O'Neal transfer turned up the heat
Monday, November 01, 2004
Bob Fortuna
Plain Dealer Reporter
Coach Ted Ginn Sr. has gotten used to taking the heat when a transfer student enrolls at Glenville, but the lamp was turned up a notch when Jamario O'Neal joined the Tarblooders late last season.
O'Neal, a 6-1, 180-pound cornerback-wide receiver-tailback-quarterback, is an Ohio State University recruit and the top-rated senior in the latest publication of Ohio High Magazine.
When O'Neal left Mansfield for Glenville and moved in with the Ginn family, rumors of illicit recruiting ran rampant. But few knew the Ginn family's history with O'Neal, and that O'Neal's mother had passed away several years ago.
Jamario's and Ted Sr.'s dads were friends while growing up together in Mississippi.
Ted Ginn Jr. and Jamario had also hooked up at a indoor track meet in 1998. They kept in contact, a friendship was born and Jamario is in his second school year living with the Ginns. Ted Sr. serves as O'Neal's legal guardian.
"Jamario's dad felt his son needed a mother-figure in his life, and that's where my wife comes in," Ted Sr. said. "Having Jamario in our house has been good for everyone concerned. Jamario is family. He has chores to do around the house. My son gained the brother he never had, and my daughter has somebody to look out for her now that Ted Jr. is at college."