2012 senior class photos
2012 West Carrollton graduation
Home of the Week
Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2005 > October > 22 > Entry
Why did OSU pass on Ringer?
Indulge me today, on a football Saturday, while I veer into realm of academics and college sports. This caught my eye in a Dayton Daily News story last week after the Ohio State-Michigan State game:
OSU invested much time in recruiting Michigan State freshman Javon Ringer, who many consider the best Dayton-bred running back since Keith Byars.
“(We) were very interested,” Tressel said. “We thought he was a great player.”
Asked if his staff was unable to get Ringer past the increasingly strict OSU admission standards, as is commonly believed, Tressel said, “No comment.”
The implication from Tressel is that OSU’s “tough academic standards” were the only reason Chaminade-Julienne High School product Javon Ringer ended up playing at Michigan State instead of suiting up for the Bucks.
I’m not buying this.
Ringer has been quoted repeatedly saying OSU was his first choice. Basically, it was the kid’s dream to go there. So I don’t know how much time and effort OSU needed to invest recruting him. If they had really wanted Ringer, they would have had him.
And as for academic standards, here’s what I know — Ringer is a true freshman who is eligible and playing for a Big Ten rival. Does OSU have much tougher academic standards that would keep them from landing an eligible football recruit they really wanted, a kid who was going to qualify and play for a competitor?
I think not.
Here’s what I think. It’s Ryan Brewer all over again.
Maybe you remember Brewer, the Troy High School product who broke all sorts of high school rushing records. He was simply the best football player in the state his senior year. But OSU passed on him because at 5-9 and 200 pounds, they thought he was too small. Brewer went on to have a solid career playing at South Carolina for Lou Holtz and helped get John Cooper fired when he had more than 200 all-purpose yards against OSU in a bowl game.
Ringer is about the same size as Brewer was — 5-9 and 195 pounds. And like Brewer, he’s just a good football player and a great kid. And he’s lightning fast. He’s only been the best freshman offensive player in the Big Ten this year.
And he’ll have three more years to run against the Buckeyes.
Update: Ringer had 104 yards rushing on 18 carries today in a MSU loss to Northwestern. He got twice as many carries as any other MSU back, apparently settling in as the Spartans’ top rushing option. OSU is near the bottom in rushing in the Big Ten.
Permalink | Comments (11) | Categories: Colleges and Universities
Comments
By Denise
October 25, 2005 10:43 AM | Link to this
Great timing on this Scott! The Dispatch ran an article this morning about various OSU prospects from the past couple of years who have gone on to have great success at other schools. According to the article, OSU had “light interest in [Ringer] but had questions about his academics.” It quotes Bill Conley, OSU’s former recruiting coordinator, who we happened to sit in front of at the Indiana-OSU game on Saturday and he spoke with us on the bus before we headed home, as saying that for most of these guys, where they end up is a better fit because they get to play sooner. It is a well-known fact that most, if not all, of OSU’s top recruits end up sitting out at least their first year…some even longer (especially on offense).By Steve G
October 23, 2005 7:36 PM | Link to this
Clearly you haven’t been following recruiting or Ohio State’s revamped academic requirements. Ringer isn’t the only player OSU would have loved to have landed that wound up elsewhere. There have been several who have gone to MSU, a couple to NC State, and one to Pitt that I can think of…and I’m not a recruitnik. It’s not your father’s OSU.By bigbuckeyesfan
October 23, 2005 6:11 PM | Link to this
IM in south DAYTON, aND IT SEEMS TO CONTINUALLY AMAZE ME WHEN GREAT RUNNING backs go north the come back and kill Ohio State ie, javon Ringer being hte latest or any of the slu of Mi backs,ok, coach tressel please keep the best in our state out !By Kev R.
October 23, 2005 9:55 AM | Link to this
Count me in the boat of people who wanted badly to see Javon as a Buckeye. One huge factor in his being turned away was OSU’s recruitment of Maurice Wells, a similar-style running back from Florida who was ranked five stars and the #1 small back in the coutry by some recruiting services. While I welcome Maurice aboard, he needs to have a heeeellllll of a career to prove he was a better option than Javon. If Wells had gone elsewhere, it’s a pretty safe bet Javon would be a Buckeye. Regardless, good luck, Javon, except for one game a year! Make Dayton proud!By Paul
October 23, 2005 9:09 AM | Link to this
What you don’t understand is that Tressel is not allowed to comment. By the way OSU’s admission standards are more diffacult than MSU’s.By Ryan
October 22, 2005 11:50 PM | Link to this
Lets just face it, Ohio State likes to just build incredible defensive teams but lack on the offense…hence why they always give up the great backs. We finally we got a good one with Ginn, but he has turned out to be just an average player who is scared to get hit.By john fry
October 22, 2005 11:42 PM | Link to this
you hit the nail on the head with your article about ringer. now go ask tressel how he also passed on tyrell sutton, another ohio running back who is tearing up the big ten at nothwestern as a freshman. can you say bye bye tressel. i hope so!!!By Joe
October 22, 2005 11:24 PM | Link to this
The whole Ringer debacle really bothers me. As an OSU fan, I have heard Tressel repeatedly state that “We are going to keep the best players from Ohio in Ohio.” What happened here then? The other thing that is disturbing is his “no comment” relative to Ringer’s ability to pass the OSU academic standards. If I were his parents, I would be truly hurt since it gives the impression that Ringer lacked the academic skills necessary to play at OSU. This has certainly not been proven but nonetheless give folks the impression he lacks academic skills. Truly a bad deal!By JM
October 22, 2005 10:37 PM | Link to this
Javon’s character is second to none. He works hard to prepare for football, but works twice as hard in the classroom. You’ll be hard pressed to meet respectful young man.By mark
October 22, 2005 9:32 PM | Link to this
Scottie, my boy, I was right with you until your final paragraph, when you resort to, um, selective use of statistics, to put it kindly. Perhaps you could have mentioned the outcome of the MSU-OSU game. I don’t think Javon quite “pulled a Brewer” on the Buckeyes last weekend, and I don’t think his performance against the Buckeyes threatened Jim Tressel’s job. Maybe next year.By susan
October 22, 2005 11:31 AM | Link to this
my son had the privilege of playing one year with Javon before he graduated. i remember him telling me before the Northmont game that we were going to see the next Barry Sanders. I was a bit skeptical but repeated the remark to my neighbor who was joining us for the game. He snorted in disbelief. By the end of the first quarter we were all believers. Add to that, he was one of the most personable, humble, team-oriented young men we’d ever met with his head totally screwed on straight. We all waited for the moment when he’d be standing with cameras flashing holding up a buckeye jersey. nada. i still love the buckeyes but this was a huge error in judgement and yes, we’ve got three more years of this and the bush administration. God help us.