Miami RedHawks football
OSU vs. OU
Von Maur prepares for opening
Piqua sprinter Saine tops speedy OSU class
Four of 15 players who signed to play football for Tressel ranked in top 100.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
COLUMBUS — Ohio State coach Jim Tressel faced some tough good-byes when perhaps his three fastest juniors opted for the NFL draft — as 18 scholarship seniors were going out the door, too — but he picked up the one commodity on the recruiting trail he needed to lessen the sting.
"When you're losing some of the speed we're losing, you want to replace it with speed," he said, "and we've got an extraordinary amount of speed with this class."
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Leading the way is Piqua running back Brandon Saine, the state's two-time defending champ at 100 and 400 meters and Ohio's Mr. Football. He's one of four players among 15 OSU signees to crack Scout.com's list of the top 100 prospects in the nation.
The Buckeyes missed out on some high-profile recruits, but Tressel said they needed to bank scholarships for next year anyway since they'll have only six seniors on full rides.
The low numbers hurt, however, in overall team rankings. The Buckeyes' class was rated 16th by both Rivals.com and Scout, although OSU was fourth and fifth, respectively, in average player rating.
"I've always felt if you can consistently sign top-20 classes, then you're in a position to contend for BCS championships," said Allen Wallace, national recruiting editor for Scout and publisher of SuperPrep Magazine.
"If you were to rank Ohio State's class strictly on individual player quality, it would most definitely be a top-10 class."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125
or at dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com
