Michael Bennett

The Buckeyes hosted a number of talented juniors in conjunction with the Ohio State-Minnesota basketball game this afternoon.  One of those in attendance was two-way lineman Michael Bennett (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville).

“It went real well,” Bennett said moments ago.  “They offered (a scholarship).  I was expecting them to just talk to me, not to offer.”

Bennett went on to discuss more details of his OSU visit and how the offer came about.

“They showed us around the Les Wexner Complex,” Bennett said.  “Then I talked to Coach (Jim) Tressel in his office.  He just talked about school and everything and then he said he was offering.  I thanked him and said it was really nice they offered because I really like Ohio State.”

When asked what he liked about the visit besides landing a scholarship offer, Bennett said, “I liked how they assigned a coach to walk around with you and explain everything.  Coach (Jim) Bollman walked around with me.”

The 6-foot-3 and 270-pound Bennett started at guard his sophomore season.  He played offensive and defensive tackle during his junior season.

Bennett helped lead the Elks to an 8-3 record with over 70 ‘knockdown’ blocks and over 20 ‘pancakes’ this past season.  However, Bennett would prefer to play defensive end at the next level.

“They didn’t really talk about offense or defense,” Bennett said.  “But if it is offense I think it would be center.  I don’t know what it would be on defense.”

Bennett has scholarship offers from Ohio State, Cincinnati, Indiana, Northwestern, Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina State, Ball State and Alabama-Birmingham.

When asked if Ohio State is his favorite, Bennett said, “I’m not sure.  I’m still weighing all my options.”

Kurelic’s Comment: While Bennett did not say he has Ohio State on top, there was no doubt he was very excited about the offer.  I like OSU’s chances of eventually landing the star lineman.

Check Bennett out on this video compliments of ScoutingOhio.com: