PROBLEM?So, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow today does that mean a certain sanction-seeking head coach with a 15-11 career record will snatch up the state's best guard, throwing a major wrench into the Glenville Pipeline?
We can only assume so as word of Aundrey Walker's dalliance turned likely Kiffin commit began leaking out last night. For the longest time, Bucknuts' Gary Housteau, generally plugged in with Glenville, was the only guy linking Walker to USC despite his overly positive reviews of his January 14th visit. Kevin Noon at Rivals and Scout's Bill Greene had Walker ending up where all of the great Tarblooders do, but both reversed their calls and it now appears Walker will announce his decision/sign with the Trojans at 7am today after bad weather forced a postponement.
There's always a chance Walker could be setting some folks up, but when Greene and Noon both pull a 180 on their calls the night before signing day, it's probably safe to assume this ship has sailed. We wish Walker the best, though he may want to place a call to Seantrel Henderson before putting ink to paper.
If Walker is LA-bound, it will only add to Tressel's reputation as a coach that sometimes has trouble closing the big ones. He'll get a chance to neutralize that line of thinking -- at least this year -- if he can land one of the big three that will be making final decisions today.
The alpha in this group is, Curtis Grant, will be choosing (at 1:30pm) between Ohio State, North Carolina, Florida and Virginia and it's anyone's guess where he'll end up as he's played it cool and silent throughout the process. Scout's Laura McKeeman has been as close to the situation as possible and pegged Grant to Columbus two days ago and then followed it up with a tease of a tweet last night that sent central Ohio recruitniks scrambling to one-time pads. Getting Grant would be H-U-G-E. A five-star with Rivals and Scout, he's regarded as the nation's top prep linebacker and would go a long way towards helping Buckeye fans forget about losing Jordan Hicks and Trey DePriest.
Gator commit Ja'Juan Story visited Columbus a week and a half ago and deemed it an "amazing" experience but the odds of him spurning Muschamp and Weis have to be pretty low. Tressel paid Story an in-home visit on Friday and the wide receiver spent the evening with fellow Gator commit Jeff Driskel at a gymnastics meet in Gainesville. I suppose anything can happen, but I imagine the pilfering of Florida will end with Shazier and Drayton with a possibility of Grant.
Maryland athlete Darius Jennings will be choosing a school by way of faxing in his NLI at 9:30am today. His final three are Virginia, Wake Forest and your favorite team. The Ohio State staff sees Jennings as a corner, while Wake wants him at quarterback. Or wherever Jennings would like to play, basically. Like Grant, you shouldn't be surprised with whatever choice Jennings makes as all three schools are offering him something he wants. Wake gives him the shot at QB, Virginia would keep him near his family and Ohio State is not Virginia or Wake Forest when it comes to football. The Buckeyes also have an ace-in-the-hole of sorts with former linebacker Stan White, who was Jennings' prep defensive coordinator. While White isn't steering Jennings to Columbus -- the kid is too smart for that, anyway -- one can only hope he let Darius catch a glimpse of his Gold Pants.
Stick with us throughout Signing Day as we'll be updating the news as it rolls in. You can also follow us on Twitter if you prefer your news in 140-character doses.
We're down to four. Former Wolverine tailback and Heisman winner Tom Harmon was named Big Ten Icon #5. Harmon racked up 2,134 yards on the ground and led the nation in scoring in 1939 and 1940, finishing his career with an astounding 9.9 points per game average, but his crowning achievement in life was fathering the man that played Mr. Shoop in Summer School.
It's not hard to guess the remaining four icons: Red Grange, Jesse Owens, Archie Griffin and Magic Johnson. The tricky part is figuring out where to slot them. If it were up to us, we'd probably go Johnson (4), Grange (3), Griffin (2) and Owens in the one spot. But we're decidedly biased and can envision the network ensuring the top two spots aren't held by one school. With that in mind, expect to see Grange at #2 and Griffin at #3.
The star player is the fax machine. The Journal's Darren Everson highlights the oft-neglected fax machine, king of the college football world for one day each year:
GOD DANG FAX MACHINESAt the University of Oregon, alumnus Phil Knight, the Nike co-founder, has hung out for years in the football office on signing day, waiting for official word on the newest flock of Ducks. At Arizona State, a staffer plays the school fight song each time a recruit's fax rolls in, often 20 or so times. On Wednesday, the universities of Alabama and Washington plan to have cameras set up again so fans can watch the faxes come in via the Internet.
And what good is an ode to the fax machine without the story of Durrell Price:
The all-time fax fiasco involved Durell Price, a running back from the Los Angeles area who was expected to sign with Ohio State in 1996.
Mr. Price faxed the Buckeyes his letter from a nearby drugstore, but as soon as the employee faxed it, "I thought, 'Oh man, a month from now I'm going to be 3,000 miles from home,'" he says. He figured he was headed to Ohio, since the fax had already gone through.
Only it hadn't; Ohio State left a message at his home saying it had received only part of his letter. Mr. Price leaped at the reprieve: He signed with UCLA the next day.
For our younger readers, that pretty much sums up Cooper's career at Ohio State. So tantalizingly close to greatness only to have it pulled out from under him.
Random bits: After losing at Penn State on Sunday to fall to 14-8, the Lady Buckeyes are out of the AP Poll for the first time in 130 weeks... ESPN Chicago has a great feature on future OSU center Brian Bobek, recently named a Parade All-American... The Lantern looks at two-time former national champion J Jaggers and his new role as an Ohio State assistant coach... A point-shaving scandal erupted around the Syracuse basketball program and just as quickly redacted.
