A strong finish from the football team along with a solid start from the basketball team has many high school recruits beginning to take notice of both Ohio programs.
With national signing day less than a month away, football coach Frank Solich has already garnered several oral commitments for the 2012 class.
Ohio’s most recent players to orally commit is Malik Rodriguez, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound wide receiver and safety from Brooklyn, N.Y.
Rodriguez joins Archbishop Moeller’s John Tanner on the list of players to orally commit to Ohio during the month of December. The 6-foot-3 230-pound defensive end also received offers from Boston College as well as Toledo and Bowling Green.
Ohio has benefitted from a bevy of junior college commitments during Solich’s tenure at Ohio, and he has already added four more to the 2012 recruiting class.
Earlier last month, the Bobcats received a pair of commitments from Iowa Western Community College when wide receiver Matt Waters and defensive end Ty Branz each decided to commit to Ohio.
Waters had 43 catches for 694 yards and six touchdowns this season. Branz, a Nebraska native, recorded 20 tackles for loss and 11 sacks and was named a National Junior College Athletic Association honorable mention All-American.
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College defensive end and linebacker Wade Wells became the latest junior college prospect to commit to the Bobcats when he did so on Dec. 20.
The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Wells had 32 tackles, six sacks and three forced fumbles for the Bulldogs this season.
Solich said added time spent in the national spotlight this season has helped draw high school athletes to Athens.
“We probably have more commitments at this time than maybe what we’ve had in previous years, and it’s going to be somewhat of a smaller class that we have because of the number of seniors graduating,” he said.
“We have some key spots left to fill, but we’ve got a big running start on it. The exposure on TV that we’ve gotten has been tremendous.”
Solich also acknowledged the indoor practice facility as a key asset to peaking recruits interests at Ohio.
The basketball team has also received some interest for the 2012 class. Caris Levert, a 6-foot-5 guard from Pickerington Central High school signed with Ohio in early November. ESPN.com lists Levert as a two-star recruit and the eighth best player in the state.
Looking forward to the 2013 class, Ohio has two recruits that have given oral commitments in Evan Bradds and Anthony Allen.
Bradds is a 6-foot-6 forward from Jamestown, Ohio and played on the same AAU team as current Bobcat freshman Stevie Taylor.
ESPN.com ranks Bradds as a two-star recruit and the 20th best player in the state. Bradds comes from a long line of basketball lineage. Bradds is the grandson of former Ohio State great and NBA players Gary Bradds.
