuta, a two-star prospect, is headed to Akron.  He committed a few weeks ago.

 

*  January 28th

-  Three-star center Quinton Sales verbally committed to UMass this weekend.  Ohio revoked their offer for Sales a month or two ago, saying that they were full of offensive lineman commits.

-  Eteyen Edet, once sought to be a possible steal for Ohio giving his admiration for ‘Cats linebacker coach Ross Els, committed to Maryland this weekend.

-  Three-star LB Steve Greer was being heavily recruited by Ohio, but after his weekend visit to UNC, he has narrowed it down to the Tar Heels, Oklahoma State, and Virginia.   Green is listed by Rivals.com as the 46^th best linebacker prospect in the nation.

-  Two-star DE/LB Josh Lott visited Bowling Green this weekend after taking in Athens last weekend.  So where does he stand?  “The BG visit was alright, OU is still ahead of them, though,” said Lott.  Lott could be headed for an official visit to Duquesne this weekend before making his decision.

-  It is becoming increasingly apparent that Ohio is after a couple more linebacker prospects.  With Greer and Edet out of the picture, the ‘Cats will be looking to snag Lott and Jordan Thompson for sure.  H.D. Woodson two-star linebackers Dion Guy and Josh Stover will be harder to receive verbals from at this point.  Both came off strong visits to Kent State a little while back, and Guy is set to go to UNC on Feb. 1^st.

-  Also keep an eye out on two-star linebacker Zachary Bobb, who holds offers from Ohio, Woffard, Air Force, and Kent State.  Bobb told Rivals KSU is not the place for him.

-  Two-star WR Kenny Stafford will probably commit to Nebraska sometime this week.  He was initially high on Ohio’s list, but I’m sure the Bussey verbal separated both parties.

-  More to come.

 

*  January 27^th

-  It is sickening to read a message board forum topic complaining about the woeful entertainment during the media timeouts at The Convo for the men’s basketball games.  Bobcat fans want the Athletic Department to succeed and to grow, yet complain when they try to make money via corporately sponsored gimmicks during a break in the action.  It all seems hypocritical that fans complain about a lack of funds, yet when Ohio tries to make a buck, the moaning commences.

-  As Ohio University Director of Athletics told “The SportsFan” last Thursday, a defensive line coach (Steve Stanard) will be named at the end of the month.  Expect an announcement late this week.  If you have not listened to that interview, you must not be a ‘Cats fan.  The replay is podcasted online.  Go to the “SportsFan” page on my site, and it will get you there.

-  That was the quietest 10,182 fans at a sporting event imaginable on Saturday afternoon.  One cannot blame the fans, though.  The play on the court stunk for about the first 35 minutes.

-  There is already a great line-up on “The SportsFan” this week.  Columbus Blue Jackets radio broadcast Bill Davidge will be on Monday after “The Sylvia Crawley Coaches Show”.  Wednesday we will have Warren Swain in the first half hour.  We are trying to get ‘Cats QB Theo Scott on Thursday to talk about where he stands on the switch to the spread, Boo Jackson, and the Josh Febus and Brandon Jones rumors.

-  Speaking of Crawley, her squad has won four straight MAC games and is now 11-8.  I wrote about both the men’s and women’s team for my column in Monday’s Athens NEWS.

-  Say what you want about Ball State’s typical play on the court, their program is re-establishing itself thanks in large part to new head coach Billy Taylor.  After the game O’Shea said Billy Taylor is the coach of the year thus far in the MAC after picking up a disgraceful Ball State program.

-  O’Shea did admit after the game that the ‘Cats probably should have played more zone against a four-guard offense from the Cardinals.

-  Andy Howell has taken a job at a local TV station in Dayton, Ohio.  Howell worked the sidelines for the Ohio Bobcat Sports Network with Warren Swain and Chad Brinker this past fall, and provided color commentary with Swain for the basketball broadcasts.  Howell was also the host of “Bobcat Blitz” on WOUB this year.

-  During the post-game press conference, Jerome Tillman reflected on his last second game-winning shot.  “The opportunity presented itself, and I took advantage of it.”  That sounds like my mindset going into Wal-Mart alongside my Dad on Saturday morning.

-  Speaking of Dad’s weekend, there may not be a better place to have a nice dinner than 7 Sauces.  Good stuff.

-  Recruiting updates expected soon.

 

* January 24th Part Two

-  Check out the replay podcast of “The SportsFan” tonight.  We chatted with Ohio University Director of Athletics, Kirby Hocutt.  We asked him about anything and everything.  From the 2008 football schedule, the Josh Febus and Brandon Jones rumors, a Frank Solich contract extention, the one year anniversary of the cutting of OU sports, the new endowment program, and much, much more.  Listen online right now at TheSportsFan.mypodcast.com.

 

* January 24th

-  Just a reminder:  Ohio University Director of Athletics, Kirby Hocutt, will be with Jimmy and I live in-studio on “The SportsFan” tonight from 6-6:30.  As always, we will podcast the show if you miss it.  If you’d like to send a question for Kirby shoot us an e-mail.  Or, if you’d like to call in and ask Kirby the question yourself, call 740-592-6646 or 1-888-592-6646.

 

*  January 23rd

-  Running back T.J. Mitchell (5-8, 180) visited Ohio on the weekend of January 11^th, according to Rivals.com.  Mitchell is a two-star multi-purpose back from Florida and is down to Kansas State, Troy and Wake Forest.  Rivals says Mitchell runs a 4.3 40-yard dash.

-  It is interesting to note that Ohio is going after another running back.  One would suspect Mitchell is being recruited as a corner, especially with his speed and decent size.

-  H.D. Woodson two-star linebacker Dion Guy reportedly visited Athens on January 11, too.  Guy was at Kent State last weekend and will visit UNC this weekend.  He tells Rivals he has no leaders.

-  Defensive tackle Stephen Ruempolhamer (6-3, 280) from Oklahoma visited Athens as well on January 11^th.  He visited Iowa State last weekend, and his third offer is from Missouri State.  It would seem like Ohio is pretty set with recruits on the defensive line, but apparently the coaching staff does not think so.

-  Athlete Gerald Moore (6-0, 185) has reportedly given a soft verbal to the Ohio coaching staff.  Moore is a two-star prospect with offers from Northwestern and Army.  He runs a 4.59 40, and is qualified for college.

-  Josh Lott (6-1, 240) will pay a visit to Bowling Green this weekend, and then maybe head to Duquesne the following week.  He is a two-star prospect from Warren Howland High School in Ohio.

-  Updates to come hopefully soon.

 

* January 22nd

-  A pair of two-star cornerbacks who had been offered by Ohio made their college choices.  T.J. Cowart, a long favorite to go to Old Dominion, did indeed decide to stay close to home.  Greg Castillo verbaled to Villanova on Monday.

-  H.D. Woodson two-star linebacker Evan Frierson chose Illinois over UNC.  He was high on Ohio’s radar for a while.

-  Two-star safety Craig Wilkins from H.D. Woodson High School is down to Old Dominion, Illinois, and Penn State.  He will visit Illinois this weekend and has yet to receive an offer from PSU.

-  Josh Stover (6-4, 223) told Rivals.com today that he will probably commit to Kent State.  He told Rivals that Ohio, Akron and East Carolina all backed off on their offers when he did not commit earlier.  Stover is a two-star linebacker also from H.D. Woodson.

-  Along with Stover, two-star LB Zachary Bobb (6-2, 222) visited Kent State this past weekend.  He told Rivals that it probably was not the place for him.  So with two visits down (Woffard), Bobb sounds wide open.  He has offers from Air Force and Ohio, too.  Bobb is out of Lassiter, Georgia, and runs a 4.8.

-  Steve Greer (6-3, 220), a three-star linebacker from Solon High School (OH) has tons of offers.  He told Rivals.com that Ohio, Oklahoma State, and UNC are after him the hardest.  Greer was at OSU last weekend and is set to visit UNC this weekend.  This would be a hard get as Maryland and Michigan are starting to recruit him.  Greer runs a 4.7 40-yard dash and is listed at the 46^th best prospect in the state of Ohio.

-  So as it stands, I expect the ‘Cats to be going hard after Greer, Jordan Thompson (Parkway H.S), Eteyen Edet (Friendly H.S.), and maybe Dion Guy from H.D. Woodson.  While the ‘Cats already have two linebackers committed, along of the “linebackers” they are currently after could end up at TE, DE, or Safety.

 

* January 21st

-  Some optimistic news out of Friendly High School in Washington D.C.  Two-star linebacker Eteyen Edet visited Louisville this weekend.  Going into the visit Friendly H.S. offensive coordinator Marcus Berry expected Edet to commit to Louisville.  Well, he did not.  Edet, who will take the SAT this Saturday to try to qualify academically, will head to Maryland on Friday and then back to Maryland after the test on Saturday for the rest of his visit.

-  Right now Maryland and Michigan State have not offered.  But if the Spartans do offer Edet, it sounds like that is where the linebacker will take his last visit on the first of February.  If Michigan State and Maryland back off, expect Edet to finally make a visit to Ohio the last weekend before signing day.  “He is absolutely the number one linebacker on their board,” Berry said.

-  Ohio coaches are expected to pay a visit to Edet at Friendly H.S. this week.  So if Maryland and Michigan State do not offer, it will come down to Louisville and Ohio with Edet making a trip to Athens five days before national signing day.

-  One-star Scout.com linebacker Joseph Bennett is fresh off back to back visits to Ohio and Middle Tennessee State University the last two weekends.  So what is Bennett’s decision?  “I think I’m just going to walk on at UT.” The Knoxville native will try his hand with the Volunteers.

 

* January 20th Part II (8:15 pm)

-   It presumably comes with the territory, but message boards sure do spurn a lot of rumors and often misleading information.  Such has been the case lately.

-  As I have stated before, the speculation about Josh Febus and Brandon Jones is just that.  Wait for the facts to come out.  Neither party is talking right now.  Once something comes out then the debate can begin or, in this case, resume.

-  ScoutingOhio.com reports that Warren Howland (OH) TE/DE Josh Lott (6-1, 240) has given a verbal to Ohio.  The two-star prospect told me tonight that such is not the case.  “That report is not true,” Lott said.  “Although, I must say that OU is very high on my list now, and is a program that I would love to be a part of.”

-  Lott also has offers from Bowling Green and several D-1AA school such as Albany and Duquesne.  “Most of them (the schools) had been looking elsewhere because it looked like I would either be going to the Big Ten or Big East, but those schools have been skeptical because of my height,” Lott added.   “But a lot of the MAC schools are getting back in contact with me such as ball state, buffalo and Kent state.  I’m right around 6`1 and-a-half, which is pretty short for defensive end.”  Lott said Ohio is recruiting him as a linebacker and runs a 4.7 40-yard dash.

-  Lott could be in the mix as a linebacker prospect after H.D. Woodson LB Josh Stover—once thought to be pretty close to a lock for Ohio—made a trip to Kent State this weekend.  Stover (6-4, 225) told Rivals.com he is waiting to hear from Baylor and Old Dominion, but may commit to the Golden Flashes sometime this week.

-  Stover was supposed to visit KSU with teammate and fellow two-star LB Dion Guy (6-3, 217).  Guy also has a visit to UNC for next weekend.

-  Linebacker Joseph Bennett was set to visit Middle Tennessee State this weekend and then make a decision between MTSU and Ohio among others today or tomorrow.  More to come on that story.

 

* January 20^th

-  The TroopSports.com mailbox is ready for some intriguing e-mails in response to my Athens NEWS column due out on Monday.

-  Some women’s basketball news.  Thia Gholson has an MRI on Monday for her knee.  She hurt it in practice on Thursday.  One player told me she might have torn both her ACL and MCL.

-  Sylvia Crawley has already finished up the 2008 recruiting class getting four commitments.  With guards Quintana Ward, Lauren Kohn and Simone Redd to depart after this year, that would put the ‘Cats with 14 scholarships players and one walk-on in Allie LaForce.  Of course, depending on the Gholson MRI, she could redshirt next year leaving the ‘Cats with 14 players available.

-  Crawley’s staff is already working on the 2009 class, which will have to replace current juniors Chandra Myers, Lauren Hmiel and Catherine Cain.  One ’09 recruit was in attendance on Saturday.

-  It was a wonderful afternoon and evening at The Convo yesterday, and a turnout of 7,718 is something to be commended.  Everything went very smooth with ESPN Classic and Vernon Alden in the house. 

-  Ohio’s media relations department was short staffed without director Jason Corriher, who is already pulling double duty for the since departed Jason Cunningham.  This man power shortage could explain the slow reaction on OhioBobcats.com.

-  More to come.  Stay tuned.

 

* January 19th (10:05 am)

-  I received a message from ‘Cats quarterback Josh Febus this morning.  “At this time I have been advised to have no further comment on the situation until all is resolved. I appreciate the work that you have put forward towards Bobcat football.”

-  Again, as previously mentioned, I will have more to this story when there is official word from both the program and from Febus.

 

* January 18^th

-  I’ve gotten several e-mails regarding the Josh Febus and Brandon Jones rumors.  I’ve read what people are saying and it very well might be true.  All I can present are the facts.  First, both Febus and Jones are currently still enrolled at Ohio University.  Second, in an exchange of e-mails with Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt he told me, “Regarding Josh and Brandon I am not aware of anything.”

-  That said, these rumors could very well be true and Hocutt could be trying to manage what has been a bad PR week for OU Athletics (See: Gambling, Ohio).  I for one will wait to get the stories from all parties before chastising a head coach or football program.

-  The question of the day was very simple all around Athens.  Should Bubba Walther be benched?  In my opinion, I do not think it would necessarily be bad to not start Bubba tomorrow against Kent State.  Sit him for the first five minutes.  Let him see how good Leon Williams and Jerome Tillman are from a sideline.  But to say Walther should lose his permanent starting role is flat out wrong from not only a basketball point of view, but a leadership perspective. 

-  Listen, I get it—one game he is loved (7 assists, 0 turnovers vs. Miami) and the next game he is hated (2-9 vs. Akron).  As a St. Louis Cardinals fan, he reminds me of Jim Edmonds’ last two years in The Lou.  But this is a guy who hits free throws down the stretch, and gives that confidence and swagger to Ohio.  At times he can hit a big shot to keep you in games, too.  To sit him for a lengthy period of time and flatten his confidence would be a mistake by Tim O’Shea.

-  I would like to see Justin Orr back into the starting lineup, and I expect that will happen on Saturday.  Orr had 11 points in the second half on Thursday.  It isn’t about what Allen Hester didn’t do, but more about what Orr did.

-  I’ll try to blog if I get any information about the Febus, Jones, or recruiting news, but no promises.  It will be a busy weekend, and it started with a two-hour trip to Ironton for the Athens-Ironton high school hoops match-up tonight on 970 WATH.  Saturday, I’ll be alongside Tom Hodson working the OU women’s game at 2 pm, and then I’ll quickly move over for the “Bobcat Insider” pre-game show on Power 105 at 5 pm.  If there is a story worth noting about Febus or Jones, maybe you will see something in The Athens NEWS on Monday from yours truly.  Until then, bed time.

 

*  January 17th

-  Many missed “The SportsFan” last night but I was fortunate to have Joe Buck on for 10 minutes in the first half and Kalvin McRae for a good 15 minutes in the second half-hour.  You can listen to the replay online at thesportsfan.mypodcast.com.

-  Kalvin was truly entertaining and we talked about everything from who we he thinks will be his replacement next year, what is 40 time is down to, what he’s doing to prepare for the NFL combine in late Februrary, what he misses about Athens, whether he feels he will be drafted, what he has to prove, his Yoga training, etc.  He’s a great guy and it was a pleasure speaking with him.  Enjoy it and let me know if there was anything I failed to ask him about.

-  Don’t forget to tune in next Thursday night, January 24th, as Kirby Hocutt will be in-studio taking your calls and answering our questions.

 

*  January 16th Part II (11:45 PM)

-  St. Ignatius Kicker Nick Yako (6-0, 190) was recently offered by Ohio University.  Well, he is not going there.  “I gave a verbal commitment to Villanova,” Yako said.  OU and ‘Nova were Yako’s only two offers.

-  Athlete Corey Gamble (5-7, 178) from Gainesville High School (FL) must be high on the ‘Cats board right now.  “I have offers from small schools,” said Gamble adding, “and Ohio is still looking at me.  The coach came to my school the other day and talked to me.”  More specifics to follow shortly.  Keep an eye out on Gamble.

 

*  January 16th

-  Two-star safety Jonathan Mason (6-1, 205) verbally committed to play at Harvard on January 13^th, according to Rivals.com.  Mason turns down offers from Ohio, Eastern Michigan, Vanderbilt, Army, and UCONN.

-  Two-star cornerback D.J. Brown (6-1, 170), a teammate of Bakari Bussey at Lakota West, committed to Miami-Ohio on January 11^th, according to Rivals.com.  It was long expected that Brown would go to Oxford.

-  Kenard Harris has only one offer on the table right now, and that is from Ohio.  The two-star cornerback from Westlake High School in Waldorf, Maryland, is a bit undersized at 5-8, 150 pounds.

-  The Cinncinatti Enquirer reports that Ohio has a verbal from offensive lineman Vince Carlotta from Roger Bacon High School.  Carlotta (6-5, 280) is not in the Rivals.com or Scout.com databases

-  I spoke with Terry Smith from at Gateway High Scholl (PA) today about his star offensive lineman, Eric Warning.  Smith told me that Ohio withdrew their offer on Warning because they were full of verbals at the offensive line spot.  Warning (6-3, 255) is a two-star recruit and still holds offers from several MAC schools including Bowling Green, Temple and Toledo.

-  Evan Frierson has checked Ohio off his recruiting list.  The 6-2, 217-pound two-star linebacker from H.D. Woodson High School in Washington, D.C. has narrowed his choices down to UNC and Illinois after last weekend’s visit to UNC.  Frierson told Rivals.com, “I had visits (scheduled) to Tennessee and Ohio, but not I’m sure if I’m going to take them now,” adding, “I’m going to end my recruiting process this week, so basically it narrows it to down to UNC and Illinois.”  Frierson runs a 4.6 40-yard dash and visited Illinois back on December 14^th.

-  Word out of Friendly High School in Maryland is not good, either.  Eteyen Edet, who could not board a plane two weekends ago to get to Ohio University, will visit this weekend to Louisville.  Friendly offensive coordinator Marcus Berry said Edet “may commit to Louisville this weekend.”  Berry said that it is really now down to Louisville and Michigan State for the two-star linebacker.

-  A week ago Berry was confident a visit would still be made to Ohio.  “We tried to reschedule, and they told us they’d get back to us,” Berry said.  “Now they put him on the back burner I guess.”

-  In another peculiar move, Friendly three-star offensive lineman Quinton Sales has still not heard from Ohio, despite the fact Rich Bell de-committed from the ‘Cats a few days ago.  I truly do not understand this.  The ‘Cats have room for a guy like Carlotta but not one of the nation’s Top 15 center prospects?

-  I spoke with Scott Wetzel, the head coach at Big Walnut High School in Ohio and the son of Ethan Wetzel, a 6-1, 200-pound safety.  Wetzel has offers from VMI and Air Force as well as D-II schools Ashland and Hillsdale.  He is looking for a strong academic school, according to his father.  “He’s smart enough to realize four years from now he wants a degree he can do something with.”  Wetzel has also been offered a preferred walk-on spot at Miami (OH) and Ohio University. “(Ohio) really didn’t show much interest, then out of the blue they offered him a preferred walk-on,” said Ethan’s father.  The elder Wetzel said that Ethan is going to take some D-II visits and then decide.  He said that if Wetzel went the preferred walk-on route, it would probably be at Miami.  The current leader seems to be Air Force.  “I would say it’s almost a no go,” said Coach Wetzel regarding Ethan’s plans at Ohio next season.

-  Three-star DT Zach Kerr (6-2, 323) has been offered by Ohio, but is out of the picture.  He is looking at schools like Nebraska, Rutgers, Penn State, and Maryland among others.

-  Walk-on tryouts at Ohio University begin today.

-  Currently I have the ‘Cats with at least 13 commits.  One source told me yesterday that Recruiting Coordinator Pete Germano said they still have six of seven scholarships to fill.

-  More updates to come.  Don’t forget to listen to “The SportsFan” on 970 WATH-AM in Athens.  You can listen online at Athensi.com live from 6-7 or listen to replays online.  Just go to “The SportsFan” page on TroopSports.com.  I’m hoping to have broadcaster Joe Buck on the show tonight.

 

* January 14^th Part II

-  I caught up with Jordan Thompson’s head coach at Parkways High School.  According to Coach Kuhn, Thompson (6-4, 225) has not made a decision.  “He’s still weighing his options,” Kuhn said.  The two-star outside linebacker made a visit to Athens this weekend.  He has offers from Air Force and Miami, and he runs a 4.7 40-yard dash.

-  University records show that former Mississippi Delta JUCO DT Corey Moncrief (6-2, 275) has indeed transferred and is enrolled at Ohio University.

-  A quick update on Joseph Bennett.  He will be visiting Middle Tennessee State Univeristy this weekend.  He has offers from the Blue Raiders from the Sun Belt Conference, Ohio Univeristy, and Carson Newman.  The D-II school close to Bennett’s home went 10-1 in the Southern Athletic Conference last season while MTSU went 5-7.  He will decide after his trip this coming weekend.

-  That is all for now.  Remember a shortened edition of “The SportsFan” on 970 WATH is on tonight from 6:30-7.  We’ll recap the big basketball win on Saturday.  Shoot us an e-mail: sports@970WATH.com or give us a call during the show to talk recruiting, basketball, NFL playoffs, whatever you want.

 

* January 14th

-  The ‘Cats did not get a verbal commitment from linebacker Joseph Bennett out of Kentucky.  Bennett is a 6-1, 195-pound LB from Christian Academy of Knoxville in Tennessee and was hosted by fellow linebacker Lee Renfro this past weekend.  Bennett is a Scout.com one-star recruit and runs a 4.55 40-yard dash.  “I haven’t committed anywhere, yet I really liked Athens but I have another visit this weekend, so I will make decision next weekend.”  More to come on this prospect.

-  Zach Domicone committed to Ohio State Sunday.

-  More updates to follow shortly.

 

* January 13^th Part II (8:50 pm)

-  The Bobcats are set to announce former Colorado State defensive coordinator Steve Stanard as the defensive line coach sometime this week.  Despite an old report that Stanard had turned down the offer, I have learned that he was reportedly in Athens yesterday and met with a few players, including defensive lineman Ernie Hodge.  Stanard had been at Colorado State since 2003 as the linebackers coach and then defensive coordinator.  He was at New Mexico State from 1996 to 2002 and was the defensive coordinator there from 1999-2002.

-  Stanard has routes to Nebraska.  He was a student assistant in 1988-1989 and then was a graduate assistant from 1989-1990 before moving on to Nebraska Wesleyan University where he served as a defensive coordinator, head coach, and assistant athletic director in his tenure there.

-  The Rams defense under former head coach Sonny Lubick let up 30.8 points per game this year, second worst in the Mountain West conference.  The defensive line for CSU had 23 sacks, 6^th in the conference.  The Rams had the league’s second worst rushing defense.

-  Here is Stanard’s Colorado State biography: Click Here

 

* January 13^th

- Two-star running back Jerry Kelly (6-1, 215) from Fairmont High School in West Virginia has committed to play for the Bobcats next season.  Kelly is rated by Rivals.com as the fourth best prospect in the state of West Virginia.  Kelly actually committed a few weeks after a recruiting visit from November 30^th through December 2^nd.   “It was fun,” Kelly said of his visit.  “I liked the coaches a lot and the atmosphere.”

-  Kelly’s weekend visit coincided with visits from WR Bakari Bussey, DE Neal Huynh, LB Alphonso Lewis and a safety from Cincinnati which I would speculate to have been Josh Smith (6-2, 180) from Withrow High School.  “I made a whole lot of new friends, and I’m happy with my decision.”

-  Kelly turned down an offer from Central Florida and Marshall.  He is academically cleared for college next year.

-  Bussey told me that he and Kelly have talked about being roommates next year.   

-  Kelly has the size and the speed (4.48 40-yard dash) to be a good fit for the ‘Cats.  He rushed for over 1,000 yards his sophomore and junior seasons. Kelly told me he is at 225 pounds right now, but he will play at 215.  Kelly and the coaches have not ruled out him playing linebacker in college, either.

-  In case you are wondering, Fairmont, West Virginia, is about two-and-a-half hours east of Athens.  Kelly was first team Class AAA All-State at linebacker.  Kelly reportedly took a visit to West Virginia in November and was being looked at by UCONN and Virginia.

-  Remember, Kalvin McRae was merely a two-star cornerback out of high school.  Both Donte Harden (5-11, 180) and Vince Davidson (5-11, 190) were two-star guys in the 2007 recruiting class as well.

-  St. Xavier linebacker Nick Schneider (6-3, 225) told me Saturday evening his commitment plans.  “I am probably committing to Yale tomorrow. (It’s) not a sure thing, but most likely.”  The two-star recruit runs a 4.7 40-yard dash and has a 3.9 GPA.

-  Scout.com posted an update on cornerback Quamane Bryant (5-9, 150) a few days ago.  Right now Bryant might go the prep school route.  He had a 750 on his SAT and needs an 830 to qualify.  Akron took away his scholarship offer now that they are full at the corner position.  It sounds like Carl Pelini was the one recruiting Bryant, and he is now gone.  Expect Bryant to go to prep school next year.

- Bryant, by the way, is a two-star recruit who runs a 4.4 40.  Rivals.com has him with offers from Ohio and Akron and interest from

- Athlete Gerald Moore was set to visit Louisville this weekend after taking in Athens last weekend.

-  Here is an old article about Eteyen Edet for those interested.  Article

-  I am working on updates on Moore, Rich Bell, Edet, Evan Frierson, Josh Stover, Jordan Thompson, Eric Warning and more.  Frierson was to make a visit to Athens this weekend while Bell was set to visit Tulane.

 

* January 12^th

-  How ‘bout we switch sports and talk a bit of basketball after the 72-63 Ohio win over Miami Saturday afternoon.

-  After attending Charlie Coles’ post-game press conference, I came away simply laughing.  What a guy…

-  Speaking of Coles, he was reportedly approached by an Ohio student after the game on the floor. The student gave Coles a tie and told him to wear one to the game next time. The student was detained by police and Coles was not worried about it.  Sad to see a dumb student ruin a great afternoon from the O-Zone on Saturday.  Coles shook it off.  He quipped that he will not remember the kid, but he sure will remember Leon Williams.

-  A couple of notable stats:  Bubba Walther had seven assists and no turnovers.

-  As a team Ohio had seven turnovers, two in the first half.

-  Tim Pollitz attempted just six shots for the Redhawks.

-  Following the game several Bobcat players jumped into the student section.  Justin Orr went way up in the stands, and Jerome Tillman and Williams soon followed suit.

-  After the game Pollitz credited a swarming Ohio defense that doubled him continually in the paint.

-  Supposedly the O-Zone got Pollitz good before the game.  Pollitz told reporters that the students found a goofy picture of him on Facebook.  “I got to erase that one,” joked Pollitz.  Pollitz was clearly frustrated with the lose and the four-game losing streak, but was confident Miami would get back on track.

-  I got to chat briefly with Gary Trent at the game.  He was showing the bling with a G-T diamonded bracelet.  Would love to guess how much that costs….

-  Speaking of Trent, we will have him on “The SportsFan” at some point during the basketball season.  He was very friendly.

-  It was good to see freshman DeVaughn Washington get seven strong minutes of action.  He should be averaging around 10 a game in my opinion, but there are only so many minutes.

-  Coles cracked some good jokes about Bert Whittington IV’s name, Leon Williams age and balding forehead.  Hopefully I’ll post those audio clips online here shortly.  Stay tuned for that.

-  Tim O’Shea and a beat writer got on this weird rant about the different type of basketballs different teams use.  O’Shea brought it up pointing out how it is hard to adjust to different balls (Nike, Wilson, etc.) at different arenas.  It was the most pointless five minutes of my life.  I’ll try to post that pretty humorous audio clip on the blog, too.

- 9,026 fans in attendance.  I am impressed after predicting about 7,000.  It was my first taste of the rivalry as a freshman here at Ohio University, and it was fun to be a part of.

-  I’m looking for some of the sweet pictures from the Washington alley-oop, Tillman, or Williams dunks for my desktop.  Shoot ‘em my way!

-  Lastly, there is big recruiting news that I am trying to track down right now.  Come back Sunday for the details, but the ‘Cats have another pretty solid recruit at a vital position.  Stay tuned….

 

* January 11^th

-  Ohio coaches might take a look at one of Boo Jackson’s wide receivers from El Camino.  Harry DeBerry is a 6-0, 175 WR with 4.45 speed.  Jackson is pushing Ohio coaches to go after DeBerry.  Jackson said he was the fastest player on their team but go overlooked by WRs  Verran Tucker (3-star to Cal) and Corey Surrency (4-star going to FSU).  In my opinion it doesn’t make too much sense to bring in a JUCO WR, but the ‘Cats do have a scholarship open for a summer JUCO transfer still.

-  Chris Browne, a 6-3, 270-pound tackle from Shaker Heights if off Ohio’s board.  Browne told me he was considered an alternate recruit for Ohio.  They have parted with their communication and he is set on Southern University.

 

* January 10th (8:50)

-  Two-star wide out Bakari Bussey (6-2, 195) gave a verbal committment to the ‘Cats several weeks ago.  But there is still one cause for concern.  Right now Bussey is not academically qualified for college.  Bussey sounds confiden, however.  “I’m pretty sure I’ll be good by the time school is over,” Bussey said.  “I’m really excited to get to Athens.  I can’t wait.”  Bussey runs a 4.4 40-yard dash and is a two-star recruit.

 

* January 10^th

-  I talked with Thom McDaniels at Jackson High School in Massillion, Ohio, today to get an update on speedy RB Carlin Isles.  McDaniels revealed that Isles has still not qualified academically after taking his most recent ACT.  McDaniels did say that to his knowledge it is essentially down to Akron and Ohio.  McDaniels did seem a bit puzzled that he hasn’t heard from either school recently about setting up a visit date.

-  Word is that Ohio has one more scholarship open for a summer transfer (JUCO player).

-  I spoke with Boo Jackson to clarify the spread offense rumors.  It sounds like it will be a gradual transition to the spread.  Ohio will implement the style a bit this year.  But by no means will it but 100% spread.  I would imagine it will be something like what LSU does by switching between the Power I and the spread depending on game situations.

-  Ohio is expected to name a new defensive line coach next week.

-  Checked with Ohio officials about the 2008 football schedule.  No word yet on if Ohio has gotten out of the Wyoming game next year.

-  Sorry we let you down tonight with the Leon Williams interview tonight on “The SportsFan”.  We promise to have him on at some point in the near future.  Can’t blame the guy for having lifting and film sessions after practice.

-  Special thanks to BobcatAttack.com “Guru” Ted Thompson for filling in.  It should be a fun weekend in Ohio University athletics.

-  Hopefully a lot of you TroopSports.com Bobcat Blog readers will make the trip to The Convo Saturday.  Jimmy and I will be doing a half-hour pre-game show live from The Convo an hour before the game.  Stop by…we don’t bite.

-  Back to the books.

 

* January 10th

-  I just got off the phone with Carlin Isles’ high school football coach at Jackson High School in Massillion, Ohio.  I’ll provide an update on Isles on “The SportsFan” tonight in the second half of the show.  Leon Williams will be in-studio with us the first half hour.

-  Send your questions for Leon about the big Miami game this weekend to sports@970WATH.com.  Or you can call in with a question at 740-592-6646.

 

* January 9^th

-  According to Rivals.com, Two-star CB Ravelle Sadler (5-9, 163) has committed to Western Michigan.  He turns down offers from Ohio, Ball State, Central Michigan and Kent State.

-  Also from Rivals:  Cleveland Heights DE Corey Freeman (6-2, 215) will visit UNC, Cincinnati and Colorado in the next three weekends.  He has an offer from Ohio.

- Deion Spurlock checked in with mean tonight, and I mentioned this on the “SportsFan”.  Spurlock is a 5-10, 180-pound corner from South Charleston, West Virginia.  He said he has not heard much from Ohio lately, but has heard a lot from Coastal Carolina and Glenville State. Spurlock runs a 4.48 and is a two-star prospect according to Scout.com.  Sounds like Ohio might have lost interest.

-  I talked about this on “The SportsFan” tonight as well—no news out of Ohio yet pertaining the defensive line coach.  Word from Ohio officials is that a decision will be made by mid-January.  On report was that former Colorado State defensive coordinator Steve Stanard was offered the job.  A report out of Fort Collins, Colorado, said that he turned down the offer.   I spoke with CSU officials and they had no further information.

-  Stanard was a graduate assistant coach at Nebraska from 1988-1990, hence the Solich-Nebraska connection.  Ernie Hodge had no other information about the defensive line opening.

-  Send me your thoughts on the Ernie Hodge interview.  What do you think?  Did he sound sorry?  Do you think he would be a good fill at defensive tackle?  What can he do in 2008 for the ‘Cats?

-  More to come.  It’s been a busy couple of days.  Hopefully my voice will come back and you guys won’t have to put up with that again.  Any tips for getting it back are welcomed. 

 

* January 8th

-  No recruiting news, but some other news and notes for Bobcat fans.

-  Ernie Hodge will be on “The Sportsfan” tomorrow (Wednesday) probably in the first half-hour of the 6-7 pm show.  We haven’t gotten any calls from all the BobcatAttacker’s out there, but we (and I) would love to hear from you. 

-  On Thursday Bobcats forward Leon Williams will be in-studio on “The Sportsfan”.  That should be fun as we talk about a BIG game against the Redhawks on Saturday.

- So to recap, Hodge of Wednesday and Williams on Thursday.  Got an e-mail for the show?  sports@970WATH.com.  Or give us a call during the show at 740-592-6646.  If you are out of the listening area, heck, even the state, give us a call toll free at 1-888-592-6646.

-  Okay, enough of the shameless plugs.  I’ll try to get some recruiting news on here soon, but no promises.

 

*  January 7^th

-  Bad news about Friendly High School product Eteyen Edet (6-2, 235).  He didn’t make the trip to Athens this weekend.  Why?  Edet was not allowed on to the airplane because his passport, which he was using for his I.D., had expired.  Friendly H.S. offensive coordinator Marcus Berry said that Edet does not have a driver’s license, which could have also been used.  “He felt real bad about missing it,” Berry said. 

-  While Edet will try to reschedule, it will not be easy.  He is scheduled to visit UNC this coming weekend, then Louisville and Pitt the following two weekends.  Michigan State is trying to get the two-star linebacker to come in, too.  So what is the plan?  Berry said they will try to change one of the forthcoming weekend visits to mid-week, which would allow Edet to come to Athens on a weekend.  “We’re going to get him up there somehow,” Berry said.

-  As for teammate Quinton Sales (6-2, 278), no good news to report there, either.  Sales told Berry that Ohio hasn’t called him for quite a while now.  Berry thinks Ohio’s coaching staff has fallen in love with other prospects.  This is odd news to me.  If I were Ohio, I’d be doing anything possible to get the three-star lineman to visit.  He is a top-15 center prospect in the nation.

-  Sales is scheduled to visit Buffalo this coming weekend.  He also has offers from Wake Forest, Akron, and Kent State, according to Rivals.com.

-  Berry was at the coaches convention and was set to talk with the Ohio coaching staff, including linebackers coach Ross Els.

-  I’ve been trying for two weeks to get a hold of WR Marques Parker (6-1, 180), a three-star wide out from Mason City NIACC.  Well, according to Rivals.com, he committed to TCU on January 5^th.  Parker visited TCU on November 30^th.

-  Don’t forget “The SportsFan” starts tonight and goes from 6:30-7:30 on 970 WATH.  We’ll be previewing the BCS title game, which was the basis of my Athens NEWS column today, and we’ll also talk about the NFL playoffs and the ugly Bowling Green loss on Saturday by the men’s basketball team.  Shoot us an e-mail (sports@970WATH.com) or give us a call 592-6646.

 

* January 6^th Part II

-  Just caught up with Gerald Moore (6-0, 185), fresh off his weekend visit to Athens.  Moore, a two-star Rivals.com athlete out of St. John’s College High School (D.C.) said he enjoyed his visit.  “My trip was really good.  I got along with everyone well,” said Moore.  “…The people at Ohio are all welcoming.  Also the coach(ing) staff is great.  It definitely is high interest on my list of schools.”  Moore will visit Louisville next weekend.  He has offers from the ‘Cats and the Cardinals, as well as Army, Northwestern, Eastern Michigan and Navy. Moore runs a 4.59 40-yard dash and has a 31-inch vertical.

 

* January 6^th

-  The Bobcats recruiting class is still lacking a kicker, and it doesn’t sound like Brett Maher will fill that void.  Maher (Kearney High School) is out of Nebraska, and told Rivals.com in December that his top three schools are Missouri, Nebraska and TCU, despite the fact that his only offer is from Ohio.  Maher could also do track (pole vault, decathlon) in college, which makes a walk-on spot at Nebraska where he could play both sports a very realistic option.  Maybe things have changed.

-  Working on Gerald Moore (ATH) and Eteyen Edet (LB) updates.  Both made visits this weekend to Ohio.

-  Don’t forget “The SportsFan” returns to 970 WATH-AM in Athens tomorrow night at 6:30 after “The Sylvia Crawley Call-In Show”.  We’ll be discussing the OSU-LSU matchup, Wild Card weekend in the NFL, and the gruesome loss at Bowling Green by Tim O’Shea’s squad.

-  Expect an interview with Ernie Hodge on “The SportsFan” sometime this week.

-  Stay tuned.

 

* January 4^th

-  Lincoln Norris High school (NE) DT Justin Jackson will walk-on at Nebraska.  Jackson (6-2, 253) was being looked at by Ohio and had several D-II offers.

 

* January 2nd Part II

-  A couple of notes and opinions away from the recruiting news:

-  Expect Ohio to announce Carl Pelini’s replacement as the Defensive Line coach in late January.

-  There is a lot of speculation coming from all over the place about Ohio’s 2008 non-conference football schedule.  Two things seem to be pretty certain: First, Ohio will take on Ohio State on September 6^th

-  Secondly, Ohio will play a road game at Northwestern.  Word is that the former athletic director at Ohio had reached a two-for-one contract with Northwestern when he was still A.D.  Ohio would go to Evanston, Illinois, the Wildcats would come here, then Ohio would travel back up north.  That seems to have been changed as Ohio will make the trek to Evanston this year instead of having Northwestern come to Athens.  While this may frustrate fans, a sensible Bobcat supporter must realize that this is better off financially for Ohio due to a large payout from the Big 10 foe.

-  Ohio trying to get out of their home-and-home contract with Wyoming.  It would be a costly event to travel the team northwest in 2008.  Plus, with road games at Ohio State and Northwestern, Ohio really wants to get that second home game in the non-conference schedule.

-  Ohio officials say having six home games remains a priority.  Will that be done?  Time will tell but the effort is there.

-  ‘Cats fans don’t like to hear this, but people need to be realistic when complaining about the lack of home games.  Think about it:  If you are a big-name program, why on earth would you want to travel to Athens, Ohio, and take on a program on the rise?  Athens is not a very sexy market for potential non-conference opponents, nor is the fact that the Bobcats seem to be building something good.

-  The outline for the non-conference schedule, just so fans are clear, is as follows:  Every year Ohio likes to schedule one really tough game against a big time opponent (Virginia Tech in 2007, Ohio State in 2008), one D-IAA (FCS) opponent at home (Gardner-Webb in 2007, VMI in 2008?), and two “in-the-middle” type of games (last year it was Wyoming and UL-Lafayette).

-  Ernie Hodge has officially confirmed to me that he is back at Ohio.  He is enrolled at Ohio University for the winter quarter.  I will be interviewing Ernie in the next few days or so.  As always, send your questions for Ernie to me:  ctroop@TroopSports.com

-  The Ohio University men’s basketball media relations contact, Jason Cunningham, has left the Athletic Department.

 

* January 2nd

-  Updates from H.D. Woodson High School in Maryland:

-  Three-star Cornerback/Safety TaVon Wilson has indeed committed to Illinois.  Scout.com reported he was going to Maryland.

-  Teammate Evan Frierson has long been a highly sought after Ohio recruit.  The two-star linebacker told Rivals.com on December 28^th that Tennessee has now offered.  Frierson (6.2, 217) also said that he has to decide between taking a visit to Ohio or UNC on January 11^th.  Right now he is leaning towards making an official visit to Athens because UNC has yet to offer.  Frierson will visit Tennessee on January 18^th.  Illinois is still high on Frierson’s board after a December 14^th visit.  It sounds like it will be down to Illinois, Tennessee and Ohio.

-  Wilson’s commitment to Illinois could sway Frierson to the Big 10.

-  A couple of big visits for some Ohio recruits scheduled the next two weekends or so.  Hopefully that will bring more commitments.  Stay tuned.

Filed under: 2008 Bobcat Blog, January '08 Blog Notes |