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. 10, Warren G Harding
Qualification
16 players from Warren Harding have been listed on 46 Ohio State rosters.
OT Korey Stringer (1992-94) was the Buckeyes' MVP in 1994 and was a two-time All-American and All-Big Ten player. In 1993, Stringer and Dan Wilkinson earned All-American honors as sophomores, becoming the first Ohio State players to do earn honor since 1979. Stringer was also the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year in 1992 and named the conference's Offensive Lineman of the year in 1993 and 1994.
The Vikings selected Stringer with the 24th overall pick of the 1995 NFL Draft. In August of 2001, the Pro Bowler died of a heat stroke in training camp. Minnesota retired his No. 77 and his name is in Vikings' Ring of Honor.
Stringer was an All-Ohioan as a junior and senior. He was also the Division I Lineman of the Year and an All-American as a senior. The Raiders went undefeated and won the state championship his junior year.
RB Maurice Clarett (2002) helped lead the Buckeyes to a perfect 14–0 season and national championship during the only season he played for the team. Clarett exploded onto the scene as he raced for 175 yards and three touchdowns in the season opener. He then finished the year with an Ohio State freshman record 1,126 yards as a true freshman.
Clarett made his mark in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl as well. However, one of his most memorable plays of that game came as a defender. After Sean Taylor intercepted a pass, Clarett chased down the Hurricanes' safety and stropped the ball away. His last play as a Buckeye was when he scored the game-winning touchdown against Miami.
Ohio State suspended Clarett from the team after he was charged with falsifying a police report, taking in special benefits of around $20,000 and misleading investigators. Following his dismissal, he moved to Los Angeles to prepare for the NFL Draft. In 2005, the Broncos selected Clarett in the third round. On New Year's Day 2006, he was arrested after he robbed two people outside of the Opium Lounge, and was found with a .45 caliber handgun.
In August of 2006, Clarett ran away from police after he made an illegal U-turn. The chase ended after he ran over spike strips. The police found a katana, zanbato, a loaded AK-47 and an open bottle of Grey Goose in the car. Clarett was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison, but was released after 3.5 years for "exemplary behavior and growth".
Clarett founded the Red Zone in 2016 to provide mental health, addiction and recovery, school-based social work and other services in the Youngstown area. The program has been successful as students who have received help from the Red Zone have improved their grade point averages by over 15%. The Red Zone is now helping students in Columbus. In 2018, Clarett started a podcast called Business and Biceps and is a top 100 podcast in the Apple iTunes store.
At Warren G Harding, Clarett was Ohio's Mr. Football, Offensive Player of the Year, a U.S. Army All-American and was USA Today's Offensive High School Player of the Year. As a freshman, he attended Austintown-Fitch before transferring to Warren G Harding.
RB Dan "Boom" Herron (2007-11) was Ohio State's Team MVP in 2011 and a captain of the 2010 team. The Buckeyes won three Big Ten titles, the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl with Herron on the team. He rushed for 1,155 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2010 and was headed for a stellar senior season. However, before the Sugar Bowl rumors were swirling about misconduct.
In December of 2010, Herron (and four other players) was suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season for selling a game-worn jersey, pants and shoes. He was given an additional game on the sideline for getting overpaid for a summer job. The Bengals selected Herron in the 6th round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
Was an All-Ohioan Herron ran for 1,434 yards and 18 touchdowns as senior. He was also the No. 7 recruit in the state of Ohio.
| No. | POS | PLAYER | YEARS | OHIO STATE CAREER | HS CAREER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59 | LB | FRED PISANELLI | 1970 | On the roster for 1 season, did not see the field. | All-Ohioan who played both offense and defense. |
| 17 | QB | JAMES RICHBURG | 1975 | On the roster for 1 season, did not see the field. | HS All-American, played QB and S, led Harding to the state championship. |
| 37, 32 | LB/DE | KELTON DANSLER | 1975-78 | 2x All-Big Ten (1977, 1978) who played in 45 games, had 92 tackles and 5 TFL as a senior. | Won the state title in 1974, played FB and LB. |
| 33 | LB | JOHN EPITROPOULOS | 1977-1980 | Twin of Ernie, voted "Top Defensive Player" of the 1980 spring game, finished second on the team with 94 tackles as a senior. | All-Ohio LB |
| 59 | OG | ERNIE EPITROPOULOS | 1977-80 | Twin of John, played in 4 games as a senior and 15 during his career. | Top high school moment was his block that allowed his teammate to score the winning TD against rival Alliance. |
| 88 | DE/LB | DAVID ALLEN | 1977-78 | On 2 rosters, but only played in 1 game for 1.5 minutes. | Trumbull County Player of the Year, honor student who went to Boys State. |
| 37 | WR | TYRONE HICKS | 1978-79 | Caught 6 passes for 106 yards and 2 TDs and ran for 49 yards as a senior. Also a fine player at KO return. Did not play football in 1976 and 1977, won the 100 meter Big Ten title in 1978 | All-Ohioan at HB, ran for 1,066 yards and 15 TDs as a senior. |
| 51 | OL | GREG ZACKEROFF | 1984-88 | Played in a total of 40 games and was a starter for his final 36 contests. | All-Ohioan, Trumbull County Lineman of the Year and captain as a senior. |
| 78 | OT | KOREY STRINGER | 1992-94 | See above. | See above. |
| 57 | OG | LeSHUN DANIELS | 1994-96 | Began his career as a DT, but started three years at right guard and was the team's Offensive Lineman of the Week after the Wisconsin game in 1995, started 38 of the 42 games he played in. | All-Ohioan who held Harding to a 22-2 record during his final 2 years, played with Korey Stringer. |
| 83 | WR | VANNESS PROVITT | 1997-00 | Had a pelvic fracture and dislocated hip in 1998, broke his ankle in 1999, after the injuries his 40 time went from 4.6 to 4.4, had 16 catches for 228 yards as a senior. | All-Ohioan, caught 3 TDs and was the MVP of the Ohio-PA Big 33 Classic. |
| 13 | RB | MAURICE CLARETT | 2002 | See above. | See above. |
| 56 | LS | DIMITRIOS MAKRIDIS | 2004-07 | Walk-on in 2003 who worked his way up the depth chart, 2x Academic All-Big Ten player in 2006, 2007. | Was a MLB and LS who was an All-County player and earned 3 varsity letters. |
| 2, 1 | HB | DAN "BOOM" HERRON | 2007-11 | See above. | See above. |
| 56 | LS | GEORGE MAKRIDIS | 2010-13 | Three-year player at long snapper who shared the job with Bryce Haynes, entered his senior season with 205 successful snaps. | 3-year starter in football, played baseball and was the No. 1 singles tennis player as a junior. |
| 26 | HB | PATRICK WISE | 2015 | Walk-on in 2005 who spent four years in the Navy before joining the team. | Played football and track. |
Back To School
Warren G Harding is located in Trumbull County and is currently in the All-American Conference. The team competes in Division II, Region 5. The Raiders went 8–2 in the regular season last year. The team traveled to Garfield Heights lost 42-25 in the first round of the playoffs.
The football program has three state championships (1990, 1974, 1972). The title won in 1972 was earned by Warren Western Reserve before the schools consolidated in 1990.
Notable
Warren G Harding has won five state championships. As mentioned above, the football team has three titles (1990, 1974, 1972) and the track (2010) and baseball team (1933) have one each.
Famous Alumni
Famous names you may know: NFL players Ross Browner, James Daniels, Mario Manningham, Prescott Burgess and David Herron, MLB player and National League president, Bill White, MLB player Ed Stroud, astronaut Ronald Parise, author and creator of Charlie Chan, Earl Derr Biggers, president and CEO of Fox News Network, Roger Ailes, a leader in the women's suffrage movement, Harriet Taylor Upton and NFL Hall of Fame player and former Buckeye, Paul Warfield.
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.
2,825 days since Ohio State has not defeated That Team.
101 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.
If you like Ohio high school football, or want to read about the best teams of the '50s and '60s, you should check out Tim Raab's book: Powerhouses of Ohio High School Football.
