Dante Booker is a BUCKEYE!

[WANG]

11W.com for the story but here is the TL:DR

6'3" 210 lbs OLB from St Vincent in Akron

10th ranked OLB in the class

Been a heavy OSU lean for a long time, so committment isn't really a shock

Great add for this class as they desperately need LB and OL players

Welcome aboard Dante!

[Deleted]

Sounds like a star!

[victor2111]

was only a matter of time after Parris Campbell(RB on his team) committed. The second LB commit of probably 4.

Good add. Keep Ohio talent at Ohio State.

[WANG]

If OSU lands Raekwon McMillian, then this will be a great LB class for them.

Booker is a very good get though, one of the top players in Ohio, and seems like a kid who does the work and stays quiet (he committed on Twitter, nothing fancy).

Excited to see how the rest of the class plays out!

[victor2111]

I think it is a lock for McMillian. I would be surprise if he is not a Buckeye in the end, they have been his leader from day 1 and still are his leader.

[venkman]

cool

thanks, Wang!

[victor2111]

The one team that was challenging Booker from going to tOSU, was ND. So that makes it even better.

This class will be another top 3-5 class. Michigan is gonna have another great class also. The rest of the B10? ................................

[mauricxe]

Great get....thanks for the post Wang.

Northwestern and Penn State will probably end in the top 15-20....if not higher. I'm really impressed with the job Pat Fitzgerald is doing at NW. I suspect Hazell will get Purdue rolling....much to our dismay given our history with Purdue.

After that, I'm not sure. I imagine Nebraska may hit the top 25. The rest of the league are slackers.

[Deleted]

May 25, 2013 8:08:40 GMT -5 mauricxe said:

Great get....thanks for the post Wang.

Northwestern and Penn State will probably end in the top 15-20....if not higher. I'm really impressed with the job Pat Fitzgerald is doing at NW. I suspect Hazell will get Purdue rolling....much to our dismay given our history with Purdue.

After that, I'm not sure. I imagine Nebraska may hit the top 25. The rest of the league are slackers.

I'd be surprised if PSU gets that high. Most their recruits are going to be 3 stars with a 4 star here and there. I wouldn't think that would get them in the top 15-20 spots.

Northwestern hit a homerun with Fitz. He is a very solid coach and doesn't appear to want to go anywhere else.

[victor2111]

What is going to hurt Penn State is the "recruiting rankings" is they will only have 15commits in the end with the ship loss.

So they will probably finish with something like 5-6 4* commits and 9-10 3* commits. Still impressive class for what they're going through. Lets say they do finish with 5 4* and 10 3*, that is a 3.33AVG *. That is usually good for the 16-22 range rankings if you have lots of commits.



Also, the SEC will make its run later in the year and most of their teams will jump to the top.
- Bama will have a top 5 class
- LSU will have a top 10 class
- Florida, A&M, and UGA will put up their good classes.
- Tennessee is putting up a great class on paper if they can finish strong.
- Kentucky is gonna have a top 15-20 class. Their new HC is doing work. Yes, the Kentucky that sucks is gonna have a good class this year.
- Then you have Ole Miss still, who had a top 5-10 class last year. They could have another top class again this year? Auburn is usually in the top 15-20 range.

I will say 7-8 SEC programs will be in the top 15-20 range in recruiting rankings before it is all said and done.

If I had to guess Big 10:
Ohio State & Michigan top 3
NW 20-25 range if they can finish strong.
Penn State, MSU, Wisky, NEB, 25-35 range. 1-2 of these teams might sneak in the top 25.

[victor2111]

Ha, and talking about Kentucky, they just got another commit from an Ohio kid. Ozone did a article on them.

theozone.net/recruiting/Football2012_14/SECInvadingOhio.html

Good read. Kentucky is now taking the players that would usually go to Illinois, Michigan State, NW, etc.

From the article(I'll update it since Kentucky got another Ohio commit today), Kentucky itself has 6 Ohio players committed to their class. The B10(besides Ohio State) only has 4(1 to michigan, 1 to NW, 1 to MSU, 1 to Illinois). The 4 Ohio players committed to those Big 10 schools, only 1 of them had SEC offers(the one to Michigan). The 6 players committed to Kentucky(all had multiple Big 10 offers(none from Ohio State or Michigan).


Basically the article is pointing out how Kentucky is now getting the solid Ohio prospect that Ohio State/Michigan doesn't want. In the past those players would go to other B10 schools, now Kentucky is getting those guys.

Kentucky isn't going to come into Ohio and take a player from Ohio State or Michigan, but other than that, all bets are apparently off. Meanwhile, schools who have built success off of Ohio high schools are getting beaten to the punch by an SEC basketball school in Big Ten country.

But even taking Ohio State and Michigan out of the picture, that means that Kentucky, statistically the worst program in the SEC over the last five years– winner of four SEC games over the last three seasons – is coming into Ohio and taking recruits from schools who have lived off of Ohioans forever.

You have to credit Kentucky for targeting Ohio. Head coach Mark Stoops is from Youngstown, so he knows what the state has to offer. He also brought in Vince Marrow as an assistant, and Marrow has contacts all over the state.

While some may consider an Ohio kid who doesn't have offers from Michigan or Ohio State a "lesser" prospect, the Big Ten is littered with such prospects who have had major impacts on their schools. Where would those programs be without Ohio players?

Part of the article, as you can see, the WORST FB program in the SEC is BEATING the #3-#12 teams in the B10 for Ohio prospects. How SAD is that?

I've said many times that recruiting is more important to the SEC than the Big Ten, and this is just one small – yet significant – example. Where would Iowa have been without Ricky Stanzi? Or Michigan State without Le'Veon Bell or Javon Ringer? Right now, those teams may be getting beaten for their next great player by a bottom-rung program with a head coach who has zero career wins to his name.

Yes, the newness and hype helps Kentucky, but so does the hard work. It almost feels like the Big Ten recruits because it has to, while the SEC recruits because it wants to. They seem to enjoy the hunt, while much of the Big Ten views it as a necessary evil. With the disproportionate talent bases trending southward by the day, it's actually the Big Ten who should be working harder to find talent. The SEC just has to step outside and ask a neighbor.

Ohio State and Michigan will be fine. The major SEC teams will steal some Ohio kids from OSU and UM here and there, but they'll be able to make up for it. (Though it could be argued that Ohio State still hasn't made up for losing Trey DePriest to Alabama.) But will Michigan State be able to make up for it? Could they have made up for not having Javon Ringer or Le'Veon Bell?

Right now, the bottom of the SEC's barrel is more appealing than Purdue, Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota. That is the fault of each of those schools, but it's also the fault of the Big Ten as a whole. The conference has a stigma right now, and as much as recruits talk to eachother every day, there are very few secrets. Kids talk about the Big Ten, but more importantly, they talk about the SEC.

It's going to take every football program in the Big Ten to change a nation of perceptions, and just maybe that first step toward change is keeping the SEC out of Ohio.

Ohio State and Michigan can only do so much in this regard, and some might argue that Michigan is already doing enough. The rest of the Big Ten needs to step up.

Either that or just wait for Kentucky to tank again and then poach their 2014 commits as they begin to look around.

That actually sounds more like the Big Ten. Just sit back and wait for kids to come back to them.

Gravitational recruiting.

"Rather than go out and pull players in, why don't we all just sit here and see who falls back to us. How does that sound for everybody else?"

"Sounds amazing! We're in!"

"Pinky swear!"

[victor2111]

Ohio is big for the Big 10. It is the best recruiting state up north for them. So if Kentucky can come in and become the #3 team in Ohio(behind tOSU & UM), that is a huge blow to the B10.

It would be different if other B10 teams were going down South and stealing commits, but they're not.

[Deleted]

May 25, 2013 11:11:54 GMT -5 victor2111 said:

Ohio is big for the Big 10. It is the best recruiting state up north for them. So if Kentucky can come in and become the #3 team in Ohio(behind tOSU & UM), that is a huge blow to the B10.

It would be different if other B10 teams were going down South and stealing commits, but they're not.

The other B1G coaches better get their heads out of their a$$e$. We need the conference, as a whole, to be better. It's become almost like a bad joke... We can't beat the big guys in the conference so, we're not going to help with the strength of their schedule... that's how we'll beat 'em.

[WANG]

May 25, 2013 9:42:46 GMT -5 @jtrbucks said:

May 25, 2013 8:08:40 GMT -5 mauricxe said:

Great get....thanks for the post Wang.

Northwestern and Penn State will probably end in the top 15-20....if not higher. I'm really impressed with the job Pat Fitzgerald is doing at NW. I suspect Hazell will get Purdue rolling....much to our dismay given our history with Purdue.

After that, I'm not sure. I imagine Nebraska may hit the top 25. The rest of the league are slackers.

I'd be surprised if PSU gets that high. Most their recruits are going to be 3 stars with a 4 star here and there. I wouldn't think that would get them in the top 15-20 spots.

Northwestern hit a homerun with Fitz. He is a very solid coach and doesn't appear to want to go anywhere else.

Completely agree with both of you on Fitz and NW.

He has turned them from a joke team in the B1G to a legit player in the league each year.

I am really nervous about the game in Evanston this year, I think next to The Game it will be the biggest challenge for the Bucks.

[victor2111]

I am really nervous about the game in Evanston this year, I think next to The Game it will be the biggest challenge for the Bucks.

This really shows you how weak the B10 is. NW/Fitz is doing a good job to make NW a solid program but that is all they are.