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rivals
April 7, 2006
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Euclid LB ready to head to Ohio State[/FONT]
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Euclid LB ready to head to Ohio State
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Adam Jardy
BuckeyeSports.com Staff Writer
<script language="javascript"> if (bIEWindowBrowser) document.write("<div id=outercontainer style='height:220px;'>"); else document.write("<div id=outercontainer>"); document.write("<div id=contentcontainer style='font-size: " + fontsizes[currentsize] + "pt;'>");</script>He might be looked at as a contender to start at linebacker at Ohio State, but it wasn't always going to be this way for
Thaddeus Gibson .
The Euclid High School standout did not start playing football until high school, and first came out as a quarterback during his freshman season.
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Thaddeus Gibson.</td></tr></tbody></table><!-- End Image-->"When I went out for the freshman team I wanted to be a quarterback but I ended up playing defensive end," he told BSB. "Then my sophomore year, I started at outside linebacker."
The move seems to have paid off for the native of Euclid, Ohio. After recording 46 solo tackles and 10 sacks as a senior, Gibson was named to Cleveland Plain Dealer's "Best of the Best" all-star team and found himself coveted by several major schools.
With schools such as OSU, Penn State, Michigan and Tennessee actively recruiting him, Gibson had narrowed his list to essentially Tennessee and OSU before picking the Buckeyes the Monday before National Signing Day.
When presented with a choice between the Buckeyes and their chief rivals the Wolverines, Gibson said he preferred OSU coach
Jim Tressel's approach as opposed to Michigan's Lloyd Carr.
"I would have to say both guys are great coaches, but the difference between the two is that my meeting with coach Tressel was better because of the types of questions he asked me," Gibson said. "He asked me about my family and the relationship between me and my mom and things like that. He really got personal with me because I think he cares a lot. With coach Carr it was just like 'we think you can do this for us' and things like that, so (Tressel) wasn't just all about football."
The deciding factor that convinced Gibson to come to OSU came after he took an official visit and spent time with two good friends – sophomore tight end
Brandon Smith and junior wideout
Ted Ginn Jr.
Smith, like Gibson, played on defense while at Euclid High School.
"Me and Brandon are real good friends because my sophomore year he was a senior and we both started on the same defense," he said. "On my official visit I sort of felt at home there, and there was no question after that were I was going."
Despite their friendship, Gibson said Smith never tried to sell him on OSU, telling him instead to find the school that was the right fit for him.
That didn't mean Smith wasn't elated when Gibson became a Buckeye, however.
"He was never really forcing me to come to Ohio State," Gibson said. "He said, 'Just follow your mind. Wherever you decide to go will be your best decision.' I talked to him about it, and when I decided to go there he said 'I couldn't wait for you to say that. I really wanted you down here. We're going to have a ball and some championships.'"
Gibson is just one of four players from northwest Ohio to commit to OSU for 2006. Since all freshmen are required to live on campus for their first year, Gibson said he might be rooming with defensive end
Robert Rose and wide receiver
Raymond Small -- two of the latest members of the Glenville pipeline to Columbus.
In addition to being possible roommates, Gibson works out with Small and Rose when they have time away from track season.
"We talk every day," he said. "We're real close friends."
He almost didn't make it to OSU -- or any other major Division I school, for that matter. Gibson's eligibility remained up in the air for much of his high school career after two low ACT scores and a difficult science proficiency test mandatory for all Ohio high schoolers to graduate.
After extra hours studying, Gibson overcame what he described as his life's "biggest obstacle" and earned the grades necessary for admittance into OSU.
"That was real tough," he said. "The first time I took it I got an 11. The second time I got a 14 and that's when the pressure hit. Actually, the ACT and my science proficiency. I got the science proficiency out of the way first and I was struggling with that too. Once I got that out of the way it was all eyes on the ACT, and there were a lot of people speculating that I wasn't going to make it, that I wasn't going to get a qualifying score.
"It was a lot to worry about, knowing that if I don't make it I won't be able to attend Ohio State University. My third time taking it, I ended up hitting that 20 and it was just a great feeling."
