Recruiting is said to be the lifeblood of college football. This series will countdown the top 100 high schools in Ohio that have provided the Buckeyes with football players. The rankings are based on how many times a player from each high school has been listed on Ohio State's roster between 1970 and 2018.
No. 37, Cincinnati Princeton
Qualification
Seven players from Princeton have been listed on 21 Ohio State rosters. The first Viking to make a Buckeye roster was Harry Howard. He played both running back and cornerback while in Columbus.
K Thomas Klaban (1974-75) was the first soccer style place kicker in Ohio State history. His four field goals against Michigan in 1974 were the only points the Buckeyes scored in their 12-10 victory that clinched a Rose Bowl berth. Klaban led the team in scoring with 79 points that season. He finished his career making 98 of 101 extra points and 15 of 24 field goals. The Cincinnati Bengals selected him in the 10th round of the 1976 NFL Draft.
Klaban was born, in Czhechoslovakia but his early childhood was spent in Canada after his family spent 6 months in a refugee camp in Germany. In 1967, his family moved to Cincinnati. Klaban was a swimmer for the Vikings, but was asked to be a kicking specialist for the football team his junior year. He was known for the unusual lift he would get on his kicks, a skill he gave credit to his sister for.
DB Rod Gorley (1979-83) earned a letter during his freshman year of 1979 and started nine games in 1980. However, he suffered a severe knee injury in the spring of 1981. The injury kept him from playing in '81 and '82. He only played in three games during his final season in Columbus and made 6 tackles. At Princeton, Gorley was on the 1978 state championship team the stopped Moeller's 55-game winning streak.
WR Thad Jemison (1980-83) was the second leading receiver on the team in 1983 with 35 catches for 558 yards and 3 touchdowns. He started all 12 games his senior season and saw playing time in 43 games during his Ohio State career. The Buccaneers selected Jemison in the 12th round of the 1984 NFL Draft.
Jemison was an All-Ohioan and All-American at Princeton where had 659 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns as a senior. The team was 20–1 during his last two years on the squad.
TE Alex Higdon (1984-87) caught the second most passes during the 1987 season when he hauled in 26 passes for 252 yards. He finished his Ohio State career with 4 varsity letters after playing tight end ('84, '86, '87), defensive tackle ('85) and linebacker ('86). Higdon was ans All-Ohioan and scholastic All-American at Princeton.
WR Allen DeGraffenried (1989-92) entered his senior season as the backup to Joey Galloway and the No. 3 receiver when the Buckeyes used trips. He had one catch for 15 yards as a junior and six catches for 65 yards as a senior.
In high school, DeGraffenried played soccer for four years and football for two. He made 7 of 9 field goals for Princeton during the football teams state title run of 1987. DeGraffenried also won a state title in the 3,200 meter relay.
QB Johnny Mattress (1990) was only on the Ohio State for one season before putting his Buckeye career to, wait for it...bed.
Back To School
Princeton is located in Hamilton County and is a member of the Greater Miami Conference. The team competes in Division I, Region 4. The Vikings went 3–7. The last time they made the playoffs was 2007, the team traveled to Centerville and lost 42-21 in the first round. Since 2012, Princeton has had a losing season in six of the seven years.
The football program has three state titles. The Vikings won the championship in 1987, 1983 and 1978.
Notable
Princeton has a total of nine state championships. The football team has the most with three (listed above). Girls' basketball has two titles (2014, 1987), water polo has two (1981, 1977), and boys' tennis (2003) and girls' track and field (1989) each have one.
Carlos Hyde attended Princeton as a freshman, but his family moved to Naples, FL where he finished his high school career.
Famous Alumni
Famous names you may know: NFL players Willie Asbury, Harlon Barnett, Ron Carpenter, Shane Curry, Darryl Hardy, Maurice Harvey, Alex Higdon and Spencer Ware, MLB players Josh Harrison and Lance Johnson, WNBA players Dee Davis and Kelsey Mitchell (Ohio State) and actress Missy Doty.
Explanation of the Rankings
School "A" had 14 players appear 16 times on Ohio State's roster. School "B" had 11 players appear 20 times on Ohio State's roster. School "B" will have the higher ranking. Why? Even though school "B" has less players, those players played for more years.
If two or more schools have the same number of appearances, the tie will be broken by the school with the highest average of roster appearances per player. If there is a tie in the average, the tie breaker will be the school with the most prominent Ohio State player.
2,797 days since Ohio State has not defeated That Team.
129 days until The Game.
Are you a former player, graduate, live near or have something to add about today's featured high school? Please share your story with us in the comments. What makes the 11W community unique is the amount of great information everybody is willing to share.
