Tressel happy with class, but still seeking Pryor

The Buckeyes signed
9 players, eight of them
being linemen.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio State locked up 19 football recruits Wednesday. Yet all anyone seemed to want to talk about was the one it didn’t get — at least not yet.

While thousands of kids across the country signed on the dotted line at major colleges, Terrelle Pryor decided to wait.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel met with reporters late in the afternoon and was prevented by NCAA rules from talking about prospective recruits. He could only hint at what Pryor’s addition might have meant to a recruiting class that various recruit services rate as one of the best in the country.

“We feel as if it’s exactly what we needed. We felt as if we could fit 20, maybe 21, in that that was going to be tight,” he said, as reporters chuckled at the obvious reference to Pryor. “We’re still recruiting as we speak and that’s about all we’re allowed to say about that. I guess we’re allowed to say we’re still recruiting at the quarterback position. I think that’s allowable. I can’t go much beyond that.”

Without Pryor, the Buckeyes will not have a quarterback in the 2008 recruiting class. It’s not as though it was a necessity, since starter Todd Boeckman returns for his senior season at quarterback and he will be backed by redshirt sophomore Antonio Henton and redshirt freshman Joe Bauserman.

This year’s class of recruits is stocked with offensive linemen (three) and defensive linemen (five).

J.B. Shugarts, a 6-foot-8, 300-pound offensive lineman from Klein, Texas, challenged his classmates.

“Just the fact that we already know each other and we’re already coming together as a family, that’s what sets us over the top with all these other schools like USC and Florida,” he said, wearing an Ohio State jersey and dress pants. “So I think it’s going to be really special and you can get prepared for a lot of national championships.”

That prompted Tressel to caution, “Easy, J.B.”

Shugarts and fellow offensive behemoth Michael Brewster (6-5, 300, from Orlando, Fla.) enrolled at Ohio State in January and will be available for spring workouts. Four other incoming freshmen will start taking classes in March.

Shugarts, Brewster and Dublin Coffman’s Mike Adams (6-8, 310) were all considered among the top blockers available.