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OSU TE coach upbeat amid recruiting setbacks
By Ken Gordon
COLUMBUS
The immediate future of Ohio State football recruiting might look bleak, but John Peterson was concerned on Wednesday with more-distant prospects.
Peterson, the Buckeyes’ tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator, was overseeing the final day of the school’s youth camp, featuring more than 600 kids entering fifth through eighth grade.
As the youngsters went through drills on the Woody Hayes Athletic Facility indoor field, Peterson did his best to brush off the latest bad news — the decision by elite prospect Kyle Kalis on Tuesday to de-commit from the recruiting class of 2012.
Kalis, an offensive lineman from Lakewood St. Edward, is considered one of the five top linemen in the nation and among the top 25 prospects overall.
“I always correlate it to, you get engaged,” Peterson said, “and so when you get engaged, you want to make it solid. And if you have a doubt, guess what? You probably shouldn’t be engaged.
“We’ll get married in February [on national signing day], but if you have questions, we don’t want to be engaged, we don’t want a commitment. We want guys who are solid and confident in what they want to do.”
According to recruiting analyst Bill Kurelic of Bucknuts.com, Kalis did not rule out recommitting to Ohio State. He has had two changes of heart in the past three weeks: He first intended to de-commit on May 31, one day after coach Jim Tressel resigned, but new coach Luke Fickell talked him out of it.
“He says he’s going to visit Ohio State again in the next week or two,” said Kurelic, who spoke to Kalis on Tuesday. “That indicates he’s still thinking about it.”
But, Kurelic added, “If he doesn’t [recommit], it’s a huge loss.”
Kalis did not respond to a text message on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday, he blocked his phone from taking calls or texts.
That has not been the only recruiting effect felt by the double whammy of the ongoing NCAA investigation and Tressel’s departure.
In recent days, linebacker Ejuan Price, who was going to be a freshman this fall, was released from his scholarship; he plans to go to Pittsburgh.
For the 2012 recruiting class, defensive end Tom Strobel of Mentor committed to Michigan, and defensive end Se’Von Pittman of Canton McKinley committed to Michigan State. Both had OSU scholarship offers.
“I think if all this [controversy] hadn’t happened, it would be very realistic to believe that one, if not both, would have ended up at Ohio State,” Kurelic said.
Kurelic said Ohio State has recruited well enough in recent years that it can weather one down year. But if the NCAA slaps serious sanctions on the program, the effects would be felt if the 2013 class also was mediocre.
Peterson was keeping his chin up on Wednesday, though, as hundreds of excited potential future Buckeyes frolicked around him.
“We’re proud to be Ohio State,” he said. “We’ve got a great product, and we’ve got great people, and we’re still going to be ready to play come September.”