Open Thread: Signing Day, 2010
Last year, Ohio State was just making sure everyone got in since there was not many recruiting prizes left for them to collect. This year, there is. This year, we might get actually get one. Do we perchance to dream?
There are two names to consider here. Seantrel Henderson (pictured) is the big prize of the group and will be making a decision today. Oddly enough, he’s not doing it in the conventional sense, in the high school gymnasium with everyone else (football and other sports) signing LOIs from the same high school. Instead, Henderson is in New York City where he will sign his LOI on live television at a ceremony in CBS College Studios. Normally these things get done at some kind of ceremony early in the morning before school or at lunch or something. Those of you on the EST will probably be eating dinner when Henderson signs his LOI at 5:30. Seems odd that it’s being handled in this manner, but I guess it does underscore the increased level of intrigue the sport and its subsidiary enterprise — recruiting — has assumed in recent years.
So where will Henderson head? Three candidates, among several, are The Ohio State University, Southern California and Notre Dame. Minnesota — the in-state school for Henderson — is nominally in this list, but I just don’t see the Gophers in this race. Which of the three has the inside track for Henderson? Hell, I’ve read him going everywhere. “Insiders” at Notre Dame think Kelly is in with him. Doug Lesmerises, citing a hunch, thinks it will be USC over Ohio State. Minnesota outlets agree. Still, some have said Ohio State (here, here). As for me, I’m not inclined to think this is anything other than a two horse race and I won’t speculate where he goes. If not Ohio State, then USC.
On that note, we certainly know where Malcolm Jenkins thinks Seantrel Henderson should be.
Matt James is the other fella signing the dotted line today. I have not dealt with Matt James a lot in the buildup to Signing Day, mostly because I just always assumed he was heading to Notre Dame following the hire of Brian Kelly. In reports, James — an offensive lineman from Cincy’s Saint X program — has said that he’s genuinely torn between Ohio State and Notre Dame. I believe him and I respect that. Still, I think it’s Notre Dame for him today.
Other things to consider
- Latwan Anderson will not be signing his LOI with WVU today. Instead, he will wait an additional week to — in all likelihood — make sure Ohio State has spot available and then sign with us. There’s intrigue to this case.
- There’s conflicting information on Morgan Moses. Scout.com says he’s not signing, likely a result of his inability to make a visit to LSU. He has visits he’d like to take and has some schoolwork left to do. Kurelic says that his coach is encouraging him to sign, making it a decision between committing to Ohio State or honoring his earlier commitment to Virginia. In this scenario, I really like our chances.
- Remember James Louis? He seems all set for Ohio State… except for this contingent of Minnesota fans who think otherwise. I wouldn’t worry…
I’ll be a busy beaver all day today, working hard for the money, so hard for it honey. But if you leave a comment or talk amongst yourselves, I’ll probably get around to reading it.
moses honored his original commitment to VA, james to ND, louis stays with us (woohoo!).
espn is saying henderson is going to sign with that snake lane kiffin.were not going to get any of these recruits. Totally disappointing!
According to Ken Gordon: 18 of 18 commits are faxed in. Now we start the TV reality show of the Seantrel Henderson signing. I wonder how many commercial breaks they can work into that? Even if Henderson commits, won’t there be a couple schollies still available?
All I know is, the guys at BuckeyePlanet and other sites have reiterated through all of this process how much the staff’s stability would benefit us.
Obviously not. What these big time 5-stars like is the drama and the spotlight and the party. We really should have made a change ousting Bollman and possibly getting a really respected OC or OL coach.
No disrespect to the kids who signed with us, but we are falling behind slowly every year with top recruits against other programs. Most especially on the offensive line and defensive lines. We lost 2 great ones in state this year in Hicks and James.
We also are definitely not getting our money’s worth out of the top kids we HAVE signed, (Pryor, one good game does not tell us yet if he has turned the corner, Adams-fat and slow with a bad work ethic, Rose-5 star never played higher than a 2 or 3.)
This sucks ass.
True about some of our 5*, but our 3 and four*’s have really played their tailes off!
We have had some low star kids overachieve but that will NEVER compete with a 5-Star living up to his potential.
The best programs get the best kids…..
Like how we get the best kids yes! Just had a rougher time this year!
Tough day- but our 08 and 09 classes were top notch………..Next year will be a big haul once recruits get the feeling that the 08-ers are on their way out……….This class will be the Bill Paxton of classes………solid-yet unspectacular………
This was definitely a tough day to get through in the world of OSU recruiting. The O-Line is just a fiasco.
Fiasco is not the word. Clusterfuck is.
Are you kidding me that Tressel says in his presser that just taking 1 offensive lineman is no big deal?
Look, this staff is lying through their teeth if they are not truly devastated Hendersuck went to USC.
But why wouldn’t he after watching them beat us up front, at our house, at night on the only drive that counted. Or maybe because he has watched our line struggle for what seems like the history of the University now.
O & D lines are what has made the SEC, USC, and other elite programs what we all hate. Why are we so infatuated with 3-star athletes?
Jesus.
Because Tressel has produced a handful of stars from 3 star recruits. It’s an overblown stat that will never get this team over the hump. We need elite players like the recruits from ’08 and ’09. Some of those guys aren’t going to pan out but some could be legends after next year if they bring home the NC. Star ratings do matter.
Here goes the woe woe is me birds chirpping……….How many returners do we have on Offense coming in next yr??………and how many on Defense??…………the cubbard isn’t bare folks. We are ready for another run …………
Relax…………” In Tressel I Trust “………….
By the way, I don’t want to give the impression that I’m not happy with this class. We have a few guys who will be making checks on Sundays and more who will be big time players for us. But we needed an elite tackle to tie this line together next year since Adams hasn’t stepped up.
I wonder why Ed. We just won our first bowl game in 3 years. It isn’t fun being shat upon by everyone from the South and the West coast. Many of the starters this year were from that awesome ’08 recruiting class. Great recruiting classes translate to success on the field. This class is good but we’ve seen what good – not great – recruiting classes get you. Sorry, but I don’t feel like reliving the past 2-3 years.
the world is not ending folks, just see how this plays out i see alot of these guys getting the redshirt which isn’t bad. but what i said before line will be ok either adams or hall wil step in inspite of henderson going to usc, (wonder if he was the guy kiffin picked up in the limop as a secondary violation…lol) so next thing is march madness yay!!!!!!! amd then spring football….
Right on poop. Those bad recruiting years add up over time to produce…..wait for it….lack of depth.
Isn’t that what makes these other elite schools so good? One great player waiting behind another? Competition, relief on the field, consistent fresh guys with no talent drop off are all things we can say about USC, Texas, most of the SEC.
You see, Henderson was a symbol and by not getting him Adams and these other guys don’t have to COMPETE as hard. It’s going to be business as usual for the old O-Line next year.
We won the national title in 2002 with super talent on the defensive line and some great talent on the offensive line. The years we lost the NC were due to our lack of talent and depth in these two areas.
Hey, this staff get a D at best in line recruiting and development, it is our weakest area as a team IMO.
And by the way…….Henderson make his announcement on TV…….but didn’t fax his letter of intent. A NY Times article and the good folks at “Our Honor Defend ” says Henderson is waiting until USC hears back from the sanctions commitee of the NCAA in a few weeks to see if how hard they might get hit.
……interesting…….
Where the hell have they been? This has been going on for years. Now USC decides to hire the second shadiest coach in college football and they still want to go? He should just stick with his decision. He belongs there.