Better Know A Buckeye: Terrelle Pryor
June 22 2007: Terrelle Goes Campin’
The visit was certainly a comprehensive one for Terrelle Pryor, even though he didn’t do much in the way of drills. The only activity worth mentioning for Terrelle was working with Joe Daniels, QB coach and primary recruiter for Western PA, on his delivery, paying careful attention to his followthrough. Failing that, most of Terrelle’s time was spent chatting with JB Shugarts, Mike Adams, Michael Brewster and Eric Lichter while working out.
He also found time to meet with Thad Matta and Jim Tressell at the same time and discuss the possibilities of playing hoops at Ohio State while also on a football scholarship. Matta and Tressel were more than willing to accomodate his desire there, with Terrelle saying that everyone agreed he would join the hoops team only after the bowl game was over and that he not miss spring practice. Matta said it wouldn’t be an issue, since he prefers a nine-man rotation.
Terrelle also admitted to being partly starstruck by some of the people in attendance, including Buckeye luminaries like Troy Smith, Kirk Herbstreit, Orlando Pace1 and Chris Spielman. He even mentioned being rather shocked that Kirk Herbstreit and Troy Smith knew who he was, and talked with them for awhile during his visit. Their conversations never involved going to Ohio State, as that’s illegal by NCAA stipulations. Instead, Kirk Herbstreit related some of his own experiences on the recruiting trail as a highly touted QB from Centerville and expressed empathy for Terrelle knowing the pressure that goes into making one of the biggest decisions of his young life. Troy and Terrelle mostly chit-chatted.
Of course, Terrelle played everything close to the vest (no pun intended), as he was counseled by his legal guardian not to make the same mistake he made with Pitt in his sophomore year. His overall thoughts on the visit were positive, but ultimately curt. The facilities were described as “tight” and “real nice”. The visit overall was described as “good” and, on the issue of where the Buckeyes stood, he only volunteered that the Buckeyes were “in it deep”.
While Buckeyes fans may have been disappointed to not read more glowing, or even gushing, remarks about the visit in their Scout or Bucknuts news feeds upates, the fact that he even visited was more than positive by itself. It was positive considering that his preferences and interests in schools started to fluctuate, as he started looking at schools with mediocre football programs, mediocre basketball programs and started to look at schools outside of his 5-6 hour driving radius. The visit to Ohio State for camp serves as further evidence that the Buckeyes, wherever they stood on Terrelle’s list… perhaps as the leader, says this Pittsburgh Sports Report, were a constant in his recruitment.
It also gave us the opportunity for this incredibly awesome paparrazi-themed picture, courtesy of a former poster on BuckeyePlanet.
- This would’ve sealed the deal for me on the spot… but I’m weird like that… [↩]
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holy shiiiiittttttt
thanks for getting me fired at the illiteracy factory
Dude. This is 27 pages single-spaced at .7 inch margins, when taking out the images.
Dude.
You’re not expecting anyone to read this, are you? This must be the longest post in the history of college football blogging. When was the last time you went out anyways?
Wow. I now have plans for the evening.
I’d give you two thumbs up, if I weren’t wasting my time giving my computer screen hand gestures. Great work, man.
I love the SpaceBalls reference on page 18…….
Hmm, I don’t know when the last time I got out was, but 27 pages single-spaced? That’s a little exorbitant even for me.
Great article. I think you know more about Terrelle than he does. Thanks for all the hard work – this had to take a while to finish.
Wow. Amazing work. Now I’ll have something to do at my summer job tomorrow for a couple hours.
Vico, you can now open the sweet nectar of Gods, Pabst Blue Ribbon, in a jubilant celebration.
You have now reached “legend” status, my friend.
Speaking of pp 18, is Strawberry Mansion not the coolest school name ever?
Whew! I’m exhausted! I squandered an hour of my employer’s time, and still had to finish it at home. So many cool links to follow. Naturally, after getting my fix, I can only ask … nah, nevermind. Take a few days off, then we’ll all hit you up for the next, and last, BKAB.
I think I’ve read about this somewhere else (if not, I can’t believe I’m the only one with the idea), but on the subject of the signing day postponement that got everybody so freaked out/made Terrelle look like an attention whore: it seems reasonable to assume that TP knew where he was going but didn’t want to deal with hostile crowds at PSU during the state basketball tourney and simply waited till after it was over to announce.
That was a monster of a piece, nice work.
My cat’s name is Terrelle.
Fantastic piece. Incredibly researched and supported. I learned many new things. Kudos.
That was a great post and this has been a great series, now i can’t wait for the last one.
Oh, I forgot to include this: http://www.pittsburghsportsinsider.com/?p=1095
Take a look at what Joe Paterno (allegedly) told Terrelle Pryor early into his recruitment.
senior year stats: http://jeannettejayhawksfootball.blogspot.com/2008/08/rollover-stats-terrelle-pryor.html
and lastly: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07241/812755-365.stm
- pay careful attention to the stories of him stealing the ball of the tee, and hurdling a would-be tackler at the 5 yard line and landing 3 yards in the end zone.
Dude, you made it onto The Big Lead and SI’s Campus Clicks.
Dude.
Bandwidth gets chewed through, but no one’s contributed to the Give Us Money Campaign. That gets a dismayed “Dude”.