Ohio State Buckeyes P.M. Links: Hits and misses; Basketball preview, Recruiting news

Some hits and misses when it comes to recruiting.

Paul Connors / Associated PressTroy Smith

The Ohio State Buckeyes have had many stars come through the ranks over the years. But a host of those stars were not rated high coming out of high school.

Columbus Dispatch reporter Tim May writes about several players the Buckeyes recruited out of high school, who were not ranked high, and  who became solid college players.

For example, Glenville quarterback Troy Smith came into OSU second fiddle to highly touted Justin Zwick. But it was Smith who became a Heisman Trophy winner.

Here are a few more examples:

2003
Tight end Louis Irizarry was going to be the next Kellen Winslow Jr., safety Donte Whitner the next big hitter, Dareus Hiley the next great cover corner, and Anthony Gonzalez could play offense or defense. Call it two out of four, with Whitner living up to his billing and Gonzalez becoming a star receiver. Irizarry eventually wound up in prison before ending up at Youngstown State, and Hiley never made it at OSU. Lineman Kirk Barton, cornerback Ashton Youboty and Air Force transfer Anthony Schlegel emerged as the backbone of a 15-player class that eventually had seven busts.

 

2005
Offensive tackle Alex Boone was going to be the next Orlando Pace, defensive back Jamario O'Neal was so good he was offered as a sophomore in high school, and running back Maurice Wells was a Florida scatback everyone wanted. Boone quickly became a regular, but never a star, and O'Neal and Wells became bit players. Meanwhile, a couple of three-star signees - linebacker James Laurinaitis and cornerback Malcolm Jenkins - became All-Americans.

 

Preview

Columbus Dispatch reporter Bob Baptist gives us his notes when it comes to OSU basketball. 

Baptist writes how the Buckeyes are so good that they have won six of their past eight games by five points or fewer.

 

The last of the other unbeatens fell last week, and yesterday Ohio State received every first-place vote in the Associated Press media and ESPN/ USA Today coaches polls.

The 22-0 start equals the second-best in school history, by the 1961-62 team. The record is 27-0, by the 1960-61 team, which didn't lose until the NCAA championship game.

  

Recruiting

Signing day is Wednesday, but here is the latest information when it comes to which players will sign with Ohio State.

 

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/index.ssf/2011/02/ohio_state_buckeyes_pm_links_h.html

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