The Ohio State Buckeyes will be hosting a very talented group of sophomore and junior football players this week from Gateway High in Monroeville, Pa.
Head Coach Terry Smith will take his talented junior tandem of linebacker Shayne Hale and running back/cornerback Cameron Saddler to Columbus. Accompanying them will be sophomores wide receiver Corey Brown, linebacker Dorian Bell and defensive end B.J. Stevens.
Hale ranks as one of the nation's top prospects and he boasts offers from over thirty programs across the country. Saddler is one of the most electrifying special teams players in the country.
Brown and Bell are both likely to national recruits next season and two of the top prospects in the Pennsylvania class of 2009.
Bowling Green. Ky., wide receiver D.L. Moore added to his scholarship total on Wednesday, as the University of Cincinnati joined Western Kentucky as schools that have offered Moore a chance to join their program.
Moore finished the 2006 season with 28 receptions for 468 yards and three touchdowns. The 6-foot-6, Moore had six receptions for 116 yards in the Bowling Green spring game on Monday.
Moore will join teammate tight end Ryan Wallace this weekend as they visit Alabama, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss. Wallace has offers from Ole Miss, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma State. SS/RB Jared Carpenter has an offer from Western Kentucky and visited Kentucky and Cincinnati on Wednesday.
Even though his baseball season is just winding down, it is football that is heavily on the mind of Morgan Park DE Jeremy Johnson. The 6'2, 240-lb Johnson played three positions last season, mostly defensive end and tight end, but also seeing time at linebacker.
His versatility and his tenacious play paid off this week, when he received his first two scholarship offers, both in-state schools.
"I got Illinois and Northwestern," Johnson reported, "I'm also being recruited pretty hard by Ball State, Northern Illinois and Kansas State."
With so many schools nearby interested in him, Johnson will be able to visit a few of his suitors this summer.
"Yeah, I'll take some visits, Illinois and probably Notre Dame."
Johnson lists the Fighting Illini as his leader right now. While they are the hometown team, he says location is not a big factor in his decision and immediate playing time might not be either.
"I think I have enough potential to play as a freshman, but if I don't, it doesn't matter."
Michael Shaw, a 6-foot-0, 180-pound running back from Trotwood-Madison High in Ohio has added an offer from a Big Ten power.
"I just wanted to let you know that Iowa has offered Michael Shaw a scholarship," Trotwood Head Coach Maurice Douglass informed Scout.com "They have offered him as a running back."
Shaw now holds offers from Eastern Michigan, Toledo, Iowa and Cincinnati. He transferred from Archbishop Alter in Kettering, Ohio.