Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Buckeye Football Finalized for 2011 - Madden NFL Videogame Picks Pittsburgh - Top 15 College Football Recruiting Class's for 2011

Buckeyes Sign 23, Holding Spot for One More
By Brandon Castel

Buckeye Football

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Just like they did a year ago, the Buckeyes have left the door open to add another player to their 2011 class.
This time, however, it’s under very different circumstances.
On the day where all of Ohio State’s recruit were scheduled to fax their Letters of Intent to the school, one never came in. That’s because Chris Carter couldn’t get to a fax machine from his jail cell in time to be a part of the National Signing Day festivities.
The 6-foot-4, 325-pound offensive lineman out of John F. Kennedy High School in Cleveland was arrested Tuesday on allegations of sexual imposition and spent the night in Cleveland City Jail.
He was released Wednesday pending further investigation, but the Buckeyes aren’t ready to completely rule out the possibility of him joining the class at a later date.
“There’s a possibility,” Ohio State Head Coach Jim Tressel said during Signing Day news conference at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in Columbus.
“I think everyone is aware that we had something pop up yesterday that we didn't know much about and we can't talk about it.”
Carter was the third player to commit to Ohio State’s 2011 class, doing so last March . He is being accused of fondling girls while measuring them for ROTC uniforms.
“Once inside the room, (Carter) asked the victim to take off her sweat shirt and shirt so he could take her measurements,” the police report said.
“He cut off the lights ... and stated `I need you to take your bra off.' The arrested male than put his arms under her arms from behind and attempted to pull her bra up.”
A NCAA rules prohibits college coaches from commenting on prospects who have not signed their letters of intent, so Tressel was necessarily vague when talking about the possibility of expanding on the 23 signatures they received Wednesday.
“The only thing we're allowed to talk about today is the kids who have signed letters with us,” he said.
“We don't know what the situation is. It could be larger, it might not.”
Regardless of whether or not Carter is a part of the class, the Buckeyes feel good about the players they did land for 2011. That includes Braxton Miller, Ryan Shazier, Jeremy Cash, Joe Hale and Jeff Heuerman, the five early enrollees who joined Tressel and the OSU coaching staff at Wednesday’s press conference.
“We've got a little bit of everything, which we like to do. We've got guys that are versatile, so I think it's balanced and versatile,” Tressel said.
“These guys have done a lot of different things. There has to be a little bit of projection in talking about what you need, but these are guys that we feel very good about who they are and about the skills that they have.”
In all, the Buckeyes signed two wide receivers, two tight ends, three offensive linemen, five defensive linemen, four linebackers, four defensive backs , a long-snapper and a pair of quarterbacks. Only one of those quarterbacks will count towards the 2011 class, however, as Cardale Jones will take a grayshirt and enroll at Ohio State next January.
Along with Jones, the Buckeyes also added a major commitment Wednesday when 5-star linebacker Curtis Grant selected Ohio State over offers from Virginia, North Carolina and Florida.
“In April, May and June, when you get a good start, you feel wonderful about that,” Tressel said.
“Then when you get in those last two weeks of January and you get a good finish, you feel good about that. In both cases, we didn't get everyone but a lot of times when you don't get someone, it opens up the opportunity for someone else.”
The addition of Grant, the top-rated linebacker in the country by most recruiting services, put the Buckeyes at four linebackers in a class of just 23. That was two more than Ohio State had planned on taking.
“Going into the recruiting season we thought we might be taking two guys, but we had the opportunity to be in on four great guys, guys we didn’t think we could pass up,” OSU linebackers coach Luke Fickell said Wednesday.
“For the team, we felt we could take four guys if they were the right guys.”
Those four linebackers were part of 13 defensive players signed by the Buckeyes. They also landed signatures from nine offensive players and one long-snapper in Bryce Haynes.
“It went through here like wildfire when we got his tape. We watched him in games and it looked like the guy catching the snap wasn’t moving,” OSU assistant coach Dick Tressel said of the Georgia product.
“About 10 snaps in a row and you thought the film had stopped. You start timing a couple of these and pretty soon you’ve got to start looking for a place to get this guy in your recruiting class.”

Meet the Class of 2011 (23)

QB Braxton Miller (6-2, 195, Huber Heights Wayne)

QB Cardale Jones (6-5, 217, Cleveland Glenville)

WR Evan Spencer (6-1, 185, Vernon Hills, Ill.)

WR Devin Smith (6-1, 175, Massillon Washington)

TE Jeff Heuerman (6-5, 240, Naples, Fla.)

TE Nick Vannett (6-6, 230, Westerville Central)

OL Brian Bobek (6-2, 278, Palatine, Ill.)

OL Tommy Brown (6-5, 310, Akron Firestone)

OL Antonio Underwood (6-3, 295, Shaker Heights)

DE Steve Miller (6-4, 230, Canton McKinley)

DE Kenny Hayes (6-5, 240, Toledo Whitmer)

DL Chase Farris (6-6, 265, Elyria)

DT Michael Bennett (6-3, 275, Centerville)

DL Joe Hale (6-4, 290, Greenwood, Ind.)

LB Curtis Grant (6-3, 222, Richmond, Va.)

LB Ryan Shazier (6-3, 205, Plantation, Fla.)

LB Connor Crowell (6-1, 215, Waldorf, Md.)

LB Ejuan Price (6-0, 235, Pittsburgh)

CB Doran Grant (5-10, 175, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary)

CB DerJuan Gambrell (6-2, 180, Toledo Rogers)

S Ron Tanner (6-1, 190, Columbus Eastmoor)

S Jeremy Cash (6-2, 185, Plantation, Fla.)

LS Bryce Haynes (6-4, 185, Cumming, Ga.)







The Best of Signing Day
according to www.si.com
Recruiting coach of the year: Florida State's Jimbo Fisher. We've known his name for so long now, it's easy to forget that the man responsible for the nation's No. 1 recruiting class just finished his first season as a head coach. While it certainly didn't hurt that rivals Florida and Miami underwent coaching changes in December, Fisher and his staff of renowned recruiters seemed destined to land a monster haul in 2011, and Fisher seems destined to become a fixture. He trained under two of the best, Bobby Bowden and Saban. "He's a nice blend of both," said Shurburtt. "From the organizational standpoint, definitely, he resembles Saban, but Fisher is a little more folksy than Saban. He's more like Bowden in terms of some backslapping, recruiting in the home. The kids just love him." Now FSU fans just hope Fisher will coach more like Bowden circa 1999 than 2009.

Breakout coach of the year: Virginia's Mike London. Virginia is always a talent-rich state, but in recent years its top players have been looking anywhere but Charlottesville. The Cavaliers' second-year coach reversed that trend, landing a Top 25 class highlighted by four-star cornerback Demetrious Nicholson. It marks the first time in four years that UVA landed a higher-ranked class than in-state rival Virginia Tech. Now London, who went 4-8 in his first season, just needs to translate that success to the field. Remember, predecessor Al Groh started out his recruiting tenure in similarly eye-opening fashion.

Comeback coach of the year: Georgia's Mark Richt. A year ago this time, Georgia was a recruiting disappointment. Then the Dawgs followed a poor Signing Day showing with a nightmarish 6-7 season. But a resilient Richt followed through on his pledge last summer to assemble a "Dream Team" of in-state recruits, closing over the past few weeks with Top 50 national prospects defensive end Ray Drew, cornerback Malcolm Mitchell and, on Wednesday, running back Isaiah Crowell (who came equipped with a live bulldog puppy at his announcement). If Richt is on the hot seat, these recruits either don't agree or don't care.

Hapless coach of the year: UCLA's Rick Neuheisel. Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise, what with the Bruins coming off their second losing season in three years, their coaching staff in complete flux right up until Signing Day and Neuheisel likely entering next season on the hottest seat in the country. Still, the sheer extent of UCLA's recruiting misery this year is staggering. Normally a top 20 fixture, UCLA barely made Scout.com's top 60 as of Wednesday evening. It landed just one player (receiver Devin Lucien) rated among the Top 25 prospects in the state of California. "It's undoubtedly the worst UCLA class I've ever seen," said Scout.com's Wallace.

Best salvage job: Michigan's Brady Hoke. Given that AD Dave Brandon left Rich Rodriguez hanging in the wind until after the Gator Bowl and did not hire his new coach until Jan. 11, Michigan's 2011 class seemed destined for disaster. The Wolverines went more than a month after the regular season without adding a new commitment. But Hoke managed to add nine more players, stealing away quarterback commit Russell Bellomy from Purdue, and fended off other suitors to retain four-star defensive back Blake Countess. This class is still far from the level Michigan will need to contend for Big Ten titles, but given the circumstances, things could have been far worse.

How do they do it?: Clemson. For a program that last won a conference title 20 years ago and hasn't produced a 10-win season this century, Clemson consistently recruits the kind of talent befitting an annual BCS contender. Continuing the trend of adding mega-recruits like C.J. Spiller and Da'Quan Bowers, Dabo Swinney's team landed pledges Wednesday from the nation's top two linebackers, Stephone Anthony and Tony Steward, and remains in the hunt for Clowney. The Tigers will likely finish with a top 10 class. Recruits apparently think they can win championships in Clemson despite 20 years of evidence suggesting otherwise.

Most cocksure announcement: Defensive tackle Gabe Wright (Auburn). Minutes after Carver (Ga.) High teammate Crowell broke out a puppy, Wright showed off his own creativity. In announcing he'll be attending Auburn, Wright put on a backwards AU baseball cap with the words "NICK WHO?" After some initial confusion by many who thought the hat meant Saban, Wright clarified that he was in fact referring to Nick Fairley, the departing Auburn star Wright is apparently expecting to replace. While the Lombardi winner himself approved, here's guessing those two words will haunt Wright for four years if he doesn't deliver.

Most likely to play right away: Malcolm Brown (Texas) and Crowell (Georgia). They're not only the top two running backs in the country according to 247Sports.com, they're also joining teams that could desperately use them. New Texas co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin is looking to recreate the power running game he employed at Boise State, and the Longhorns simply don't have an elite, every-down guy like Brown on their roster. Meanwhile, Georgia coach Richt -- whose team ranked 73rd in rushing last season -- wasn't shy in expressing Crowell's potential impact as a freshman. "I would not be shocked to see him tote that rock in the [Georgia] Dome against Boise State on the opening play [of the season]," Richt said.

Tip of the hat to: Louisville's Charlie Strong (landed a Top 25 class that includes seven Miami players, most notably quarterback Teddy Bridgewater); Notre Dame's Brian Kelly (inked Rivals.com's three highest-rated defensive ends); Tennessee's Derek Dooley (finished with a splash, highlighted by in-state tackle Antonio Richardson); and Texas Tech's Tommy Tuberville (signed the first top 20 class in school history).

Better luck next year: Miami's Al Golden, Florida's Will Muschamp and West Virginia coach-in-waiting Dana Holgorsen. Late starts left all three schools with lower-rated classes than usual; don't expect that to continue.









Top 15 College Football Recruiting Class's for 2011
according to www.espn.com
1.Florida State
2.Alabama
3.Auburn
4.USC
5.Texas
6.Georgia
7.Ohio State
8.Clemson
9.Notre Dame
10.LSU
11.Oklahoma
12.Florida
13.Tennessee
14.Oregon
15.North Carolina








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