<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>
Who's No. 1?
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top bgColor=#ffffff>
Thaddeus Gibson
</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>By
Allen Wallace
National Recruiting Editor
Date: Jan 11, 2006
"Ohio State should be ranked No. 1 in the pre-season," said Ohio linebacker Thaddeus Gibson. "Vince Young is going to the NFL. Another reason I like them is that they are close to home and they have some great players, like Troy Smith. I'm also good friends with Brandon Smith (freshman linebacker) who also went to Euclid High School.
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>
Ohio linebacker
Thaddeus Gibson (6-2, 212, 4.5) said he favors
Ohio State over
Tennessee,
Michigan and
Penn State.
"I 'd say there's a 65-70% chance I'll commit to Ohio State over the other programs," said Gibson, from Euclid High School. "I'll be going to visit Ohio State this weekend (Jan. 13) with my parents. This will be the first trip they have come on. I've already been to Michigan and Tennessee, but I went alone.
"I don't think I'll commit to Ohio State when I'm on my visit. I'll want to come back home and think about it before I make my decision. I might go to Penn State the next week. But I haven't talked with the Penn State coaches in about two weeks, so I'm not sure.
"Ohio State should be ranked No. 1 in the pre-season," he said. "
Vince Young is going to the NFL. Another reason I like them is that they are close to home and they have some great players, like
Troy Smith. I'm also good friends with
Brandon Smith (freshman linebacker) who also went to Euclid High School.
"Tennessee would be my No. 2 choice behind Ohio State. I felt comfortable there on my trip (Dec. 2). The atmosphere is great and I liked the coaches and the players.
"I also like Michigan because they are close to home too, about two and a half hours away, like Ohio State. Michigan is also a great academic school. They are ranked pretty high.
"All these schools want me to play outside linebacker. I'm a great pass rusher off the edge. I'm very athletic. I do my own stunts out there. I don't just blow through someone. I shake by them with moves that I have, like a swim move. I'm just natural, I guess.
Final senior (7-3) stats: 56 tackles/30 solos/11 sacks/2 blocked punts/4 fumbles recovered/2 fumbles caused/1 kick return for a TD
Gibson said he expects to play in the Big 33 game this summer, pitting the best players in Ohio versus the best in Pennsylvania. He reports a 2.7 core GPA/15 ACT--Feb 11 retake.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>