Our Honor Defend

In this 5th installment of the 25 part series titled Better Know A Buckeye, I give attention to Dominic Clarke, a cornerback prospect from Frederick, Maryland.  Dominic was so enthusiastic about committing to Ohio State that not only was he the first to fax in his LOI, but he also ended up faxing his LOI six times.  In doing so, not only has Dominic Clarke earned 24 years of eligibility (30 years if he redshirts a couple times), but he also became first in line for this feature following the winter quarter enrollees (Boren, Homan, Klein, Mewhort).  In the following sections, I summarize Clarke’s relatively brief recruitment phase.  Clarke went from receiving an offer from Ohio State to committing to Ohio State in 3 weeks transcending May and June of 2008.  Afterwards, I discuss what he brings to Ohio State.  Then, I conclude with miscellaneous things of note, trying to cram as much fluff as possible into this feature.  Everyone loves fluff.

Height: 5′10
Weight: 183lbs
Forty: 4.41
GPA: 3.75
High School: Tuscarora HS; Frederick, MD

His Recruitment: Dominic Clarke’s courtship with Ohio State may have been a relatively brief period.  Indeed, after receiving a scholarship offer on May 15, 2008, Clarke thought about it for a few weeks and ultimately committed to Ohio State on June 8.  However, Dominic was certainly on the radar for a couple other schools.  Before Ohio State became a major player for Dominic’s services in May, Dominic had caught the eye of several schools on the Eastern seaboard as early as October 2007.  As Dominic was just into his junior year of high school, he was receiving mailers from schools like Rutgers, Virginia Tech, UConn, Duke, North Carolina, East Carolina and 1-AA notables like James Madison, Harvard and Dartmouth¹.  He was a guest of Rutgers and Virginia Tech for their respective games against Maryland and William & Mary.  The comments Dominic had for both schools were nice, as he appreciated the atmosphere at both games he attended.

Still, Dominic was a relatively unknown commodity.  However, Dominic greatly helped himself at the US Army All-American junior combines in San Antonio, Texas.  Therein, the senior to be was named All-Combine defense at cornerback.  Extra interest from the Eastern seabord BCS schools followed.  While, by the end of January, Dominic was still lacking a scholarship offer, he was being heavily recruited by Syracuse and UConn.  By late February, he was already taking some unofficial visits, starting with Maryland and Pitt.  His visit to Maryland coincided with their Junior Day.  While Junior Day may have been the backdrop for the visit, Clarke left impressed with the Terrapins’ vow of academic support for their student athletes.  The sociability of Pitt’s coaching staff and their facilities resonated with Dominic as well.

In spite of the new interest, it took Dominic until the end of April to receive his first formal offers.  The first two schools to extend scholarship offers were Virginia and Maryland, doing so by April 24.  The first big (read: BCS) offers almost always leave an impression on young recruits, and Virginia and Maryland moved to the top of his schools of interest accordingly.  Dominic was apparently always a big Hoos fan growing up and Maryland was the in-state school and close to his Frederick home.  Both ACC schools captured Dominic’s attention for the combination of facilities and emphasis on academics.  Rarely did Dominic mention both distinct recruiting pitches separate.  Instead, Dominic mentioned how the nice facilities both schools featured would allow him to focus on his academics should he attend one of those schools.

However, right as both Virginia and Maryland were the first to pony up offers to Dominic, a college football juggernaut announced its intention to trump both offers.  That goliath? Ohio State.  Ohio State started by inviting Dominic to travel 6 hours west and attend the Spring Game (April 19), an offer that Dominic accepted.  He left Ohio impressed with everything from the Horseshoe to the Oval, and with how personable and organized Tressel and staff were.  A few days later, Ohio State was already leading for Dominic’s services in spite of not having an offer from the Buckeyes.  Dominic was informed by the coaching staff that they wanted him to return for a summer camp (which he did) and that there might be an incentive for him to do that.  Ohio State started to requite the favor shown by Dominic, letting Dominic know right as Virginia and Maryland made their offers (almost to the day) that they were coming in to visit the high school.  Further, Tressel would be the one making the visit, and not an assistant coach.  Understandably, Dominic was excited.

Dominic was even more excited after Wednesday, May 14 2008.  He went to school that day as if it were any other day, except his head coach let him know that Darrell Hazell called him (HS head coach) and wanted Dominic to phone him (Hazell).  When Dominic did, Hazell let him know that a written scholarship offer was coming² and that he was going to be in town the next day to watch him at a local track meet.  The reaction Dominic displayed left an impression on his head coach, who noted that the Ohio State offer was by far the most excited he had seen Dominic about any offer.  The reasons given by Dominic harken, in part, back to the impression that the coaching staff left on him at the Spring Game.  Ohio State’s staff was personable, well organized, and, in spite of the numerous recruits at the Spring Game, the staff had set up personal time with Jim Tressel for each one.  As you’ll hear many Ohio State commits say (see: Keith Wells, for example), the ability for Tressel to carry on a conversation and never force the issue of football to the forefront was impressive.  Yet, when Dominic did ask about his highlight tape, and if he had seen it, Tressel assured Dominic that he had seen it.  Secondly, while the personal impression from the Spring Game resonated strongly with Dominic, he admitted that Ohio State’s recent success made Ohio State stand out more than schools like Maryland, Virginia, Stanford and Boston College.  Ohio State was “big time”, two national title losses that will not be further discussed notwithstanding.  Ohio State was his first big offer.

Dominic sat on the offer for three weeks before making a decision.

His Commitment: After the Spring Game, Dominic accepted the coaching staff’s offer to come back to Columbus for summer camp, specifically: the Senior Advanced Camp in Columbus.  However, Dominic could not even wait that long.  He returned to Columbus on the weekend of June 7-8, coinciding with a summer camp.  Dominic did not participate in those festivities, but did receive an academic tour and met a few of the assistant coaches, specifically Eric Lichter.  After the festivities, Dominic felt he couldn’t leave Columbus without issuing a verbal commitment.  He would return to Columbus in just a few weeks, but he couldn’t wait that long without letting the coaching staff know that Ohio State is where he wants to be.

Dominic’s decision was ultimately a combination of everything about Ohio State that we all love dearly.  He cited the tradition of Ohio State football as well as its recent rise to national prominence, two season ending games that I already mentioned that I would not discuss further notwithstanding.  He also gave emphasis to the coaching staff, mentioning Eric Lichter’s personability and Tressel as the ultimate “player’s coach”.  Dominic’s verbal commitment on June 8 made him the 16th verbal commitment in Ohio State’s 2009 class and the second cornerback to commit³.

Coincidentally, his story coincides with that of another Marylander and Buckeye verbal commitment: Darrell Givens.  Both Givens and Clarke attended the Spring Game, with Givens giving a verbal commitment after the game and Clarke arranging a better position for himself vis-a-vis a scholarship offer.  Givens decommitted on May 10th in favor of Penn State (where he eventually signed).  Clarke received his offer 4 days later.  Lose a Marylander, gain a Marylander.  I’m fine with this swap as Dominic’s commitment marks the second straight year that the Buckeyes have been successful in tapping the talent rich state of Maryland.  Lamaar Thomas of Ft. Washington, Maryland committed to Ohio State in last year’s class.  There’s an anecdote to be had between the two, but that will come later.

Where He Excels: One thing obviously leaps out in watching Dominic play ball: he is fast.  40 times are an imperfect proxy for football speed, but you could read his 4.41 40 time and accurately predict that he, indeed, is fast.  The speed is a little more obvious when he’s either carrying the ball (he was on special teams and was a tailback for his HS team) or chasing down someone from behind.  The latter is never, ever good for the defense because it indicates that the big play has already been given up.  Still, Dominic can chase someone down and minimize the damage.

That speed does carry elsewhere, though.  Importantly, Dominic is fast on the backpedal, a crucial element to playing cornerback.  The backpedal speed also entails a good sense of balance that I detected in watching Dominic play on defense.  Put the two together and Dominic exhibits a knack for changing direction on a dime and playing the ball.  The latter is what turned so many heads at the Army All-American Combine in January 2008.  Scout.com and Scouts Inc. differ in their analyses on Dominic with regard to his pedal.  I side with the former in thinking that his backpedal is pretty good, as opposed to Scouts Inc’s characterization of “adequate-to-good”.  There’s always room to get better.

Every now and then, he’ll also wallop you.  Skillplayers be wary.

Must Work On: Early on, the consensus I read on Dominic was that he excelled at zone coverage and was best when he was given an open field in order to operate.  This allowed him to show off his closing speed, field awareness and ball instincts.  Therefore, the knock against him was that he had limited size and upper body strength to jam receivers and might be a liability in man-to-man coverage.  In watching his highlights, it also wasn’t lost on me that most clips showed him in zone coverage.

Still, I was pleased to read that he’s apparently shone as of late, earning — dare I say — Malcolm Jenkins comparisons for physical maturity.  Apparently he locked down anyone and everyone conceivable in the Crab Bowl.  Apparently, the quarterback playing for the DC team in that Crab Bowl game avoided Clarke like he owed him back rent.  Neat as that is, developing upper body strength may be a worthwhile thing to focus on at the next level.  His lower body strength is already good.

Redshirt? Doubt it.  Depth at cornerback will be an issue for Ohio State in 2009.  With Washington and Jenkins out of the picture, the Buckeyes have two cornerback positions to be filled.  Of course, Chekwa will take one of those by default, but there’s a competition to be had among Andre Amos, Donnie Evege⁴ and redshirt freshman Travis Howard for the other.  Those are just the returning players from last year.  True freshmen Clarke, Barnett and Brown will not only feature into the competition for playing time, but will play an important role in providing depth for the unit.  Clarke should compete for the nickelback position at the least.  I’m sure special teams is also an option.

Highlights: Courtesy of Scouting Ohio: Good strides, great coverage, and some nice hits to boot.

Miscellany

• Dominic’s high school does not permit underclassmen to play varsity football.  In spite of Dominic’s abilities, he didn’t play varsity until his junior year.
• I also did not know this, but Dominic’s high school is only in its 5th year.  The doors opened in 2003.
• Accordingly, there was probably no way Dominic was going to receive an offer unless he was proactive about it.  To compensate for this disadvantage, Dominic visited numerous camps and combines just to get his name out there.
• Consider the following points and there’s plenty of reason to believe that Tressel found a hidden gem here.
• Dominic is an excellent track athlete.  I’ve seen him listed as competing in 200, 300, 400 and 500 meter dashes.  He also did 4x200 relays.
• Lamaar Thomas probably doesn’t want to own up to this, but Dominic beat him in a 300 meter dash with a time of 34.9 seconds when Lamaar was still in high school.  With it, Dominic secured a regional championship.  Dominic made sure Jim Tressel knew about this.
• As a senior, Dominic won three more regional titles in the 300m and 500m dashes.  His relay team also won a regional title in the 1600 relay.
• Dominic finished his senior season as an All-Maryland and All-Metro selection.
• He wants to wear #19 in college, though I think this number is currently occupied by Orhian Johnson.

Dominic, in his own words

Per Scout.com:

Scout.com: What do you want Ohio State fans to know about Dominic Clarke?

Clarke: That I am a legitimate student-athlete. I will get good grades and play good football. I do hope to make it to the NFL one day so I will always be working hard.

Also…

“Of course, getting to know the players more and looking forward to the football season,” he said. “School is going to come with that. I’ll have to start off good with my grades. I don’t want to start out slacking in my classes. I’m going to come in and have summer school and jump on top of my grades right away. I want to come out working tough on my books and having them down pat when I get there and then of course starting work on the football field.”

And, lastly: Dominic on why he chose Ohio State.

“When I visited there I loved it,” Clarke said. “I like the coaches, players and of course the academics. The football speaks for itself. Ohio State is the whole package. Ohio State is where I want to be.”

Our Honor Defend, Dominic.

Again, absent any real way to end these features short of the way I usually end them: Dominic Clarke, consider yourself better known.

Let’s put him on the board.

Class of 2009
Name	Position	Hometown	Better Known?	Name	Position	Hometown	Better Known?
CJ Barnett	DB	Clayton, OH		Marcus Hall	OL	Glenville, OH
Dorian Bell	LB	Monroeville, PA		Adam Homan	FB	Coldwater, OH	01.29
Adam Bellamy	DT	Aurora, OH		Carlos Hyde	RB	Naples, FL
Jaamal Berry	RB	Miami, FL		James Jackson	WR	Grand Ledge, TSUN
Zach Boren	FB	Pickerington, OH	01.22	Storm Klein	LB	Nerk, Ahia	02.02
Corey Brown	WR/DB	Monroeville, PA		Corey Linsley	OL	Youngstown, OH
Duron Carter	WR	Ft. Lauderdale, FL		Sam Longo	OL	Belbrook, OH
Dominic Clarke	DB	Frederick MD	02.11	Jack Mewhort	OL	Toledo, OH	02.05
Melvin Fellows’ Safari Planet	DE	Garfield Heights, OH		Jonathan Newsome	LB/DE	Glenville, OH
Chris Fields	WR	Painesville, OH		John Simon	DE	Youngstown, OH
Reid Fragel	TE	Grosse Pointe, TSUN		Jordan Whiting	LB	Louisville, KY
Kenny Guiton	QB	Aldine, TX		Jamie Wood	DB	Pickerington, OH
Jordan Hall	ATH	Jeannette, PA

1. Florida, Stanford and Purdue are anomalies in this list of schools that were sending mailers to Dominic in early 2007.  Of the three, only Stanford seemed to stick to recruiting Dominic. [↩]
2. Stanford and Boston College offered scholarships the same day, hence the excitement around that particular day [↩]
3. CJ Barnett is the other.  Corey Brown, probable cornerback, joined the fold two weeks later. [↩]
4. The world is not ready for Donnie Evege. [↩]