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March 16, 200803/07 Morning Minute: Happy St. Patrick’s Day
March 17, 2008High School Phenom Terrelle Pryor To Make College Choice This Week
Ohio State recruiting is always a bit of a roller coaster ride, and this season has been no exception, especially trying to keep up with the Terrelle Pryor saga. In case you don’t know who he is, Terrelle Pryor is one of the top 5 overall recruits in the nation. He’s a QB prospect from Jeannette High School in Pennsylvania. He is also a star in basketball as well, and this season Pryor lead both his high school football team and basketball team to State Championships in Pennsylvania. Initially he was being recruited by many schools to play both sports in college, but he has recently stated that he will sticl with football and just focus on the one sport.
So where is he going to college? Well, that’s where the roller coaster part comes into play. There have been many schools on his list throughout the past few years, but the one constant has been Ohio State. We’ve discussed OSU’s recruiting class here before, and in particular we’ve discussed his close relationship with OSU recruit Mike Brewster. Heading into National Letter Of Intent Signing Day, all signs pointed to Pryor signing with OSU. Then, signing day came and nothing happened. Pryor indicated he would visit a couple more schools, Penn State and Oregon in particular, and make his decision at a later time. He said his final four schools were OSU, Penn St, Michigan, and Oregon.
It was about this time that much of Buckeye Nation freaked out. Panic and pandemonium broke out on blogs, message boards, and call in shows. But I have maintained all along that people needed to just be patient, and that this was all really just a formality and that Pryor would still be a Buckeye eventually. Now, on the heels of his state championship in basketball this week, it appears that the long wait is about to come to an end.
According to Pryor, he will make his announcement this week and will not visit any more schools. According to the PennLive Sports Blog,
“It’s down to two schools … (but) I can’t tell you (who they are),” Pryor said after Jeannette defeated Strawberry Mansion 76-72 to win the PIAA Class AA basketball championship Saturday afternoon at PSU’s Bryce Jordan Center.
“Next week, I’m going to say the school I’m going to, sign it and get it over with,” said Pryor, who clarified his announcement time period as “this coming week.”
This clearly appears to be a good sign for Ohio State. Things looked good when Pryor showed up at an OSU basketball game a couple weeks ago, they looked even better when he had OSU recruit DeVier Posey accept an award on his behalf, and they look even better now that no more visits are going to be made. Throughout this proccess OSU has always been the supposed favorite, and really, nothing has happened to shake my confidence. We’ll have more on Pryor later this week once the announcement is made, and while I wouldn’t yet say this is a “done deal”, it certainly looks good for the Buckeyes as they hope to put a wrap on this special 2008 recruiting class with a giant cherry on top.
6 Comments
Is it just coincidence the US economy has gone in the toilet since National Signing Day? People across the country have been unable to be productive, as they follow Terrelle’s each and every move.
At this point, I question whether tOSU would want a guy needing this type of publicity on a near-daily basis. Just feels very Clarett-ish to me. Hard to deny the talent, but wow, I’m just looking for closure on this.
Any college would be nuts to not want this guy. He’s a good kid who gets good grades and has never been in trouble other than the post-game fight the other week, which involved both teams. Oh, yeah, and he has more talent than any dual-threat QB prospect we have seen in a very long time.
The thing I don’t get is why people blame Terrelle for the publicity. He doesn’t ask reporters to follow him around and call him every half hour of every day looking for info. But he’s an incredible talent in two sports, and so naturally the press reports on him all the time, and somehow this is perceived to be Pryor’s fault. I don’t get that.
Why call a press conference on National Signing Day to say you’re not signing anywhere? He can decline to comment on anything, but he’s the one greasing the gears of the media machine by dragging this out. I don’t think it’s a coincidence he didn’t announce along with everyone else on signing day so he could get a month on uninterrupted spotlight. It was poor advising by Batch & Co. if he were told anything else, but I think TP is completely aware of what he’s orchestrating. This guy is (well, WAS until this weekend) a very photogenic, well-spoken talent that knows he can be the next Tebow/McNabb/etc for the next 20 years if he plays his cards right.
Here’s what happened. He agreed months in advance to ESPN’s request (not his own request) to open their Signing Day show with his announcement press conference. OSU was the leader all along for him, and he was all set to sign with OSU at his press conference. However, in the last week, the Penn St coaches started pushing his father really hard to get Pryor to visit PSU. The night before signing day his father requested/insisted (depends on which source you believe) that Pryor not sign with OSU and to at least give PSU another chance. Pryor reluctantly agreed. He informed ESPN that he wasn’t going to sign, and ESPN asked if he would still show up at the press conference and answer some general questions about his recruiting proccess, to which he agreed.
If you really think he’s orchestrating this, or that this is what he wanted, read the quotes in the Pittsburgh newspapers by his coaches and his friends. Check out the OSU Insider Recruiting boards. Does Pryor enjoy the spotlight? Sure….what 18 year old kid wouldn’t? But is he orchestrating all of this? Absolutely not. If he had his way, he would have signed with OSU on signing day and none of this would be an issue.
And I’m not just pointing all of this at you, draftnik. I’ve read comments all over the web ripping this kid a new one, when frankly, most people have no idea what has all gone on in his recruitment. And I still don’t fully understand why so many people just assume this is all Pryor’s doing. As though this media coverage is only there because he asks for it. He doesn’t fully reject it, but he’s hardly the prima donna he’s being made out to be.
Good background, RK, thanks. tOSU doesn’t need any off-field distractions this year, so let’s hope this drama ends when he puts his name down on paper.
Either way, he’s got two Big Ten schools with a stadium full of fans ready to boo him every time he takes the snap for the next four years. Not quite Eric Gordon, but someone somewhere will be PO’d next week.
For sure. But that’s the nature of big time college athletics, I suppose. Either way, if you look at what Tressel was able to do with Troy Smith, who was a MUCH bigger risk, character-wise and talent-wise, than TP…..well, lets just say that if/when he announces his intentions to go to OSU, I am going to be very giddy. This 2008 class is beyond exceptional.