Sitting Down With 2014 5-Star Linebacker Raekwon McMillan

McMillan has top schools showing interest

With the 2013 class already rolling in big time commits and still about 8 months left to go until National Signing Day, Urban Meyer has been busy. Not only is Meyer dealing with the '13 class, but he already has his eyes set on the 2014 class.

This recruiting class has already received a lot of anticipation in what many hope is one of Urban Meyer's best classes, ever.

One of the top recruits in the country for 2014 is 5-star linebacker Raekwon McMillan. McMillan stands 6'3", weighs 233-pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.65 seconds. Raekwon is the #2 linebacker in the country and #1 prospect in the state of Georgia, according to 247Sports Top 247. 

In his sophomore year, McMillan recorded 84 total tackles and 16 tackles for loss. 

After earning an offer from Ohio State, we spoke with McMillan about his thoughts on Ohio State and the recruiting process thus far. Join us after the jump for the interview.

Ohio State Offers 2014 4-Star Wide Receiver Johnnie Dixon

Dixon has Ohio State on his mind early

The 2013 recruiting season is far from over, but Urban Meyer takes a much different approach then the previous coaching staff in that he begins his recruiting ahead of schedule to try to gain an upper hand on recruits. 2014 recruiting has been underway for a while now and the offers are starting to pile up.

With the latest offer coming to 2014 wide receiver Johnnie Dixon (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Dwyer), this offer makes Dixon one of the first half dozen teams to offer him a scholarship.

Including Ohio State on his list, he has offers from Miami, Alabama, Florida, Florida State and South Florida.

The 6'0",180-pound Dixon caught 18 passes for 433 yards and four touchdowns during his sophomore season. While those numbers are not great, it did not take the Buckeyes long to know Dixon is an outstanding talent. Dixon has a tremendous amount of speed, which is one of the big reasons why he's on the offer list for Ohio State.

Dixon is using this summer to go to camps in the state of Florida. Next summer will likely be the Buckeyes’ turn. Dixon has been a Florida Gator fan, but says that won’t have an impact on his college choice.

Dixon is a 4-star prospect in the 247Sports rankings.

Dixon seems as if he is truly interested in Ohio State and a big part of that is Meyer. Since he is a big fan of the Gators, expect Urban Meyer to pull out some big stops with Dixon’s recruitment.

2013 3-Star Defensive End Tracy Sprinkle Commits To Ohio State

Sprinkle is #9 in the Class of 2013

Defensive end Tracy Sprinkle visited Ohio State eleven days ago with his mother and father and was offered a scholarship. As of yesterday, Sprinkle is a Buckeye.

Sprinkle picked Ohio State over a dozen offers including Michigan State, Arkansas, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Indiana, Kentucky, Syracuse and Toledo. 

Sprinkle confirmed via Twitter that he had become commitment No. 9 for Urban Meyer’s 2013 recruiting class.

His final three were the Buckeyes, Michigan State and Arkansas.

The 6'4", 250-pound Sprinkle was a varsity starter at guard his sophomore season. He moved to the other side of the ball his junior season and played defensive end. Sprinkle made 80 tackles including eight sacks. He had a whopping 25 quarterback “hurries.”

Sprinkle has been recruited as a defensive lineman and will most likely be lining up on the outside as a defensive end. While only a 3-star, Sprinkle's commitment is very good for the Buckeyes in more ways than one. The first reason is that Sprinkle has only been playing on the defensive side for 1 year. 

Starting next season, you can bet that Sprinkle will be much improved after Urban gets a workout set up for him at his high school and you'd better believe that's going to happen. When it does, it would not shock me one bit if his ranking rose to a 4-star. 

The second reason is that Ohio State is limited to the number of players they take in recruiting classes and this particular offer was rumored to not be commitable.

The interesting thing about it, is that it might force another Buckeye recruit in Joey Bosa to make his commitment to the Buckeyes sooner rather than later because room is starting to run out. 

Be prepared for recruiting to heat up here for a little while as the space in the class of 2013 starts to narrow down to the main targets as more recruits make their decisions on where to play for school.

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for the latest news, updates and opinions on Ohio State athletics. 

2013 3-Star RB Ezekiel Elliott Commits To Ohio State

Elliott has 4.4 speed

2013 3-star running back Ezekiel Elliott has committed to Ohio State per Bucknuts ($). Following a weekend visit to the campus, Elliott gave his verbal to the Buckeyes, giving OSU it's 6th member of the 2013 class. Elliott is also the first running back in the '13 class.


The 6'0", 195-pound Elliott chose Ohio State over his other finalist Notre Dame, as well as a slew of other offers from the likes of Missouri, Arizona State, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas State, Nebraska, Penn State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Wisconsin.

During his junior season of football, Elliott ran for 1,802 yards and 42 touchdowns, while catching another 23 passes for 401 yards and six more scores.

Also an elite track athlete, Elliott won a Class Three state title in the 110-hurdles (14.1) and finished second in the 300-hurdles (37.85) as a sophomore. Last summer, Elliott won the AAU national championship in the 15-16 age group in the 400-intermediate hurdles, and finished second in the 110-meter hurdles. He plans to run track in Columbus as well for the Buckeyes, making him a 2-sport athlete at the D-1 level.

While only a 3-star, there is plenty of talent coming from this kid's legs. He has clocked a 40 time of 4.40. That's exceptionally fast, which is what Urban Meyer is looking for. He can use Elliott in a multitude of ways including kickoffs, punt returns and perhaps even a couple of packages that use his speed well against certain defensive alignments. Either way, this is a solid pick up for the class of 2013. 

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for the latest news, updates and opinions on Ohio State athletics. 

Burn it With Fire or Sour Grapes?

Scary little guys

In spite of the recent recruiting success, our friend ProveIt has come to share some knowledge with the rest of us in form of a guest post. Be sure to tell him what you think of his article! 

You hear claims that the recruiting boards are biased, but never any details.  Are the boards truly biased and deserved to be cybernetically torched at every mention, or is this just sour grapes from fans in conferences with lower rankings?

A quick internet search of various analysis of their rankings show Scout and Rivals are notably more accurate than the others.  Rivals nominally edges out Scout in accuracy, but not enough to herald them king (usually only a couple of players a year differentiate the 2, and some criteria is questionable).

I don’t consider subjective as less accurate or more biased than objective.  An objective plus subjective analysis has the capacity to be much more accurate than a purely objective analysis.  An objective formula can be biased if the criteria are slanted.

Proving bias in a subjective analysis is difficult.  I looked at the objective rankings.

4 Star Offensive Tackle Taylor Decker Commits To Ohio State

Commit #20 is a big one for Ohio State.

According to Scout.com, 4-star offensive tackle Taylor Decker has decommitted from Notre Dame and has committed to Ohio State and Urban Meyer. Taylor Decker is a 6'8", 315-pound Offensive Tackle from Vandalia, OH. He is ranked No. 266 in the country by 247Sports. Decker is the 20th commit in Ohio State's 2012 class.

Taylor Decker is the No. 14 recruit in Ohio (OH) and is the No. 31 Offensive Tackle in the nation.

This commitment is huge for Ohio State, as they are in desperate need of offensive linemen, especially in the tackle area. Decker has prototypical size for a tackle, and will most likely play at left tackle, and that is a huge thing for the Buckeyes offensive line.

Decker is just finishing his weekend visit, along with 3 other recruits. Decker plans to major in zoology and reports a 3.7 core GPA and 25 ACT.

Video highlights after the jump.

2013 Recruiting Profiles: WR Jalin Marshall

Marshall runs a 4.4 40

Although the 2012 recruiting class has not yet been finished, with the recent hiring of Urban Meyer, 2013 has already perked some interest into Buckeye fans across the country. With that said, here are our efforts to give you the in-depth knowledge about who Ohio State's top targets are.


When we told you about Robert Foster, and why he was leading our '13 recruiting profiles was because he was the big threat wide receiver. If, in fact, we do land Foster our next prospect would be a perfect fit into the type of offense that Urban Meyer is looking for. John Peterson, the current Ohio State recruiting coordinator who also coaches tight ends has been the one to personally recruit 5-star recruit Jalin Marshall, a 6'0'', 190 lb Quarterback/Athlete. Marshall hails from Middletown, Ohio and earned some serious offers, and more importantly, gained the interest of not only Ohio State, but of upper tier teams like Florida, Notre Dame, Oregon, Alabama, and West Virginia.

While Marshall doesn't have the offer list that Foster does, he is certainly not far off, with offers from Ohio State, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Pitt, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, and UCLA. Jalin is ranked as the #1 Athlete overall in the class of 2013, and #1 overall recruit in the state of Ohio. Nationally, Jalin Marshall is the #5 recruit overall in 247's ranking. He's a 5-star recruit on all boards, and is another recruit you simply cannot say no to. He's already visited Ohio State unofficially twice, and it is safe to say that the Buckeyes are the front runner for Marshall's talents. He's also visited Tennessee and Notre Dame, which were both unofficial as well.

Though he plays quarterback in high school, Marshall projects to be a star wideout or defensive back in college. His more than 1,400 rushing yards prove why. With the ball in his hands, he is one of the nation's most exciting players, owning both the creativity and versatility to burn by over-matched opponents. Jalin was selected as a Middletown Journal All-Area First-Team, D-I Southwest District Special Mention and Greater Miami Conference First Team in 2010 (his sophomore year). Also a standout on the track, Marshall was a state qualifier in the 800-meter relay and high jump in 2011.

2013 Recruiting Profiles: WR Robert Foster

Foster has it all

Although the 2012 recruiting class has not yet been finished, with the recent hiring of Urban Meyer, 2013 has already perked some interest into Buckeye fans across the country. With that said, here are our efforts to give you the in-depth knowledge about who Ohio State's top targets are.

There's a reason that '13 wide receiver recruit Robert Foster starts off our 2013 recruiting profiles: He's simply the best of the best. The junior from Central Valley has already been offered from a multitude of schools, including our very own Buckeyes. Ohio State isn't the only one noticing the game-breaking receiver, as Foster currently holds offers from Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Penn State, West Virginia, Virginia, Rutgers, Pitt, and Purdue.

At 6'2'', 175 pounds, Foster could very well be one of those few players that you don't say no to. All-State in Class 3A as both a wide receiver and a punt returner during his sophomore season, he put up some serious numbers: 45 carries for 406 yards with 3 rushing touchdowns, and 25 receptions for 520 yards. As a junior, Foster did a little bit of everything in helping the Warriors finish 11-1. He caught 37 passes for 584 yards and five touchdowns, including a long of 99. He rushed another 36 times for 419 yards and two scores, including a long of 55.

Recap: Urban Meyer's First Month As Ohio State Head Coach

Never gets old

Urban Meyer is awesome. Sure he was public enemy #1 around these parts for the latter part of the past decade but I have a forgiving heart (especially when he is pulling the strings for your favorite football team). We are not even a month into this new regime but I think Urban has this team going in the right direction even before holding his first official practice.

With the NCAA’s blessing, Meyer has been able to hit the recruiting trail while is counterpart focuses on getting the Buckeyes ready for their showdown with the Gators. Even though this is a common practice among transitioning coaching staff’s in college football, some have expressed their displeasure with the arrangement. Well, “some” isn’t quite right. In reality the only person to speak up is Dave Brandon from Michigan. The fact that he is the only person to publicly complain about this makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

The recruits have been signing with the Buckeye’s at a furious pace since Meyer has taken over in Columbus. Some have been poached from other schools (thanks PSU and MSU), Brionte Dunn returned from the dark side and other top prospects are taking a closer look at the Scarlet and Gray. If I were a fan of another Big Ten team, these new developments would have me quite worried.

5 Star Defensive End Noah Spence Commits To Ohio State

Spence is ready to rumble

Urban Meyer has done it again. This time the Ohio State Buckeyes landed their 19th commitment in the 2012 class, landing 5-star defensive end Noah Spence. Spence took an official visit yesterday, the 17th. The official visit was Spence’s first and last. He picked Ohio State over scholarship offers from LSU, Florida, Maryland and Penn State, his other finalists.

Braxton Miller, Curtis Grant and Chase Farris played host to Spence and Spence made the trip to Columbus with his father Greg and mother Helen.

The 6'3" and 235lb Noah Spence has been a varsity starter for one of the top prep football programs in the country since his freshman year. He made 42 tackles including 8.5 sacks that season, and then made 55 tackles with 8 sacks his sophomore year, before a spectacular junior season. In his junior year, he made 102 tackles and had a whopping 22 sacks last season.

This season, as a senior, he led Bishop McDevitt to the state championship game. Although they lost the title game 52-0 on Friday night to finish with a 13-3 record, Spence was still dominant all season long. Urban Meyer was even on hand for the contest.

In addition to being the country’s No.1 weakside defensive end, Spence is the No. 1 prospect in the state of Pennsylvania and the country’s No. 15 overall prospect. His list of dozens and dozens of scholarship offers includes the five schools mentioned as well as USC, Notre Dame, Michigan, North Carolina State, Michigan State, Iowa, Illinois, Pitt and Rutgers.

See him in action in video highlights after the jump.

Brionte Dunn Reinforces His Commitment To The Buckeyes

Soon to be in the Scarlet and Gray

According to many reports, with Dustin Fox being the first, Brionte Dunn has officially backed Ohio State after an in-home visit that was after an already sweet official visit to Ohio State itself.

While Dunn had never really de-committed from Ohio State, he himself told the media that he would still be taking visits to Michigan, and he was re-thinking the Buckeye commitment, saying he was now only a "soft" commit. Now, there's no need to worry about him ending up somewhere else, as he had announced he will not be taking any more visits, and that he is 100% Scarlet and Gray.

Dunn had said he had some questions he wanted answered including how he would fit in when it comes to Meyer’s “spread” offense, and between the official visit and Meyer’s in-home visit those questions have been answered to Dunn’s satisfaction, it appears.

The 6'1", 220lb RB rushed for 1,700 yards this season despite missing a couple games with a fractured pelvis. He rushed for over 2,000 yards his junior season.

The Urban Meyer pain train continues, as he is just barreling over any Big Ten coaches that stand in his way. 

Recruiting: 3 Star Wide Receiver Ricquan Southward Switches Commitment To Ohio State

Coming to Ohio State

3 Star wide receiver recruit Ricquan Southward has decommitted from Miami (Fl.) and has verbally committed to Ohio State. This is a pretty good get for Ohio State, as they recently missed out on Dwayne Stanford to Oregon. Southward, who is 6'2'' 190 lbs, was committed to Miami until his official visit to Ohio State, which took place on November 20th. From then on, rumors and whispers occured about Southward perhaps changing his mind on the Hurricanes, in favor of Ohio State.

When Dwayne Stanford committed to Oregon, that left the door wide open for Ricquan, He was recruited primarily by Stan Drayton, who is expected to remain on Meyer's staff next season. In addition to OSU and Miami, Southward had interest from Ole Miss, USF, Florida State, Mississippi State, Maryland, Florida, Texas Tech, Georgia, and others.


This might be the first recruit that had influence from Urban Meyer coming to Ohio State. Stan Drayton and Urban Meyer are normally after wide receivers of Southwards talents, and could come into Ohio State knowing that Urban is the man at the helm next year. This is the 16th recruit to join the 2012 Ohio State class. 


Video highlights after the jump.

Recruiting: 5 Star DE Adolphus Washington Is A Buckeye

Making an impact

This morning, Tuesday the 22nd, Ohio State received a commitment from Cincinnati Taft 5-star DE Adolphus Washington over scholarship offers from Michigan State, Cincinnati, Michigan, Alabama, Miami, Kentucky, Oregon and many others. Washington is now the Buckeye's 15th recruit in the class of 2012.

Washington said during the conference that he made his final decision after his official visit to Ohio State for the Wisconsin game, where Braxton Miller threw a Hail Mary to win the game. When asked what he thought about playing for Urban Meyer, he didn't take any bait and simply said "I hope so". Washington also becomes the first 5-star prospect in the Buckeyes’ 2012 recruiting class. You can read more on him here. 

Adolphus has a very realistic shot at playing and maybe even starting as a true freshman when he comes in. Washington was a varsity starter his freshman year at Cincinnati Roger Bacon. He transferred to Taft for his junior season and made 101 tackles with 15 sacks. As a junior, Washington racked up 119 tackles and 17 sacks. He made 90 tackles with 23.5 sacks during his senior season and hopes to add some serious depth to this defensive line next year.

When he comes to Ohio State he wants to major in nursing. With the addition of Washington the Buckeyes now have 15 verbal commitments for a recruiting class that is expected to number at least 19 come National Signing Day.

Washington's teammate however, 3-star wide receiver Dwayne Stanford, announced he has committed to Oregon over scholarship offers from Ohio State, Cincinnati, LSU and many others.

While not getting Stanford might affect some other recruit's decisions, Washington's commitment stands out by far as the best get for Ohio State recruiting in awhile. It's a huge pick up, and might sway Urban Meyer even more out of retirement.

Video highlights after the jump.

WR Michael Thomas Official Commitment Gives Ohio State #13 In 2012

Game face

A week ago, we told you that wide-out Michael Thomas was just about set in stone to come to Ohio State. Now, that's been confirmed after his official visit to Ohio Stadium when the Buckeyes hosted the Badgers in a 33-29 upset win. After the game, Thomas said that he was going to announce his commitment officially sometime this weekend. Michael is currently enrolled at Fork Union Military Academy, with fellow Buckeye commit Cardale Jones.

Christian Bryant and Braxton Miller were the ones that hosted Thomas on his stay at Ohio State, and Thomas said that there were many reasons for staying,  as he was noting the tradition OSU holds with the country, and he knows there's a great opportunity to come in and start right away next year. Thomas is 6'4'', 200 pounds who runs great routes, and has outstanding explosiveness.

Ohio State's 2012 class of recruits is already a fantastic bunch, and Thomas is the 13th commit, with that number expected to rise to 18 by National Signing Day.

Recap: Ohio State 33, Wisconsin 29

Devin Smith for the win

After the first half of the season came and went with anxiety, disappointment and many second half collapses, Ohio State (5-3, 2-2) finally came out on top over a quality opponent, and did it in style. The Wisconsin Badgers (7-2, 3-2) fell to the Buckeyes on another Hail Mary play, for the second straight week. Of course, Russell Wilson had a chance at the end with about 20 ticks on the clock, but couldn't complete a pass although Nick Toon came up very close twice. When you look back on Ohio State in 2011, this may be the turning point on a chaotic season. If Ohio State wins out, the Buckeyes will be facing the inaugural B1G Championship Game in Indianapolis. This game was by far OSU's toughest test of the season, and perhaps one of the most important games as far as trying to maintain a sense of Big Ten superiority.

The two Big Ten losses the Buckeyes have suffered have come at the hands of Nebraska and Michigan State, both who are in the Legends division, while Ohio State and Wisconsin both fall under the Leaders division. There were so many key moments in this game, and for OSU to upset a rival like the Badgers was huge for confidence in true freshman Braxton Miller and the rest of this young Buckeye squad down this last stretch of games, including 2 key match-ups in November: Penn State, and at Michigan.

Are Adolphus Washington And Dwayne Stanford Coming To Ohio State?

Washington looks ready to go

According to Cincinnati News, the seniors from Cincinnati Taft, Adolphus Washington (DE) and Dwayne Stanford (WR) are making their announcement of where they plan to go to their choice of schools on the same day at the same time, 10 a.m. on November 9th.

Washington's "Top 5" include:

- Ohio State, Michigan State, Alabama, Kentucky, and Oregon. All in no particular order.

Stanford's "Top 5" include:

- Ohio State, Oregon, Alabama, LSU, and Arizona State. All in no particular order

Washington had made an official visit to Michigan State when the Spartans hosted TTUN. That game, of course, resulted in a big upset for the Spartans after knocking off an undefeated, Denard Robinson-led team. After the visit it appears Washington was actually impressed with the way the defensive staff switched in many different defensive linemen in and out during the game, but luckily, as we all know, Ohio State does almost the same exact thing. I'd have to say that Washington is a lock, because it sounded like he was all Ohio State before the visit, and after the visit he's said that Ohio State is still #1 in his mind, and likely won't change.

As far as Dwayne Stanford goes, my guess is that with the recent "addition" of Michael Thomas, and the already committed Cardale Jones (currently at Fork Union to help grades, etc) Stanford will follow where Washington goes, and all signs point to Ohio State. Those 4 players right there are huge for the Buckeyes as the wide receiver spot is thin, and these guys are good. We'll find out on November 9th, where we hope to announce the addition of 2 new Buckeyes to Buckeye Nation.

Video highlights of both after the jump

WR Michael Thomas "Commits" To Ohio State

Dude's got hops

According to Bucknuts, Michael Thomas, a 6'4'', 203 lb wide receiver has committed (Ed. Note: Sounds like Thomas hasn't officially committed, but it HAS been said that his mind is made up, and that it's "just a formality") to Ohio State as a part of the class of 2012. He was originally a part of the 2011 class, but due to poor academics, Thomas chose to go to Fork Union Military Academy (FUMA) to help out his grades, and show more of his talent on the field. Ironically enough, Cardale Jones is currently at Fork Union for the same exact reason. Jones came into this class as a nice combo with Braxton Miller, but with the QB situation playing out like it has, Jones next season could be the #2 guy behind Miller.

The nephew of NFL star Keyshawn Johnson originally visited Ohio State back in the summer of this year, and will be taking an official visit to Ohio State on October 29th, when the Buckeyes host the Badgers of Wisconsin. This is a huge get for Ohio State's recruiting staff, as the wide receivers are thin, and very young and inexperienced.

Coming in next year, Thomas could have a chance to play right away, and I'm sure that appeals to his nature. Thomas has fantastic hands, and a very strong route runner. He has very good awareness, and is good at catching the ball at its highest point while catching in traffic as well. While he doesn't have break-neck speed, Thomas does have some above-average speed, and can still get around most corners or safeties, and his hands make up for what his feet can't do.

Ohio State's Freshmen Wear "JT" Bracelets To Honor Jim Tressel In 2011

Never Forget

Jim Tressel is gone, but he hasn’t been forgotten by the last recruiting class he herded to Ohio State. 


As those freshmen stepped up one by one to introduce themselves to the media yesterday in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, it was evident that they still hold the former coach in high esteem, with many sporting black wristbands emblazoned with the scarlet letters “JT.” They said they want to enhance the final legacy of Tressel’s 10-year run at OSU. The 2011 class is a great one with players such as Steve Miller, Braxton Miller (No relation), Doran Grant, and many more. With all of those guys, they are wearing bracelets to represent the man that brought us a National Championship and too many victories to count, including a Heisman and a Rose Bowl victory.

Class of 2012: Recruiting Breakdown

Dunn leads the way in 2012

The nightmare might finally be over. Currently, the Buckeyes sit with 11 commitments, and only lost one that had been previously committed. It seems it is not the doom and gloom it's made out to be right? The Buckeyes are loading up on in-state prospects, some of the sleeper variety, but all of the "football player" variety. A smart move. This class started off with flash and through the summer, they added some toughness and intangibles. 


Perhaps the most important get in this class is Brionte Dunn, at tailback. To get one of the state's best was significant. Since then, there have been rumors aplenty that he may look elsewhere, and he did, in fact, visit rival Michigan. Through it all, the Buckeyes have solidified their position with him and he continues to reaffirm his commitment. The "get" was big, the "hold" has been even bigger. The only real loss in this class was Kyle Kalis, which in my opinion is a gigantic loss. Ohio State hasn't done the best with recruiting offensive linemen, and the recruiting staff had finally landed one with some serious skill and strength. When he de-committed and headed to Michigan, his legacy was sealed, and now he has had to take the backlash for his choice to head to Ann Arbor.


With Dunn and four-star Warren Ball, the Buckeyes have two stud tailbacks. The concern with Ball has been injuries and that he may not be a 25 carry a game back. That's just fine, because Dunn is, and I think they'll complement each other perfectly. Ball has great athleticism, balance, and good speed for a bigger guy. Dunn is a pounder with good lateral agility for a battering ram type.

Fickell And The Buckeyes Grab 2 More For 2012

Luke Fickell and Ohio State have picked up 2 more recruits for the 2012 season. Luke Roberts, a linebacker from Lancaster, and Patrick Elflein, an offensive lineman from Pickerington North, called coach Luke Fickell with the news that they want to be part of the 2012 class.


Elflein, 6 feet 3 and 285 pounds, reacted almost immediately after being offered a scholarship yesterday in the wake of Lakewood St. Edward lineman Kyle Kalis decommitting from OSU and pledging to Michigan last week. That gives Ohio State two offensive linemen in the 2012 class from Pickerington. Elflein, who was also courted by Purdue, Northwestern and Indiana, will be joined by Jacoby Boren of Pickerington Central.


Roberts, 6-2 and 225 pounds, was offered on Monday, discussed it with his parents and "prayed about it," he said, before making the call yesterday. Roberts, who has a 4.3 grade-point average, received offers from Purdue, Wake Forest, Cincinnati and six other schools. He said two factors swayed him.