Our Honor Defend

It would seem Buckeye football is still firmly entrenched in the afterglow of the Rose Bowl victory over Oregon, indicative of a recent reminder from the official athletics website to buy your copy of the 2010 Rose Bowl on DVD.  However, this is the time of the year where important decisions are being made about who’s coming to Ohio State, who is staying at Ohio State, and who is leaving Ohio State.  We already know that Thaddeus Gibson appears to be the only confirmed early entry into the NFL from the team, as Cam Heyward, Chimdi Chekwa and Ross Homan have announced their intentions to stay for their final year of eligibility.  We’re waiting on Donnie Evege.  Still, there are other things to report.

Good news first.  The Buckeyes scored the verbal commitment of Johnathon Hankins, a defensive tackle from Detroit’s Southeastern HS.  Michiganders are becoming a common occurrence on the Buckeyes’ roster.  Surely there is precedent in the likes of Pepper Johnson, Jerome Foster and the others, but the presence of these refugees appear to the casual glance to be more frequent.  Vernon Gholston was obviously a standout for the Buckeyes, from Detroit’s Cass Tech.  Justin Boren transferred from the university in that state that is not worthy of me mentioning, bringing his brother with him.  Aaron Gant and Taurian Washington came from Orchard Lake and, recently, the Buckeyes have provided sanctuary to Reid Fragel Rock and James Jackson.  Hankins is the latest in that line.  Hankins is a big ol’ boy of a defensive tackle, measuring at roughly 6’3 320lbs.  Alabama offered him a scholarship, thinking of him as a nose tackle in their 3-4 front.  I don’t see Ohio State thinking of him in that same capacity.  I’m not sure if you remember the pictures of how much Shawntell Rowell slimmed down while he was at Ohio State, but I expect Ohio State thinks of him more as a normal defensive tackle who may stand out in an odd front than they do as a vital element in a transition to a 3-4.  As always, a welcome is in order and an assurance that, coming from that state up north, Johnathon is in good hands now.

Ohio State’s 2010 recruiting class would be just about full, if not for the recent news of transfers from the program. Rocco Pentello, a reserve defensive back, has opted to transfer to Division II Ashland University.  Pentello was a standout as an option quarterback in high school, but came to Ohio State as a defensive back.  He rarely saw the field this year.  There’s more to the story than your garden variety “fish out of water” position story while at Ohio State.  His father noted that there were conflicts between class and practice time that followed from his choice of major, necessarily complicating his position on the football team.  He will compete to be a quarterback at Ashland and will be eligible to play right away.

The other transfer story is that of Lamaar “Flash” Thomas, a wide receiver from Fort Washington, Maryland in the 2008 class.  Thomas saw playing time almost immediately as a kick returner, but struggled mightily to earn playing time as a wide receiver.  For those unaware, Thomas played almost no wide receiver in high school and was, instead, a running back for his high school team.  So, while Pentello appears to be more than a simple fish out of water story, Thomas appears to be just that.  It doesn’t appear that the coaching staff thought Thomas was playing well enough on the offensive side of the ball to crack the two deep.  Even when he did following the suspensions of Duron Carter and Ray Small for the Rose Bowl, Thomas didn’t register a statistic in the game.  It’s unfortunate.  Thomas was highly regarded in the 2008 recruiting class, but never made the transition that others in that class made, like Michael Brewster from tackle to center or Nathan Williams from middle linebacker to the LEO defensive end spot.  Thomas might be one of those cautionary tales for fans.  It’s not that Thomas is a bad guy, far from it.  Everything, character wise, I’ve heard of Flash indicates him as a normal guy and a friend of his teammates.  Still, the transition from high school prep star on the gridiron to college football player is significant.  Not everyone can do it.  For ever future star in the making, and a player who exceeds expectations for Ohio State, there is a player that struggled.  It unfortunately happens.  When it does, said player ends up getting passed on the depth chart by those aforementioned stars in the making and overachievers.  Thus, Thomas exits the program to find a program that will incorporate him into an offense in a manner that he’s accustomed.  To where is not quite certain, though places like UNC have come up in the ol’ rumor mill.  Buckeye fans, generally speaking, may not remember him as a program hero, but hopefully there is no ill will on his end, that he enjoyed his brief stay in Columbus and made lasting friendships with his celebrated teammates in the same recruiting class.

Instrumentally speaking, these aforementioned exits — Gibson, Thomas and Pentello — afford Ohio State greater flexibility with the 2010 recruiting class, which is less than a month away from its final composition.