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.

When's the spring game?

Saturday, April 19, actually. The question is, will the national runner-up men's soccer team be the honorary coaches?

And, fret not, the NCAA requires Terrelle Pryor to nurture his tortured soul and have a decision ready by April 1st.

In the midst of recruiting scandals, sad and poorly conceived as well as just plain poorly conceived , Keith of Buckeye Commentary announced he is getting out of the game. The team at Eleven Warriors can speak to this at greater extent, though I too am a longtime fan of BC--it being my first source of biased Buckeye babble outside of the strict confines of The Dispatch. What I'm uncertain of is if BC will continue to operate, any info on that would be just terrific.

Meanwhile, Our Honor Defend, a new, highly insightful OSU blog, has been picking up the slack the past few days; putting closure to Signing Day.

But, for recruitniks and assistant coaches (Bollman pulling his weight) alike, the recruiting "season" never ends, as evidenced by the recent unveiling of the list of top '09 prospects. Note OSU's defensive commits John Simon (Cardinal Mooney) and Jordan Whiting (Louisville, KY) in the top 50. Simon (right) is said to be a certified bad-ass, in the mold of '08 signee Garrett Goebel.

Finally, big throw down on the hard court tomorrow (or next month if you're going by my schedule on the sidebar.) Buckeyes v. Hoozers in The Schott @ 1:00PM (CBS). Listen for plenty of Bobby Knight references accompanied by the nearly-sepia toned reel of him that has been looping on ESPN for the last week. If that doesn't get the nostalgia nerve twitching, then stick around for the halftime recognition of the '68 Final Four team. Gew.


photo/ SCOUT.COM

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.

Things that aren't necessarily true

After watching the googley-eyed Tim Russert analyze the Super Tuesday results and try his best to call the states before the numbers come in, I don't see any reason why I can't add some kindling to the rumor wildfire thats been spreading throughout the web since last week.

For starters, my longtime dark horse candidate, Florida CB Brandon Harris, may not be such a long shot after all. Posters on Scout boards are biting at everything they can dig up about this kid.

Not a whole out there on Big Josh Jenkins. Evidently gossiping about O-linemen is about as popular as discussing that girl who played Blossom.

As far as T.P. is concerned, no reports on what he had for dinner or who Charlie Batch voted for in the Primary, but I've come across two interesting "leads:"

1. A message board post by a "Buckeye fan" that Brian from mgoblog published reports that none other than Jerome Bettis knows first hand that Pryor will be going to Michigan.
2. IN CONTRAST, commit Andrew Sweat tells the Post-Gazette that "it sounded like [Pryor] was going to Ohio State."

More to come?

MORE: Check out the link Vico, from Our Honor Defend, posted in the comments. Stop the presses!

What will come first: Pryor's announcement or G&R's "Chinese Democracy?"

When, Axl, when can we buy this missing piece to the puzzle?

Yesterday was a real beehive of activity in Columbus' corner of the interweb (though not so much at ye Olde Columbus Town.)

Wells was a big get, despite his relatively low-profile, any steal from the Sunshine State is fine by me. If thats not good enough to get the old ticker goin', Buckeye Commentary is already drawing comparisons to the departed Vern Gholston.

Then, as is he felt upstaged by Wells, Terrelle Pryor and his cronies at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette started a-fusin-and-a-feudin' about the date of his announcement. First he was "80-90% sure" about a Wednesday reveal, like originally planned. Then came a mudslide of characteristically unsubstantiated reports that said the young QB was OSU bound. Later, Pryor told Rivals that this wasn't the case and a delayed decision was still in the cards. The players, at this point, are still OSU, Michigan, PSU and Oregon. Guesses are that a Signing Day announcement means Us or Them but anything after levels the playing field, as a trip to Eugene would be likely.

Despite all this activity in the Great Lakes region, Stu Mandel had the gall to write yet another "SEC is better than you" column. Not only is this sentiment more stale than cargo pants from Tuttle Mall, this particular piece was as poorly conceived as a 3rd grader's illicit scribblings on the Midwest's collective bathroom wall.

You can tell Stubert was really digging deep to come up with an original Valentine sonnet for the beloved SEC when you look at his reasoning:

I wanted to focus not only on the aforementioned recruiting powers but all teams in every conference, to see if not only the SEC's best, but its worst, are more talented than everyone else's. Apparently, they are.

While going through the raw data, it occurred to me that some of the "averages" may be disproportionately affected by so-called "statistical outliers." For instance, in 2007, 10 of the 11 Big Ten teams ranked in the top 60 -- and then Indiana all the way down at 97th. Or, in 2006, the Pac-10 had USC at No. 1, but no one else in the top 15.

So I recalculated the scores using each team's "median" rather than its average. It didn't affect most of the leagues' numbers all that much -- except, of course, for the SEC, whose lead over the others grew even larger.

The attempt at statistical fairness is appreciated, Stu, but next time try to fashion your conclusion after you come up with the method.

It's in times like these I am thankful for the cooler heads at CFN and their series that retrospectively examines recruiting rankings.

Keith Wells is a Buckeye

Per Bucknuts

Wells, a DE from Florida, is the 18th commit to the class of '08. He chose OSU after last weekend's visit to Notre Dame.

Listed at 6-5, 225, Wells cited OSU's excellence in both football and academics as his deciding factor.

If my cubicle had four walls I'd report more but, for the time being, head over to Our Honor Defend for their coverage of the Wells snag.

and from the Plain Dealer

More to come...

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...

Bigger Tease: Terrelle Pryor or JJ Abrams?

I pose this question only because the guys at Eleven Warriors staked claim to the more obvious, "Are you sick of hearing about Terrelle Pryor?"

Within the last 36ish hours, a relatively insignificant length of time when compared to the year's worth of strain this young man has put on the collective conscious of Buckeye Nation, these Pryor-related niblets have surfaced:

• Pryor is now choosing between only two schools: Them and Us
  
• Pryor may or may not announce his choice on Feb. 6, National Signing Day. Keep in mind that he's pushed this announcement back (at least) once before. It would be decidedly counterintuitive to ask how much more mileage this P.R. wizard can squeeze out of this delightful dilemma of his.
  
• Pryor's high school QB coach felt it necessary to share his "gut feeling" that the blue chipper will pick Ohio St.
• Pryor's importance to this OSU recruiting class has, against all odds, increased. Star Massillon RB DeVoe Torrence's scholarship offer is off the table. If you live in Stark County or haunt OSU recruiting boards, this should come as no surprise, as Torrence has been struggling with off-field (legal) problems for quite some time now. Although I'm not certain, I believe that, early in his recruiting, Torrence was 'promised' to be the only RB in the '08 class. He is/was thought to be that talented. RichRod is probably treating this kid's nephew to a round of mini golf and bumper boats as we speak.

Though this is most tiresome (nonetheless, I feel like someone needs to make some kind of bold social commentary about the irony of myself and others like me becoming bored with the circus that, essentially, we've created), I can hardly wait to tune in tomorrow to see what twist the Pryor drama has taken.

Coincidently, today (Thursday) is also the return of JJ Abrams' masterwork, LOST. Abrams, who long ago handed the reins off to Damon Lindelhof and Carlton Cruse, is known for his large scale mindfucks. Cloverfield, which I, admittedly, have yet to see, is heralded as the Blair Witch of monster flicks because of it's clever promotional campaign that divulged as little info as possible about the plot or antagonist. Essentially, the Abrams-produced film rode the internet/word-of-mouth buzz created by thousands of co-opted fanboys to the number one box office spot its opening weekend.

In a similar fashion, Pryor--knowingly or not--is a one man hype machine. Like the LOST, he scatters nonlinear clues throughout interviews (episodes), playing the media hot and cold. Just when we think we've figured him out, he drops a season finale cliffhanger like "I'm 50-50 about pushing my announcement back."

I'm in negotiations with our friend, traveling reporter Paul Germain, to do a point/ counter-point debating whether Pryor will be a detriment or foundation stone to the Buckeyes if he comes on board.

Stay tuned...

photo/ TERRELLEPRYOR.ORG

Recruiting Guru Lemming: A Notre Dame homer?

Say all you want about Notre Dame's fall from grace, but there's no denying it's brand strength. An unmatched TV deal with NBC, claim to a national fan-base and, now, a stranglehold on the Army All American Bowl?

The guys over at Every Day Should be Saturday seem to think so.

This article presents a pretty strong argument for a conspicuous Tom Lemming Notre Dame bias (and hints to a possible OSU leaning). Lemming, who is to college football recruiting as Mel Kiper is to the NFL Draft, has a hand or two in the Army game selection process. As EDSBS documents, this year's roster boasted an onslaught on future Irish talent, so much so that it elicits a serious look at both the game's and Lemming's credibility.

Pryor spends a weekend in hell

RichRod employs the old "hand-size game" when his skills as a conversationalist fail him. A similar technique is used to distract infants.

Mini-celeberty and reigning pimp of recruiting service editors everywhere, Terrelle Pryor, made his official visit to Michigan this past weekend.

The boy wonder brought his traveling circus with him, which now includes obscure NFL-er, Charlie Batch, who rode Pryor's coat-tails all the way to a Wolverines basketball ticket. Yes, UM charges fans to sit through these games. My "source" at Crisler Arena, however, said that the Michigan-Iowa game took second billing to Pryor's cameo.

"Source" also confirmed this "WE WANT PRYOR" chant, which needed to be pretty loud to cut through the wall of media documenting the blue chipper's every move.

RichRod appears to have been in good spirits, in spite of this article by Mitch Albom-- currently the most credible guy in Michigan. What's more, I can't say I approve of this 'cousin' character who seems to be acting as Pryor's host. Doesn't OSU have ties to some estranged middle school teacher of T.P.'s that it can dig up?

LSU is next on the world tour. What second-rate event will they have in store for the nation's top recruit?

photo/KIRTHMON F. DOZIER/DFP

Silver Bullet Points

RichRod[man] is as bad as he wants to be

Rodriguez Gate continues to rage on in pages of the Detroit Free Press and Charleston Gazette. Taking important files to the shredders? Smear campaigns? Lawsuits? Is this the unmasking of a two-faced, carpetbagging politician or just another day at the office in the Michigan Athletic Department?

I could go on, but this guy digs into RodFace pretty good--and he's writing from Ann Arbor.

• Start packing for Miami now, friends. We're No. 1.
  

• Tressel and another coach, I believe Jim Bollman, were spotted in West Va. on Thursday, chatting up recruit Josh Jenkins. In this video he spits recruiting and Tresselisms, basically just use it as proof that Jenkins is one step closer to his destiny.

• Keeping with the West Virginnie theme, injury-prone OSU receiver Devon Lyons looks to transfer to WVU to be with his younger brother, Wes, whose file is locked away in RichRod's Geneva bank safe-box. Lyons and estranged WR Albert Dukes both came in with the 2004 recruiting class and, to say the least, have failed to live up to their hype.
  

Oh Devon, we hardly knew thee.
photo c/o Jim Davidson

• The courting of Terrelle Pryor by OSU: Scout.com editor thinks T.P. will be in scarlet and gray next fall. He notes that the Buckeyes are gaining the edge by playing it cool while the Weasels are clearly desperate for someone, anyone, to jump start this "new era of Michigan football" we keep hearing about.

UPDATE: As I continue to learn more about web publishing, the intimidating girth of the internet's information sharing capabilities and the like, I will try to make improvements to Old Columbus Town that will (hopefully) make it more "visible" to search engines and social bookmarking sites. Make sense? Of it doesn't. In the mean time, look for new "features" (stuff to click on, in non-web speak) and other additions/changes to the site that will help shove this life-or-death information down the throats of Buckeye faithful everywhere.

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.

Silver Bullet Points

Freeman stays on board


Marcus Freeman, the team's second leading tackler, will return for his senior season with the Bucks.

Any talk of "jumping off a sinking ship" can end here.

"The big thing is, you can regret leaving early, but you can't regret coming back," he said. "It was a tough decision. I went back and forth. One minute, I was thinking it was time to move on. When I was sitting on the bench after the game, I was saying, 'This is my last one.'

"But you can't beat the atmosphere here. ... I just wasn't ready to move on and start another chapter in my life."

When compared to the big names like Laurinaitis and Gholston, Freeman was just as, if not more, integral to the defense's success.

The waiting game continues in regards to Laurinaitis and Alex Boone, who have until Tuesday to announce their decision.

• Tressel & Co. add 17th commit to class of '08. Jermil Martin of Glenville will be partly responsible for filling the gaping whole left in the fullback position with the departure of Dionte Johnson, Trevor Robinson an Tank Whaley.
  

• From the rumor mill: After a comparatively small and lackluster haul in '07, we knew this class would be twice as big and twice as talented to make up for it. However, with 17 tickets divvied out before closing in on the prize (Pryor) and the bonus (5-star OL Josh Jenkins), one wonders if there might be a few scholarships up Tressel's sleeve that will allow him to pick up this pair of aces at the 11th hour. Simply speaking, if a currently committed recruit suddenly looks academically or otherwise unappealing (as is the case with Devoe Torrence) OSU can still revoke its offer, hence freeing that scholarship up. ANOTHER way for a scholly to open up is for a current scholarship player to transfer, as many think Robbie Schoenhoft and WR Albert Dukes (right) are planning to do.
  

'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...

'Eye Candy

Unofficial recruiting video


As much as I enjoyed watching Denzel Washington turn this unlikely bunch into a group of winners, I'd sooner brush my teeth with broken glass than sit through this Great Debaters monstrosity

With only a few scholarships remaining and a couple prize catches still floating around, no harm in sending out some complementary Remember The Titans DVDs to Pyror and West Virginia commit Josh Jenkins.

Silver Bullet Points

Sweeney Todd

Johnny Depp he is not, but this season Todd Boeckman earned a reputation as a quiet force and looked damn smooth in doing so.

Until the last two games, that is. Amassing 4 INTS and only 20 completions in 8 quarters of play, Boecks looked more like the bumbling Ed Wood than the swashbuckling Jack Sparrow. Pat Forde goes so far as to cite Boeckman's recent slide as a potential scapegoat if things turn sour in New Orleans.

Don't point fingers just yet though, Tressel and QB #1 have been doing some tape study and if Boeckman can harness the deep ball again, the Demon Arm of Bourbon St. will be open for business come Jan. 7.

• Glenville sends another to OSU for '08

• "Swashbuckling" is a word
  

Silver Bullet Points

And the second longest sports-related list released today...

Another bare cupboard for the Bucks?

In typical fashion, Tressel has been nothing but frank about his early-departure policy. Says Brian Robiskie: "Just talking with coach Tressel and a lot of the other coaches, they just said that by you doing this it's not going to take away from anything." Let's hope so, because this "new approach" to the National Championship we've been hearing so much about is starting to sound a lot like last year's model. Of the 13 players who filed out the paperwork

• UPDATE (12/14)One player who almost certainly didn't submit paperwork, is backup QB Robbie Schoenhoft. Take it for what it's worth, but a headline on Buckeye Grove insinuates that Schoenhoft might be considering a change of position. Keep in mind this could be something out of less than nothing but it's worth considering the impact this could have on the continuing courtship of Terrelle Pryor.
  

• With the help of SI, Trojans can lay claim to (another) unearned national title.

• In spite of the hundreds and thousands of expert fans who voted USC to the top of the this fantasy dream-land ballot, one writer says, in the end, the Pac-1o blows and the Big Ten ain't so bad after all.
  

• One of the more impressive All-America presentations, but no Malcolm Jenkins...anywhere...

• Biggest upsets of the year. Sounds about right.

• Watching TV as I write this: is it just me, or is Total Recall a colorful cocktail of every sci-fi movie ever made?
  

.

Silver Bullet Points

Been Caught Stealin'

Recruiting services such as Scout, Buckeye Grove and Rivals all agree this is a big recruiting weekend for Ohio State. Several blue chippers will be on campus including Florida State commit Moses McCray and the missing piece to the "Brew Crew," O-lineman Josh Jenkins who is listed as a soft verbal to West Va. Will this be the year that broken promises on signing day go in the Buckeyes' favor?

Of course this fantastic class will never achieve its full potential if QB Terrelle Pryor snubs Tressel and Co. for Penn State or, God forbid, Oregon.

• Wells, Cordle, and nearly the entire defensive backfield named to CFN's Sophomore All-America squad.

Despite missing time to nurse an injury, Anderson Russell stood out as one of the most underrated defenders in the Big Ten.

• As expected, three members of the OSU 'D' are listed as first rounders.
  

• The search continues: "After talking to Michigan, Schiano sticking as Rutgers coach"

• O.J. v. LC: Minimal implications on OSU football but makes for good weekend fodder nonetheless.