Pryor back in the 614

UPDATE: Elvis has entered the building. According to Paul, Pryor made a brief, if not premature, entrance as the Buckeyes headed to the locker room for half-time. He exchanged greetings with the Brew Crew before ducking out of view with Tressel.

Doug Lesmerises of the Plain Dealer reports that Terrelle Pryor is in fact in Columbus today.

Lesmerises spotted everyone's favorite unsigned 5-star recruit heading into the Woody Hayes Center with a modest entourage that included football teammate and potential future Buckeye, Jordan Hall.

As posted by Move the Needle and reported by The Post Gazette, Pryor put on his Kobe face last night and had a huge, huge (a near triple-double in the FIRST HALF) game in the Penn. state tourney.

Traveling reporter Paul Germain offered an extra set of eyes at the Schott and has been phoning in updates, anticipating a red-carpet entrance by the boy wonder. With about 4 minutes left in the first, no sign of the QB recruit.

According to Paul, a few members of the Brew Crew are at the game as well, including O-lineman J.B. Shugarts who is already enrolled at The Ohio State University.

On day when Twig is sinking threes and Butler comes off the bench, anything seems possible.

The Haul

When the smoke cleared after the forced event that is National Signing Day, Ohio St. came away with a damn impressive class--despite a few glaring omissions.

Here is the list of the 19 commits, with room for one more.

While I've seen the class ranked anywhere from 5th to 9th in the country, no one can deny that Tressel and his coaches have brought in a top ten class. Heavy on the big fellas up front (DE Willie Mobley, left) and only one true WR (Posey), the '08 group didn't garner a lot of attention on a day filled with lunch room press conferences. In fact, in spite of the Orhian Johnson announcement, the biggest OSU news of the day was who didn't sign--yet.

Which brings us to he who shall not be named. Video below, featuring the shadow of the man that was Robert Smith.


"He" added another chapter to his biography that every chump with a blog or internet forum pseudonym has been writing for the last year. Somehow a new, possibly Buckeye-friendly, angle materialized out of his non-announcement.

Evidently, Penn State is starting to "creep up" on the this in-state talent. I am one of many that share this sentiment, but reintroducing the Nittany Lions into the mix may be a prelude to good things to come for OSU. The cryptic Post-Gazette article I posted last night has been re-interpreted as follows:

The QB's old man is pulling a Charlie Batch and over-stepping his boundaries, offering up much more than his two-cents. Dad has been getting visits/calls from the Penn St. campaign and is using his parental sway to get Son to take a final look at the blue and white. Couple this info with Buckeye commit Andrew Sweat saying he thinks QB is joining him at OSU and one can speculate that Son's choice is Ohio St. regardless of Dad's futile push for the hometown team.

The optimistic abridged version: With Michigan far removed from his peripheries, Pryor (whoops) eats an obligatory meal in the Penn St. cafeteria then goes with his gut and signs with the Bucks.

Jenkins to WVU

Josh Jenkins, a 5-star OL recruit that excited OSU fans when backed out of a verbal commitment to West Va. and RichRod late last year, will announce his formal commitment to a Rod-less Mountaineer program tomorrow (per the News and Sentinel).

Jenkins flirted with joining a strong O-line class, aka The Brew Crew, in Columbus but has evidently decided to stay closer to home. Can't blame him for doing so and I respect his reevaluation of the program after RichRod split.

Wednesday looms as Rivals is now reporting...



as Rivals is now reporting Pryor will not announce tomorrow.

Wells to announce today

UPDATE 12:13PM EST: I'm hearing that the announcement is pushed to 1:00PM. For what it's worth and strictly to keep the rumor mill spinning, moderators at Buckeye Planet seem pretty smug in their assumption that the news from Florida will be positive when it comes...

As murmured on message boards and cited on Buckeye Commentary, DE prospect Keith Wells returned from his Notre Dame visit ready to announce his intentions for the fall.

Bucknuts says we'll know Wells' choice by 11:30AM.

Though the formal FSU verbal recently made an in-state visit to Florida, his final three are Tennessee, ND and OSU (he took his official with the Bucks in Dec.)

Along with Josh Jenkins, Pryor and Brandon Harris, Wells is part of the potential grand finale to the Brew Crew. Harris, a 5-star CB from Florida, was at UCF this weekend but is thought to be a lock to join Miami (FL)'s beastly class. However, rumors adrift after a big recruiting weekend for the 'Canes hint that Randy Shannon's class may have reached capacity. But why shut out a local stud CB?

Here's to a setting the tone for the rest of the week...

Silver Bullet Points

Catch your breath

Because we're approaching the recruiting home stretch when, like the Tri Delt semi-formal, anything goes.

Feb. 6th, National Signing Day, marks the first day that high school seniors can sign a letter of intent (LOI) to the college of their choosing. Despite marking when hundreds of minors sign binding contracts with large, powerful, usually state-funded institutions, National Signing Day has somehow managed to put an incredibly exciting spin on it's image. Lord knows I can't wait.

As of today, OSU has offered up 18 schollys and still has a few left to give (see "Freeman stays on board.") Terrelle Pryor, OL Josh Jenkins and DL Keith Wells, who recently de-committed from Florida St. and is reportedly leaning towards OSU, are all still without a date to the big show on Saturday afternoon and any one of these players would be icing on top of this class which is currently ranked 6 by Rivals and 9 by Scout.

During these remaining 20 days keep in mind that, even if OSU doesn't close the deal on any other marquee players, Tressel and his team have a knack for getting the most out of what they have. Even Scout concedes that a 3-star recruit turned All American is no longer an anomaly.

But let us not forget the most important recruits, those who became the current OSU junior class. More to come...

• Ever wonder what happened to Antonio Pittman?

• Something to drool over. CFN's 2009 top Draft prospects. No, it's not too early. Yes, 6 Buckeyes are listed.

• The final list of early entries. A once-over of this page is all the evidence needed to support the pre-season hype that will surround Beanie Wells. James Davis, Kevin Smith, Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Steve Slaton, Jonathan Stewart, Rashard Mendenhall, Ray Rice... these are now names of running backs formally considered for the Heisman award.

'Eye Candy

Pryor's 'point' sends shock wave through college football community

Anyone who has sat through more than five minutes of the Army All-American knows that this game, while a great honor for those participating, is nothing more than a unique chance for the two guys in the booth to talk recruiting for a couple hours while the talent down on the field holds the audience's attention. If only out of obligation, I'll note that the East squad won today's game, 32-23 with--who else--Terrelle Pryor accounting for 155 yards total offense and 2 touchdowns. Keep in mind he split time with two other QBs.

Real. Deal.

Pryor's new buddies, Mike Adams, DeVier Posey, J.B. Shugarts, Ben Buchanan, Jake Stoneburner, Etienne Sabino and Lamaar Thomas (an RB out of Maryland who also showed much promise) were all there too. And lest we forget the leader of this incredible class, Michael Brewster who did not play due to injury but did tape this segment for Scout.com.

What is this buckeye leaf he is talking about at the end, you ask?



I think he meant this buckeye leaf:

Courtesy of user nphsbuckeye on JJHuddle.com

The sticker became noticeable soon after Pryor set foot on the field but shoddy camera angles wouldn't allow a clear view. This screen capture, however, erases any doubt.

I can't help but feel that there's some subtext here that I'm overlooking, some kind of message...