As the 2009 Season Nears, 2010 Recruiting Class Filling Up Fast

by HD Handshoe
Founder
BlockONation.com

As of today, the Buckeyes now have 11 recruits who have given OSU their verbal commitments to play football in Columbus. That means that only seven or eight more recruits will be allowed to join the Buckeyes 2010 class.

While this class may lack in quantity, it will make up for it in quality.

Some of the big names OSU has offered that are still undecided include No. 1 overall recruit Seantrel Henderson (OL), No. 14 overall, Lamarcus Joyner (DB), and No. 18 overall, Jordan Hicks (LB).

Several of these top recruits will most likely wait until after the Ohio State/USC game on September 12th before verbally committing to a program, as OSU and USC are both teams that some of them are interested in.

That means, there won't likely be any additions to the current OSU commited list until then.

Here is the current list of players who are committed to the OSU 2010 class:

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5-Star OT Andrew Norwell (6-6, 255)
Anderson HS (Cincinnati, OH)


5-Star OLB Jamel Turner (6-2, 205)
Ursuline HS (Youngstown, OH)


4-Star RB Roderick Smith (6-2, 215)
Harding HS (Fort Wayne, IN)


4-Star MLB Scott McVey (6-1, 215)
St. Ignatius HS (Cleveland, OH)


4-Star WR James Louis (5-11, 180)
Atlantic HS (Delray Beach, FL)


4-Star DE J.T. Moore (6-2, 215)
Boardman HS (Youngstown, OH)


4-Star QB Taylor Graham (6-4, 210)
Wheaton North HS (Wheaton, IL)


3-Star DE/LB David Durham (6-3, 225)
Charlotte Christian (Charlotte, NC)


3-Star DE Darryl Baldwin (6-6, 250)
Solon HS (Solon, OH)


3-Star K Drew Basil (6-0, 180)
Chillicothe HS (Chillicothe, OH)


(NR) S Chad Hagan (6-2, 230)
McMillan HS (Canonsburg, PA)

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Hagan, the most recent commit, mainly plays running back for his HS but the Buckeyes have recruited him as a safety.

Because of this, he currently has no rating at that position. He is however ranked as the 31st overall prospect in the state of Pennsylvania by Rivals.

We'll keep our ears to the ground, so check back with BlockONation in the future for any Ohio State recruiting updates.


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BlockONation.com: Doin' Work—Squashing the Rumor Mill

by HD Handshoe
Founder
BlockONation.com


Recently, a handful of Ohio State message boards and blogs have reported that 2010 Buckeye recruit David Durham may re-open his school search even though he has already verbally committed to Ohio State.

David is originally from the state of North Carolina and his family is moving from Texas back to North Carolina due to his dad being transferred there by his employer.

All of a sudden, the rumors are flying that Butch Davis and UNC are major players in the running for David and the reason he and his famly have moved back to North Carolina.

Rather than engage in pointless and baseless bickering among a select few ill-informed Buckeye fans on those "other" sites, we here at BlockONation, instead prefer to deal in the facts!

We bring you the EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS right here and now to put these unfounded and untrue rumors to rest!

Fortunately I interviewed David a few months ago after he committed to OSU and he let me know I could contact him anytime.

After hearing about these rumors, that is exactly what I did!

Here a screen shot of a short excerpt from that exchange between David and myself from Sunday June 14, 2009.

(I tried to enlarge the image but the text became distorted.)


There you have it, courtesy of BlockONation.com, straight from the source David Durham himself!

David is, and will remain a Buckeye—end of story!

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Around The "Block" With Future Buckeye DE/LB David Durham (2010 Recruit)

by HD Handshoe
Founder
BlockONation.com



I've been fortunate enough recently to be able to contact and interview several of the Buckeye recruits from the class of 2009.

My good fortune continues as I now bring you my first interview with a member of the Ohio State class of 2010, David Durham, the 6'3 DE/LB from Texas who verbally committed to the Bucks on 2/23/2009.

I'd like to thank David for his time in allowing me to bring this to the BlockONation!

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BlockO:
You verbally committed to Ohio State almost a full year before signing day 2010. What convinced and sold you so quickly about Ohio State and which coach or coaches were directly involved in recruiting you?

DD:
Ohio State football sells itself. It’s a special place to play. The facilities, The Horseshoe, and the players are the best anywhere. It is one of the few programs where the expectations are conference championships and national titles every year.

The relationships with the coaches made a big impact on me. Coach Tressel is someone I can trust and that really cares about his players. He has established strong FCA and community service programs, has a great staff that is stable and consistently wins. I knew I couldn't find a better place than Ohio State to play college football. There's great fan support and academics as well.

Coach Fickell was the coach that recruited me and also the coach that I will be playing for. He is someone that I have a lot of respect for and I look forward to playing for him.


BlockO:
Any idea when you may take an official or unofficial visit to come hang out with the team, check out the facilities and/or take in a game in person?

DD:
I’ll be coming back up to Columbus for the spring game and hopefully I will be able to sit in on a few meetings and practices while I am there. I will also take my official visit for a game if my open week coincides with an OSU home game.


BlockO:
How pumped are you to watch the 2009 Week two Ohio State/USC prime-time game in Columbus?

DD:
I’m excited! It’s going to be a huge game with a lot of big time players. It’s very important because it’s at home and on national TV with championship implications. I think it’s important that we win every game, but especially the ones in Columbus.


BlockO:
Do you have a favorite Buckeye player of all-time?

DD:
Some of my favorite Buckeyes would have to be AJ Hawk and James Laurinaitis. Those guys are playmakers. Guys I try to model my play after would be Bobby Carpenter, Vernon Gholston, and Thaddeus Gibson. They play linebacker and defensive end just like I do. I really liked watching Gibson this year especially the way he gets after the quarterback.


BlockO:
Michigan has been down for the past couple season but Ohio State vs. Michigan is still a fierce rivalry no matter what and 2009 will mark the 106th meeting? Coming from Texas, what is your perspective on this rivalry?

DD:
This rivalry is one of the reasons I am attracted to Ohio State. I’ve watched some games on TV and have also seen the HBO special. Ohio State – Michigan is the biggest rivalry in college football. I want to play in big games and it doesn’t get any bigger than that one.


BlockO:
Who's your favorite NFL team and do you have a current NFL favorite player? How about favorite NFL player of all-time?

DD:
I am originally from Charlotte, so my favorite NFL team has been the Carolina Panthers. Some of my favorite NFL players are Ray Lewis, Sean Merriman, and Brian Urlacher. But my favorite player of all time is Lawrence Taylor. It’s hard to find someone who compares to him at the linebacker position, he’s the best. I try to play like he does.


BlockO:
What's your favorite kind of music and who's your favorite artist/band?

DD:
I like to listen to a lot of rap music. I like a lot of southern artists. My favorites are Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, and T.I.


BlockO:
Do you ever visit any of the online Buckeye message boards or Blogs and if so, have you ever posted comments or do you just read what fans are saying?

DD:
I don’t usually pay attention to the message boards, but a few of my friends have showed me some of the posts by Ohio State fans after I committed and I really appreciate their welcome messages and support.

Sometimes I get on Rivals or Scout just to see how Ohio State is doing in recruiting, or whether we have picked up any new commitments in my class, things like that.


BlockO:
Are you in any YouTube videos that you know of?

DD:
Not that I know of.


BlockO:
Since you're from Texas, I just have to assume you do have family and friends who are Longhorn fans so, how did they react to you choosing OSU?

DD:
Everyone has been very supportive of my decision to attend tOSU. Most of my friends, even though they might be Longhorn or Aggie fans, think it is a pretty big deal for me to be going to Ohio State to play football.


BlockO:
As a H.S. player that was being recruited by Ohio State, were you affected or hesitant at all before you made your decision to commit to OSU after the past three BCS bowl game losses by the Buckeyes although they did play very well vs. Texas as I'm sure you are well aware!

DD:
No, I wasn't hesitant at all. Ohio State plays in a BCS game almost every year. Ohio State is consistently one of the best programs year in and year out in college football and I don’t think one game here or there can affect their reputation in my eyes or anyone else’s for that matter.


BlockO:
Many of the OSU players have persuaded buddies of theirs to follow them to OSU. Are you going to be actively trying to recruit anyone you know either from your H.S. or players you've played against from other schools nearby to come to OSU with you?

DD:
If the coaches want me to, then I’ll be glad to help out!

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In closing, I'd just add that David definitely seems very intelligent and knowledgeable about the Buckeye program and made a very well-informed decision when he chose Ohio State.

He's going to be a very welcome addition to the Buckeyes in 2010 and going forward. I think I speak for the all of the OSU fans when I say welcome aboard and we're all excited to see you in the Scarlet and Gray!

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