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WR Ray Small (official thread)

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Toledo Blade

1/25

Small would be a big addition to the Buckeyes
Glenville speedster's commitment improves Ohio State recruiting class

By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
<center></center>
On Monday, coaches in Los Angeles, Knoxville and East Lansing wore sad-sack expressions and reached for the Excedrin. A few in the capital of the Buckeye State smiled. Ray Small said he was going to play football at Ohio State.




​
The oral commitment by the speedster from Cleveland's Glenville High School gives the Buckeyes another one of the top players in the state, and another from the top 100 in the nation. With signing day only a week away, Ohio State and most major football powers have the bulk of their recruiting classes locked up and are zeroing in on a few last-minute undecideds. Small took his name off that list by becoming the 20th player to announce he would sign with Ohio State, and the seventh member of the top 100 to join the Buckeyes. "With the addition of Ray Small, I think Ohio State certainly has one of the top 10 classes in the country, and I would argue that it is likely a top five class," said Duane Long, football recruiting guru at the Scout.com website. "It is a phenomenal class that just keeps getting better." Small is a 4.4 40-yard dash flier who keeps Glenville "Speedville" pipeline to Ohio State going. The wide receiver/defensive back scored 16 touchdowns and had 1,200 all-purpose yards to help Glenville go 12-1 last fall. He scored four times on kick returns and had plenty of options in his college choice, according to Ted Ginn Sr., coach of the Tarblooders whose son is a standout receiver and kick returner for the Buckeyes. "A lot of people were interested in Ray because he has some outstanding natural abilities, and he is a real game-breaker every time he touches the ball," Ginn said. "He has that burst of speed, that quickness, and that extra gear. He does some things you can't really coach a player to do." <table align="left" bgcolor="white" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="200"> <tbody><tr> <td> <table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr bgcolor="#acbac7"> <td>OHIO STATE RECRUITS</td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#e5eaf1"> <td> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td>Ohio State has received verbal commitments from:

• Ray Small, Cleveland Glenville, 5-11, 170, DB/WR
• Thaddeus Gibson, Euclid, Ohio, 6-2, 212, LB
• Aram Olson Irmo, Columbia, S.C., 6-2, 240, RB
• Aaron Gant, St. Mary (Mich.), 6-0, 200, S
• Bryant Browning, Cleveland Glenville, 6-3, 328, OL
• Andy Miller, Washington Trinity (Pa.), 6-7, 255, OL
• Walter Durbin, Sarasota, Fla., 6-3, 235, DE
• Mark Johnson, Los Angeles Dorsey, 6-3, 227, LB
• Robert Rose, Cleveland Glenville, 6-4, 240, DE
• Chimdi Chekwa, Clermont East Ridge (Fla.), 6-1, 170, CB
• Dexter Larrimore. Merrillville, Ind., 6-3, 260, DT
• Grant Schwartz, Dana Point Dana Hills, (Calif.), 6-0, 200, S
• Tyler Moeller, Cincinnati Colerain, 6-1, 205, LB
• Connor Smith, Cincinnati Colerain, 6-5, 295, OL
• Josh Chichester, West Chester Lakota West (Ohio), 6-8, 210, WR
• Antonio Henton, Fort Valley Peach County (Ga.), 6-2, 207, QB
• Kurt Coleman, Clayton Northmont (Ohio), 5-11, 180, CB
• Jake Ballard, Springboro, Ohio, 6-7, 255, TE
• Ross Homan, Coldwater, Ohio, 6-1, 227, LB
• Chris Wells, Akron Garfield, 6-2, 220, RB</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Ginn said it was a relief for both coach and player to have the recruiting process over with, and that he is pleased with Small's choice since it was made without a lot of outside pressure. Small and two of his 2005 Glenville teammates will join Ted Ginn Jr. and quarterback Troy Smith as Glenville products at OSU. "There's no question it is a relief once one of these kids makes up their mind, as long as they are comfortable with their choice and they make it for the right reasons," Ginn Sr. said. "I try not to tell them where to go or where not to go, but instead try and make sure they have all the information to make a good decision." Long said that with the addition of Small, Ohio State is focusing its eleventh-hour recruiting on a couple of players who are still making up their minds, or have academic issues that need to be clarified. Ohio State's coaches are forbidden by NCAA regulations from commenting on potential recruits or oral commitments until after a written commitment is received. "Outside of those last couple guys that are still in question, Ohio State's staff has to love this class," Long said. "I think it has probably been underrated in most corners, but the only critical thing I see is that it would have been nice to have a couple more offensive linemen - but that's it. They've got everything else covered with outstanding talent." The list of commitments the Buckeyes have received is pretty close to even between in-state and out-of-state. Long said the Buckeyes' success under fifth-year coach Jim Tressel has enabled them to get a number of top players from long distance. "Ohio State has always sold itself as a national recruiting power, but when Jim Tressel can pass on some of the Ohio kids he passed on this year, and go get some of the best talent out of California and Florida, it shows where Ohio State stands nationally," Long said. "They've gone all over the country and come back with a lot of the guys they went after, so that shows the recruiting power Ohio State now has." Long said the focal point of the Ohio State recruiting class might be the group of incoming linebackers, which he thinks has the chance to become a dominant bunch. Thaddeus Gibson (6-3, 210) from Euclid, Ross Homan (6-1, 225) of Coldwater and Tyler Moeller (6-1, 205) of Cincinnati Colerain are joined by Mark Johnson (6-3, 227) from Los Angeles as future Buckeye linebackers. "That collection of linebackers gives Ohio State a class that is comparable to the A.J. Hawk class four years ago," Long said, referring to Ohio State's senior All-American linebacker who is expected to be an early first-round choice in the upcoming NFL draft. "You don't know for sure how they'll develop, but on paper they look like an outstanding group." Contact Matt Markey at:
[email protected]
 
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link

1/25/06

OSU FOOTBALL | NOTEBOOK

Small latest from Glenville to pick OSU

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Tim May and Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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Might it be appropriate to describe the most recent Ohio State commitment Raymond Small as Ted Ginn Jr. lite?

"That’s about right," said Ted Ginn Sr., who coached both at Cleveland Glenville. "You want to get them on the field because they make things happen."

His son has proved that at Ohio State the past two seasons while Small, a receiver/defensive back, was playing at Glenville. But yesterday Small (5 feet 10, 173 pounds), considered the best all-purpose football athlete in the state by Ohio Football Recruiting News, confirmed that he was the 20 th member of the Buckeyes’ 2006 recruiting class.

He is the third player from Glenville in the class, joining defensive end Robert Rose and lineman Bryant Browning. Ohio State already has four Tarblooders, including Ginn Jr. and quarterback Troy Smith.
Click to expand...
 
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Rivals.com (free)

1/25/06

Big Ten Recruiting Blitz....

Small is one of three Glenville stars heading to OSU this year. He joins teammates Bryant Browning and Robert Rose by heading down to Columbus. Small, according to Glenville coach Ted Ginn, should be an immediate threat for the Bucks.

In games and in practices, every week Small showed why he's special.

During one game earlier this season that Rivals.com scouted, Small turned on his jets after catching the ball in the flat, leaving tacklers in his dust. Then when tacklers would get near him, he would juke, twist and contort his body and explode for additional yards. Every time he caught the ball, his teammates standing on the sideline would stop talking, pause and just simply watch in awe.

Then when he would come back to the sideline, instead of bragging, or pointing attention to himself, Small would simply flash a million-dollar smile.

"He's always smiling," one of his teammates said. "He knows he's great, but he doesn't talk smack. He just goes back to the huddle with that big smile of his."
Click to expand...
 
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Not sure if any of you guys watch the Glenville vs. St. Eds game, but there is one play where Nate Oliver breaks into the open field and he is outrunning Jermale HInes and Royce Adams, and Small got a little shove about 5 yards behind the play making him about 10 yards behind Oliver and he came out of nowhere to run him down. He looked extemely fast.

another one of those guys that will just increase their speed when Butch gets ahold of him.
 
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DL says that his first 2-3 steps are as fast as Ginns, but he doesnt know if he does have his 40 time. All that matters though, is that everyone says that he was by far the most impressive Glenville player this year...

Thats enough for me.
 
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Duane was supremely confident that he won't see the field in 06. This was contrary to Conley's views. In fact he came right out and dogged Conley several times on Mo Wells. Pretty bold to dog the former recruiting coordinator for the buckeyes.

Looks like the handwriting is on the wall that Bill Conley is going somewhere to coach or another website to voice his dissatisfaction with Tressel's recruiting.
 
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slickman said:
Duane was supremely confident that he won't see the field in 06. This was contrary to Conley's views. In fact he came right out and dogged Conley several times on Mo Wells. Pretty bold to dog the former recruiting coordinator for the buckeyes.

Looks like the handwriting is on the wall that Bill Conley is going somewhere to coach or another website to voice his dissatisfaction with Tressel's recruiting.
Click to expand...

It's unfortunate that they couldn't get past this [ JT & Staff "vs" Conley]. I'm sure I'm sure I'm not the only one who wouldn't have loved to see Conley come back in some fashion on the recruiting side of the staff.
 
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