Kicking tires on one player leads Ohio State Buckeyes football team to others
Published: Thursday, September 29, 2011
By Doug Lesmerises, The Plain Dealer
Marvin Fong,The Plain Dealer
Johnathan Hankins was considered to be too big to be effective in high school. But the Buckeyes liked his enthusiasm.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State went to look at some physical freaks, and along the way, it picked up some football players. Next to high school teammates who had nearly NFL-ready bodies, running back Jordan Hall was a little small and defensive lineman Johnathan Hankins was a little big.
Everyone knows the Buckeyes were checking out 6-6 quarterback Terrelle Pryor in Jeannette, Pa., when they saw the 5-9 Hall, former OSU coach Jim Tressel often retelling the tale of Hall catching his eye as a smart, quick point guard when he watched Pryor play basketball. On Saturday, the Buckeyes will face 6-7 Michigan State defensive end William Gholston, the top recruit they were checking on in Detroit the first time they came across Hankins.
"I knew that, with my talents and the way I played, people would see me, and it would draw interest in me," Hankins said. "But it was good having him on the team."
That's not unusual in recruiting. If you're a player who isn't quite a jump-off-the-film specimen, a talented teammate can be your best friend.
"Well, he was the No. 1 recruit in the country," Hall said of Pryor, "so that probably did factor in to it. I think, eventually, somebody would have come around."
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