Pryor looks forward to 4th year

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Despite saying earlier this week that he’d like to play basketball again, Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor is committed to football and has enjoyed his almost three years with the Buckeyes.

He’s liked it so much, in fact, he swears he’ll be back for his senior year.

“I’m a Buckeye until I break all the records,” he said during preparations for the eighth-ranked Buckeyes’ showdown on Saturday at Ohio Stadium against Penn State.

The junior said he had no intention — at least right now — of jumping into the NFL draft.

“I feel like I want to get my degree and finish off strong and maybe have a better season next year with no losses,” he said. “I love being here and I need to develop more knowledge as a human being and not worry about money and stuff like that.

“My mom works a little bit so I can use some of her money, and the money that we get here,” Pryor said, referring to his scholarship and stipends that athletes receive for expenses. “I don’t really have to worry. I can suffer another year, I just want to gain more knowledge as a human being before I leave.”

Pryor recognizes that despite starting for the Buckeyes (8-1, 4-1 Big Ten) for almost three full seasons, he still has some unfinished business.

Plus, he wants to burnish his resume at Ohio State and have his name among the Heisman Trophy winners whose numbers are placed on the facade of the upper deck at Ohio Stadium.

“I want to get my degree, so I can finish that up,” Pryor said. “I want to have a legacy here and maybe someday get my jersey hung up. That’s one of my goals here as well. I think I just have to develop my brain, develop my mind and the way I’m thinking and how I control situations.”

Coach Jim Tressel, who brought Pryor to Ohio State when the 6-foot-6, 235-pound colt was rated the No. 1 recruit in the country, isn’t surprised the Jeannette, Pa., native feels that way.

“He is a guy that wants to make a difference for his team,” Tressel said. “If he could do anything so that his team would succeed, he would do it.”

That’s why it was such a shock to some Ohio State followers earlier this week when Pryor tweeted that he missed basketball. Then he tweeted a note to Buckeyes basketball player David Lighty asking if he could say something to hoops coach Thad Matta about Pryor trying out for the team.

A day later, Pryor declined to go into much detail about his feelings of also performing on the court for the fourth-ranked Buckeyes.

“I’m playing football right now,” he said unequivocally. “That’s it. I was just throwing it out there. I think all the time.”