Less than a week after National Signing Day, I am back with the latest edition of my Kurelic’s Recruiting Notebook. Today we look at Braxton Miller and Cardale Jones, Jim Tressel finishing second on some high profile prospects and what is happening up north with Rich Rodriguez.
Cardale Jones
**There is no doubt the Buckeyes’ No. 1 target at quarterback for their 2011 recruiting class is Braxton Miller (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne). There is also not much doubt junior quarterback Cardale Jones (Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville) would like to be a Buckeye if the opportunity presents itself.
Jones walked into the TDC Banquet on Saturday night with an Ohio State hat on. Jones’ has scholarship offers from Iowa and West Virginia to name two, but continues to have Ohio State at the top of his list.
Jones is going to wait things out and take official visits before selecting a college, and said even if Braxton Miller were to commit to Ohio State, he would have no problem also committing to the Buckeyes if the offer were to come. Jones said he is not in the least bit afraid of competition and Miller’s decision will not impact his choice.
Of course the one way Miller could impact Jones is if Miller committed to the Buckeyes and the Ohio State staff only takes one quarterback for their 2011 recruiting class.
** Some Buckeye fans were not happy with the recruiting class Jim Tressel signed on Wednesday. It was a class that was generally ranked somewhere between No. 12 in the country and No. 26, which was not good enough for some OSU fans.
When one looks at the list of players that have indicated the Buckeyes finished second on their list, the ranking could have been much higher if a few of those decisions would have gone Ohio State’s way.
Offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham), defensive lineman Sharrif Floyd (Philadelphia, Pa./George Washington), offensive lineman Matt James (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier), defensive back Josh Shaw (Palmdale, Calif./Palmdale), quarterback Andrew Hendrix (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) and tight end Alex Welch (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) all publicly said Ohio State was their runner-up. Of course, Henderson has not actually signed with USC yet, but at this point OSU is his second choice.
**Late last week Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez offered a scholarship to offensive lineman Aundrey Walker (Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville). It was quite a week for Walker as he attended Michigan State’s junior day on Saturday, Jan. 30 having already been offered by the Spartans. The next day he attended Ohio State’s junior day and received an offer from the Buckeyes. Then later in the week Walker landed the offer from Rodriguez. The huge lineman also has an offer from West Virginia.
**And speaking of Rodriguez, the Michigan boss does not seem bothered by safety Demar Dorsey’s past problems. Dorsey was arrested twice in 2008. He was found not guilty for one of the charges, and the charges were dismissed for the other arrest. Rodriguez said he had done his homework on the two incidents and was comfortable with everyone he signed on Wednesday.
Dorsey, an Under Armour All-American safety, came up with perhaps the biggest National Signing Day surprise when he picked Michigan over Florida State and USC. Dorsey originally committed to Florida, but began taking official visits to other schools. The Gators decided they were not going to sign Dorsey not too long before National Signing Day.
