Browns Report – 8-10/2011 – Fiery McCoy, Greg Little, and Tight Ends
August 10, 2011While We’re Waiting… Kipnis the Dirtbag, Browns WR Comparison and Bizarro Baron Davis
August 11, 2011With all the scandal and all the uncertainty with regard to the future, Ohio State knew that recruiting the 2012 class was going to be an obstacle. This point was driven home by the flux of top Ohio recruits committing to Michigan, including the likes of Tom Strobel and Chris Wormley. The deepest blow, of course, came from Kyle Kalis’s decision to de-commit from Ohio State and commit to Michigan.
It has become clear that while the 2012 class just isn’t interested in going to play football at a place where it is unknown yet what punishment is coming and who the head coach will be in the future. And while this is certainly understandable, it’s also unfortunate for Ohio State and puts them in a position they certainly aren’t used to when it comes to recruiting, particularly in Ohio.
Ohio State has had to adapt this year and rely on in state kids who want to be a Buckeye no matter what. Not to use the phrase “true Buckeyes”, because in my opinion all Buckeyes are “true Buckeyes”, but the types of recruits OSU must rely on for 2012 at this point are those who truly do bleed scarlet and gray and whose dream it has always been to be a Buckeye.
So it is, then, that Pickerington Central wide receiver Roger Lewis becomes the 12th member of the 2012 recruiting class at The Ohio State University. The three-star 6’2” 190 lb wide out comes as a bit of an inspiring success story mixed with a hint of dreams come true. As Lewis himself points out in Tim May’s article, this has always been his desire:
“Growing up in Columbus and just watching Santonio Holmes, Ted Ginn and all those great receivers go through Ohio State, I’ve wanted to be a part of that,” Lewis said. “So I decided to make it official: I want to be a Buckeye.”
It wasn’t easy, though, and the Ohio State offer was never a sure thing. Lewis is quick, athletic, and a powerful runner for his size. He has nice leaping ability, incredible hands, and has an excellent first move as well as the ability to use double moves to get separation. So why the uncertainty? Perhaps the biggest issue was a lack of game film due to Pickerington Central’s preferred style of running the ball.
To get his name on OSU’s radar, Lewis showed up at the Ohio State camp this year and showed a confidence and ability that made his name ring out amongst those who say the workouts. Only then was Lewis’s name being brought up as a possible OSU offer.
The hard work and dedication paid off for Lewis as he received his offer last week and called coach Luke Fickell yesterday to officially inform the coach that he would be accepting the scholarship offer.
Ohio State has a knack for taking three star WR prospects and molding them into big time playmakers and Lewis’s experience and success in the return game along with his advanced route running skills make him a prime candidate to follow in that legacy.
A highlight video of Lewis, along with tape of his camp workouts in which you can really see his ability to create separation with his agile moves, can be seen below, courtesy of Allen Trieu of Scout.com.
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Photo Credit: Jeff Mills/This Week News
8 Comments
check this out:
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/6850888/ncaa-sends-second-letter-investigating-ohio-state
Id say OSU’s meeting with the Committee on Infractions is only round 1
A letter of investigation is entirely different than a Notice of Allegations. The NCAA investigates media reports but they do not punish based on them. It’s probably a bit presumptuous to assume that this means OSU will face more allegations. The NCAA will have to find a paper trail a la Tressel’s emails that demonstrates A) that these media reports are true and B) that OSU had some kind of either knowledge or negligence with these issues. Could happen, but no sense in worrying about hypotheticals right now.
@Andrew – to back that up here are the prominent statements from that link (capitalization my emphasis, not ESPNs):
“The result COULD be a second notice of allegations and a second trip through the NCAA justice system.”
“IF any of those reports are verified by NCAA investigators, they could result in additional major allegations against the school.”
Since the NCAA has no real judicial power, however must prove allegations (whereas media outlets can report on likelihood), the odds are stacked against the NCAA from the onset.
Not saying there isn’t more to what is going on in Columbus, but just that there doesn’t seem to be anything more the NCAA will be able to prove (for now at least).
97.1 in Columbus disagrees with your theory. They are speculating Pryor may be cooperating with the NCAA (again, thats speculation, from a Columbus radio show, so theres definitely a chance it may not be true)
I think what you’re missing is the relevance of this particular article.
Congratulations to Roger Lewis for getting to play big time football at a place he clearly wants to be, but why is there an article about the 83rd best receiver’s commitment? The human interest angle is weak at best and the headline could read like something from the Onion; “Area Man goes to Local U.”
I’m not putting Roger down at all, but by all intents and purposes he is a regional recruit with a weak cohort of offers. The only other major programs looking at him didn’t offer, according to Scout.com.
“The university has not received any additional allegations from the NCAA. As a member institution, we are committed to working together with the NCAA to examine any information concerning potential violations of NCAA legislation.
We do not anticipate discussing any additional allegations with the Committee on Infractions on Friday other than those self reported in March, 2011.
The latest letter I saw from the NCAA to President Gee did not mention any additional allegations.”
–Jim Lynch, OSU Spokesperson
Once again, I just simply do not trust ESPN one bit in this matter. The network is suing OSU for not divulging information to it, and now claims that OSU might be withholding information about additional allegations (particularly citing its own inept and baseless OTL show)?? Come on. I’m no conspiracy theorist, but this sure does seem like ESPN is “building the record” for its legal argument.
osu will be fine. they got a new that learned from tressel and they have a better QB coming up than pryor. guess what michigan fans? osu wont get a hugh punishment