Another Lane is headed to OSU as defensive back

Hubbard High's Shaun Lane will follow his father, Garcia, to the Ohio State football team.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
HUBBARD -- Garcia Lane was only 5-feet-9 and 160 pounds when he arrived on the Ohio State campus as a freshman football player in 1980.
He wasn't exactly the most imposing defensive back -- at least in size -- but that's where the Buckeyes played him.
For three years, Lane started at cornerback, a position from which he captained the team as a senior.
Fast forward more than two decades. During a visit to Ohio State, Lane's son, Shaun, marveled at the size of college players he saw there and wondered how his 5-10, 175-pound high school frame would hold up at the next level.
"I told Shaun that when I played, I was one of the smaller starters," Garcia Lane said. "I don't get caught up in size and stuff like that."
And neither should Shaun: That's the message Garcia sends as his son prepares to be a Buckeye.
Shaun Lane, a Hubbard High senior, signed a letter of intent Wednesday with Ohio State, which recruited him as a defensive back.
Comparison
"Shaun is bigger than I was when I got [to Ohio State]," said Garcia, a South High graduate who works for a trucking company in Columbus.
"He likes to work out, and that's a plus for him," Garcia added. "I know he's going to adapt."
Shaun still recalls images of his visit with the Buckeyes.
"I've never seen guys that big in my life," he said during his signing Wednesday. "I imagine I'll be hitting them in a couple of months. Or getting hit by them."
After transferring from Woodrow Wilson to Hubbard halfway through his sophomore year, Shaun made a name for himself as an All-Ohio running back and defensive back. Wednesday, he thanked the Eagles' offensive linemen for their help the past two years.
"It just turned out as a total blessing," he said of his time with the Eagles.
It is in Shaun's running style -- and in his elusiveness -- that his father sees the potential for success as a defensive back.
"When we watched Shaun run and play, it was the way he was aggressive," Garcia said. "When he ran the ball, he hit the holes with aggressiveness, instead of being timid.
"Once he learns that technique on the other side of the ball, he'll be able to attack a player."
Focus
Shaun, who admires the playing style of current Ohio State defensive back Donte Whitner, already knows where his advantage lies against bigger players.
"I have to work on my quickness," he said. "That's the only advantage I'll have over them."
Shaun's family feels secure in having him play for coach Jim Tressel.
Based on the focus, commitment and faith Shaun keeps in his life, Tressel should feel the same security with his new recruit.
"Shaun's very focused in whatever he does," said Denella Stanford, Shaun's mother. "Whether he's working at Taco Bell, at school or at home, you can depend on him. You feel confidence that he's going to follow through."