Buckeyes’ recruiting not up to normal standards

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By Doug Harris, Staff Writer 12:15 AM Thursday, January 21, 2010

I just saw a story in these pages where Ohio State’s recruiting in football has taken an uncharacteristic dip.

Accustomed to locking up top-10 classes almost every year, the Buckeyes’ current group is rated only 22nd nationally by Rivals.com, behind Big Ten arch-nemeses Michigan (19th) and Penn State (9th) and other programs with much lower profiles such as Stanford (18th), Missouri (14th) and Texas A&M (10th).

That won’t matter next season — OSU is expected to go into the year as a top-5 team — or probably even the one after that. But it can’t be good for the long haul.

There’s still time for OSU to salvage a decent recruiting class since it’s still in the running for Lakota West linebacker Jordan Hicks (the No. 2 overall prospect) and some other blue-chippers who could wait until signing day on Feb. 3 to make decisions. But the Buckeyes don’t have a good track record of winning those 11th-hour battles, and they’re still unlikely to climb into the top 10 even if they hit the jackpot.

No matter how good a coach Jim Tressel is — and I think he’s one of the best — there’s no substitute for talent. And unless there’s some hidden gems in that class in the mold of James Laurinaitis, the Buckeyes appear destined to lose some ground in the personnel department that will have to be made up somewhere.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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