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. 23, Canton GlenOak
Qualification
7 players from GlenOak have been listed on 25 Ohio State rosters.
S Tim Fox (1973-75) won three Big Ten titles when listed on the roster. As a senior, he was a captain, All-American, All-Big Ten and Academic All-Big Ten player. In 1998, Fox was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame. He was selected by the Patriots with the 21st pick of the 1st round of the 1976 NFL Draft.
Fox earned 10 high school varsity letters and was a captain for the football, basketball and track teams. He also wasn't heavily recruited because he had a knee injury and a ruptured kidney that forced him to miss six games his senior season. Fate shined on Fox when his girlfriend introduced him to Harry Meyer. Meyer was personal friends with Woody Hayes and Fox was able to land the Buckeyes' last scholarship offer of 1972.
DT Greg Smith (1989-92) All-Big Ten, 2x Academic All-American and 4x Academic All-Big Ten. Started 36 games as a Buckeye and was third on the team with 69 tackles his senior season. Led the Big Ten in sacks (7.0) during his sophomore season.
All-Northeastern Ohio as a senior and was also an All-American wrestler at GlenOak.
DB Dustin Fox (2001-04) Stared in 36 games with a streak of 30 consecutive starts. Was a captain of the 2004 team and was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten player. Selected by the Vikings in the 3rd round of the 2005 NFL Draft.
All-Ohioan as a junior and senior at GlenOak. Super Prep All-American who had 12 career interceptions and rushed for 1,351 yards as senior.
WR Brian Hartline (2005-08) went 4–0 in The Game and won four Big Ten titles. Caught 90 passes for 1,429 yards and 12 TDs during his career. Earned Academic All-Big Ten three times. The Dolphins selected him in the 4th round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Today, Hartline can be found on the Ohio State sidelines as coach of the wide receivers.
Played quarterback and receiver for the Eagles. Missed his senior season after injuring his knee in the first game.
| No. | POS | PLAYER | YEARS | OHIO STATE CAREER | HS CAREER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | S | TIM FOX | 1973-75 | See above. | See above. |
| 57 | DT | GREG SMITH | 1989-92 | See above. | See above. |
| 37 | DB | DUSTIN FOX | 2001-04 | See above. | See above. |
| 72 | OL | TJ DOWNING | 2002-06 | An All-Big Ten player his senior season. Played in 24 games with 15 starts. Tallied an incredible 340 minutes his junior season. | All-Ohioan as a senior and started on both the offensive and defensive lines for three seasons. Led the school to its first playoff appearance in 15 years as a junior. |
| 14, 9 | WR | BRIAN HARTLINE | 2005-08 | See above. | See above. |
| 25 | HB | BRI'ONTE DUNN | 2012-15 | Carried the ball 49 times for 291 yards and 3 TDs. Played in 8 games during the national championship season of 2014. Had some guy named Ezekiel Elliott ahead of him on the depth chart. | All-Ohioan as a junior and senior he rushed for 5,479 career yards. Scored 51 touchdowns during his final three seasons. Was rated as the second best running back in Ohio. |
| 11 | QB | REID WORSTELL | 2013 | An invited walk-on who was on the team for one season. | Threw for 1,863 yards and 10 TDs as a senior. Also Led the team to a playoff appearance that season. |
Back To School
GlenOak is located in Stark County and is currently in the Federal League. The team competes in Division I, Region 1. The Golden Eagles went 1–9 last year. The last time they made the playoffs was 2016. GlenOak traveled to Solon in the first round and lost, 39-10.
Notable
GlenOak has won nine state titles. Girls' water polo has three championships (1987, 1986, 1985), the baseball team has two championships (1996, 1995) and girls' basketball (2019), girls' cross country (1988), boys' water polo and girls' swimming (1982) each have one.
Famous Alumni
Famous names you may know: NFL players Dan Dierdorf and Mark Murphy, Ohio University head coach Cleve Bryant, magician Joshua Jay, musicians Matt Thiessen and Brian Pittman, Ohio State basketball player Kosta Koufos and Marilyn Manson.
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.
2,811 days since Ohio State has not defeated That Team.
115 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.
