Jim Tressel and his staff leave no stone unturned when it comes to recruiting. And when one considers Tressel has said the punt is the most important play in football, it should not come as huge surprise that the OSU staff had a punter from Australia visit Ohio State on Monday.
Punter Jay Karutz is making a mini tour of colleges in the United States and one of his stops was at Ohio State on Monday.
Karutz graduated in 2003 from Sydney Holy Cross College, a high school in Australia. He has been playing rugby in Australia, but now wants to attend college in the United States and play college football.
The 6-foot-2 and 200-pound Karutz began his tour with stops at Arizona and Middle Tennessee State.
Karutz then visited Ohio State on Monday.
“I had been requested to come and see the campus by (Ohio State assistant) Coach (Greg) Gillum,” Karutz said. “Ohio State is an impressive institution academically and athletically. From a pure football standpoint it is unrivaled.”
Karutz was not on an official visit with the Buckeyes. And while the OSU coaching staff would like to see him come to Ohio State, he has not been offered a scholarship to this point.
“They offered me a gray-shirt type option,” Karutz said. “I would pay my own way until August. I would walk-on and compete for the punting job. If I’m good enough (to win the punting job) I could go on scholarship.”
After leaving Ohio State on Monday evening, Karutz flew to New Hampshire. After visiting New Hampshire today he will next visit Eastern Michigan before finishing his trip up with a visit to Ohio University.
Karutz is hoping at least one of the schools offers a full scholarship. If that doesn’t happen he will have to decide if he wants to come to the United States and hopefully earn one.
Kurelic’s Comments: The OSU staff would like to see Karutz join the program and compete for the punting job in 2010. However, the main drawback as far as Karutz is concerned is the cost if he were not put on scholarship next fall.
