(Caution - there is nothing positive about this thread.)
As we sit here anticipating yet another potential candidate in what is turning into a very, very nice class, I can't help but think back to what was easily the worst recruiting season we have had in some time - and one which just keeps getting worse.
First we lost two of the very best recruits in the state - and two I really wanted - Burgess and Crable. But we not only lost them, we lost them to Michigan.
In addition, several other highly rated Ohio recruits also left the state (Quinn, Edwards, Valentine and Wheelwright - albeit apparently for grade issues in the case of the last two). I believe we ended up with 6 of the top 10 Ohio kids. And darn near missed out on two more in Irizarry and Frost. Not good.
Then, one by one, almost every highly rated player from OOS went elsewhere.
Michael Bush was going to be a perfect fit - somewhere - and he just couldn't choose a Kentucky school over us.
Moe Dampeer, Jesse Holley, Jamesley Jean and Wesley Jefferson all made visits as in January - but passed.
Worst of all was the OL. We needed help desperately and were in on so many great kids we just knew we would land a couple. But one by one Andrew Bain, Joel Holler, Tripp Carroll, Aaron Sears, Cyrim Wimbs and James Lee all went elsewhere. Nobody wanted to play for Bollman and nobody ever would.
Other than the unheralded Kirk Barton the only OL who commited to OSU was Kenyon Buford. All he lacked was an offer.
And let's not forget Louis Holmes. Still not sure what was happening with him then - or now.
Finally we had that incredibly disappointing 0 for however many on signing day. As I recall we went down to the wire on Turk McBride and Devin Stearns, plus another name or two I can't remember. And of course there was the horrendous Stanley McClover double cross.
Despite all that we ended up with a 15 man class that - once we had some distance from signing day - seemed pretty darn good.
No running back - or at least not one who was recruited to play the position - but that was OK because we seemed pretty stacked and who could expect a quality kid to come to OSU and sit behind Clarret for two years. The biggest problem was the lack of OL and the consensus was OSU would never recover from the hole they had dug at that position.
So here we are a year and a half later. Irizarry - one of the gems of the class and a personal favorite of mine for a while at least - is gone for good and Guillford is gone for now and quite likely for good as well. And they embarrased the school in the process.
Rumors seem to have proven correct that Dareus Hiley is an academic casualty and those same rumors are swirling around Reggie Smith. (Don't JT and Geiger have some agreement about taking no more than two 'at risk' kids per class?)
Two of those players were rated in the top 10 nationally at their positon and all four were in the top 25. (Interestingly, those four were among the last seven to commit.)
So what's the point? JT can't recruit? The OSU program is in trouble? We can't manage the program?
No, I think it is simply this - shit happens.
As we sit here anticipating yet another potential candidate in what is turning into a very, very nice class, I can't help but think back to what was easily the worst recruiting season we have had in some time - and one which just keeps getting worse.
First we lost two of the very best recruits in the state - and two I really wanted - Burgess and Crable. But we not only lost them, we lost them to Michigan.
In addition, several other highly rated Ohio recruits also left the state (Quinn, Edwards, Valentine and Wheelwright - albeit apparently for grade issues in the case of the last two). I believe we ended up with 6 of the top 10 Ohio kids. And darn near missed out on two more in Irizarry and Frost. Not good.
Then, one by one, almost every highly rated player from OOS went elsewhere.
Michael Bush was going to be a perfect fit - somewhere - and he just couldn't choose a Kentucky school over us.
Moe Dampeer, Jesse Holley, Jamesley Jean and Wesley Jefferson all made visits as in January - but passed.
Worst of all was the OL. We needed help desperately and were in on so many great kids we just knew we would land a couple. But one by one Andrew Bain, Joel Holler, Tripp Carroll, Aaron Sears, Cyrim Wimbs and James Lee all went elsewhere. Nobody wanted to play for Bollman and nobody ever would.
Other than the unheralded Kirk Barton the only OL who commited to OSU was Kenyon Buford. All he lacked was an offer.
And let's not forget Louis Holmes. Still not sure what was happening with him then - or now.
Finally we had that incredibly disappointing 0 for however many on signing day. As I recall we went down to the wire on Turk McBride and Devin Stearns, plus another name or two I can't remember. And of course there was the horrendous Stanley McClover double cross.
Despite all that we ended up with a 15 man class that - once we had some distance from signing day - seemed pretty darn good.
No running back - or at least not one who was recruited to play the position - but that was OK because we seemed pretty stacked and who could expect a quality kid to come to OSU and sit behind Clarret for two years. The biggest problem was the lack of OL and the consensus was OSU would never recover from the hole they had dug at that position.
So here we are a year and a half later. Irizarry - one of the gems of the class and a personal favorite of mine for a while at least - is gone for good and Guillford is gone for now and quite likely for good as well. And they embarrased the school in the process.
Rumors seem to have proven correct that Dareus Hiley is an academic casualty and those same rumors are swirling around Reggie Smith. (Don't JT and Geiger have some agreement about taking no more than two 'at risk' kids per class?)
Two of those players were rated in the top 10 nationally at their positon and all four were in the top 25. (Interestingly, those four were among the last seven to commit.)
So what's the point? JT can't recruit? The OSU program is in trouble? We can't manage the program?
No, I think it is simply this - shit happens.
