Friday, January 29, 2010
Hicks decision huge blow to Ohio State recruiting class
The decision by Lakota West High School(West Chester, Ohio) linebacker Jordan Hicks to accept a scholarship offer at the University of Texas rather than Ohio State is a huge blow for OSU's 2010 recruiting class. Hicks, regarded as the top linebacker prospect in the country, is the first Ohio recruit to agree to play football for Mack Brown's Texas Longhorns. This is significant for a couple of reasons. That Jim Tressel was unable to convince the state's premier high school prospect to stay in state to play collegiate ball may be the start of an omnious trend for future OSU recruiting classes. Not only that, but it had been widely reported that Ohio State had placed the majority of its recruiting efforts into landing Hicks, only to be rebuffed by Hicks at the 11th hour. Ohio State is not accustomed to losing top rated in state prospects to other programs, especially programs as far away as Texas. While I would argue that Jordan Hicks' decision puts a damper on OSU's 2010 class, the Buckeyes could and should use this as a lesson for future recruiting classes. For Ohio State recruiting to continue to be successful in years to come, it must ensure that top national prospects from the state of Ohio like Hicks choose the Buckeyes before any other program.
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This is not as big of a blow as it appears; plenty have speculated this was going to happen since day 1. Hicks came to Ohio in the 6th grade and was not a true "ohio boy" plus the relationship with the TX strength coach was too much to over come. If there is 1 position we can lose this type of player recruiting wise it is at LB is it with 2 returning starters(Homan,Rolle), plenty of backups who have gooten experience and were HIGHLY rated in the recruiting world when they committed to OSU (Sweat, Sabino, Bell, Klein, Whiting) and don't forget we get another previous starter back "TAZ" Moller returns from his sucker punch incedent which cost him last season. This year recruiting LB wise we have pledges from Dunham(prob moves to DE/LB hybrid) Scott McVey and Turner who was the HICKS of last years recruiting class but had to go to prep school for a year. I agree not getting the top Players to stay in Ohio hurts but if you look at the numbers Hicks is one of the VERY few Ohio recruits who got away from JT. Most of the Ohio talent JT keeps.
ReplyDeletePoint taken- I would counter that OSU should never lose in state talents to the likes of the Texases or Floridas, just as I would argue that a top rated player from the state of Texas who chose OSU over Texas would be a huge blow to Texas' recruiting class. Not sure what moving to Ohio in the 6th grade has to do with anything, unless he moved from Texas and had a strong allegiance to the state prior to moving. People can speculate all they want, that doesn't mean its going to happen. A lot of people speculated Terrelle Pryor was going to choose Penn State only a few weeks before he made his decision. And I am looking beyond the 2010 season. Homan, Rolle and Moeller will be Seniors this season; Sweat and Sabino have yet to make an impact. And it is always a big deal when the number one recruit signs with someone else; Hicks has been rated # 4 on the ESPN top 150, and the top linebacker recruit in the country. The impact that this signing has on OSU's program in the long term may be insignificant, but letting Hicks slip away definitely weakens this year's recruiting class.
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