Ohio State Football Signees

Eli Apple, CB, 6–0, 184,

Voorhees, N.J. (East­ern HS)

Enrolled into Ohio State in Jan­u­ary, is a five-star prospect (ESPN 150) who is rated as high as the No. 11 prospect nation­ally on the ESPN 150 . the No. 1 prospect in New Jer­sey and No. 6 cor­ner­back prospect (247Sports) . he played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl after help­ing his HS team to a 7–4 record in 2012 and to a regional semi­fi­nals berth . had 17 pass break-ups, two inter­cep­tions, 45 tack­les, three forced fum­bles and a blocked kick in 2012, plus 39 recep­tions for 770 yards and four TDs on offense . the son of Annie and Tim Apple, Eli recently changed his last name from Woodard to Apple to honor Tim, his father since age 2.

J.T. Bar­rett, QB, 6–1, 225,

Wichita Falls, Texas (Rider HS)

John Thomas Bar­rett is con­sid­ered one of the nation’s pre­mier dual threat quar­ter­backs, although his senior sea­son came to an early end with a knee injury in the fifth game . rated as the No. 11 prospect in talent-rich Texas (247Sports) and a con­sen­sus four-star cor­ner­back (ESPN, Rivals, Scout, 247Sports) . atop 150 player by both Scout and 247Sports and on the ESPN 300 . enrolled at Ohio State in Jan­u­ary and is recov­er­ing from his 2012 knee surgery and tak­ing part in win­ter con­di­tion­ing drills, except for run­ning . coaches expect him to be throw­ing this spring but aren’t con­cerned that he won’t be run­ning until later . he rushed for 569 yards with seven TDs and passed for 784 yards and five scores as a senior prior to the injury . he rushed for over 1,500 yards with nine TDs and passed for over 1,600 yards and 14 TDs as a junior.

Mar­cus Baugh, TE, 6–4, 245,

River­side, Calif. (John W. North HS)

A con­sen­sus four-star prospect (ESPN, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports) and a Top 150 player over­all, includ­ing a No. 73 rank­ing on the final Scout 100, a No. 102 rank­ing on the ESPN 150 and a 148 rank­ing on the final Rivals 250 . con­sid­ered among the Top 3 tight ends in this recruit­ing class (Scout and 247Sports) . played in the 2013 Under Armour All-American game . Mar­cus caught a com­bined 68 passes for 1,138 yards and 10 TDs as a junior and senior for North . his senior sea­son included 38 recep­tions for 610 yards and he was named second-team Divi­sion II all-state . as a junior he caught 30 passes for 528 yards and seven TDs.

Vonn Bell, DB, 6–1, 190,

Rossville, Ga. (Ridge­land HS)

Under Armour All-American … announced he was com­ing to Ohio State on Wednes­day … a five-star prospect by Rivals, Scout and 247Sports, Bell is a one of the top 30 play­ers in the nation with over­all rank­ings of No. 25 by Scout, No. 29 by 247Sports and No. 32 by Rivals . is No. 50 on the ESPN 150 . the No. 4 player in the state of Geor­gia this sea­son, Bell is also ranked as high as the No. 3 safety prospect nation­ally by Scout . Bell had 146 tack­les and three inter­cep­tions as a senior, and on offense he had over 1,700 all-purpose yards and scored 21 TDs . helped Ridge­land to the state Sweet 16 in 2011 as a junior with 119 tack­les, five inter­cep­tions and three forced fumbles.

Joey Bosa, DE, 6–5, 270,

Fort Laud­erdale, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas HS)

One of the pre­mier foot­ball prospects in the Class of 2013 with impres­sive national rank­ings of No. 38 (Scout), No. 47 (Rivals), No. 56 (ESPN) and No. 53 (247Sports) . a Scout five-start prospect, Bosa earned the No. 4 over­all rank­ing at his posi­tion — strong side defen­sive end — by both Scout and Rivals . an Under Armour All-American and second-team all-USA Today pick . Aquinas defeated Tal­la­has­see Lin­coln, 41–25, to cap a 13–2 sea­son and win the Florida Class 7A state cham­pi­onship in 2012, the school’s sev­enth state title . a two-time AP first-team all-state selec­tion, Bosa totaled 51 tackles-for-loss in his last two sea­sons and 19 quar­ter­back sacks, includ­ing 27 TFLs and 9.5 sacks as a senior . father, John, was a first-round NFL Draft pick by the Miami Dol­phins in 1987 out of Boston Col­lege and played three years in the league . Mom, Cheryl, is an Ohio State grad­u­ate and an uncle, Eric Kumerow, was a star line­backer for the Buck­eyes between 1984–87 and a 1987 co-captain.

Cam Bur­rows, CB, 5–11, 200,

Trot­wood, Ohio (Trotwood-Madison HS)

A first-team Asso­ci­ated Press all-state selec­tion as a junior and senior, Bur­rows helped lead Trotwood-Madison to three con­sec­u­tive Divi­sion II state cham­pi­onship games, includ­ing an unbeaten, 15–0 state-title win­ning sea­son in 2011 . had 14 pass break-ups as a senior for the 12–3 state final­ist team and also had 39 tack­les . a con­sen­sus four-star cor­ner­back (ESPN, Rivals, Scout, 247Sports) who was the No. 38 prospect nation­ally (Rivals), an ESPN 150 per­former (No. 62) and the No. 2 senior in Ohio (ESPN) . played in the 2013 Under Armour All-American game . a two-time state track final­ist in the sprint relays . his brother, Chris, is a senior track and field per­former for Ari­zona State University.

James Clark, WR, 5–11, 170,

New Smyrna Beach, Fla. (New Smyrna Beach HS)

Did not com­mit until Wednes­day. … Was a first-team Florida 6A all-state pick by The Miami Her­ald as a senior when he led New Smyrna Beach into the state play­offs . he totaled 87 recep­tions for 1,954 yards and 29 total TDs for his career . had 49 recep­tions for 1,112 yards and eight TDs as a senior . had 28 catches for 576 yards as a junior . he placed fifth in the 100 and sixth in the 200 at the 2012 Florida out­door state track championships.

Gareon Con­ley, ATH, 6–2, 170,

Mas­sil­lon, Ohio (Wash­ing­ton HS)

The No. 1 player in Ohio as a senior (ESPN 150) and a first-team AP Divi­sion I all-state selec­tion, Con­ley is an ath­lete with wide receiver-cornerback skills that earned him con­sen­sus four-star sta­tus (ESPN, Scout, 247Sports, Rivals) . the No. 43 over­all prospect nation­ally by ESPN and the No. 14 cor­ner­back prospect (247Sports) . played in the Under Armour All-American game . as a senior Con­ley caught 50 passes, aver­aged 21.9 yards per catch and scored 16 TDs while on defense he had 13 pass break-ups, an inter­cep­tion and 25 tack­les . Wash­ing­ton was 11–2 dur­ing Conley’s senior sea­son and advanced to the regional finals . recorded four inter­cep­tions and 30 tack­les as a junior.

Ezekiel Elliott, RB, 6–0, 205,

St. Louis (John Bur­roughs HS)

Elliott ver­baled to Ohio State weeks ago and then wavered before finally sign­ing his let­ter of intent late on Wednes­day night and elect­ing to not stay close at home to play at Mis­souri — the alma mater of both his mother and father … He became the 24th mem­ber of the recruit­ing class … Elliott is the only true run­ning back in the class … He was the St. Louis Post-Dispatch offen­sive player of the year last fall, account­ing for 3,061 all-purpose yards and 50 TDs on a 13–1 team … Elliott rushed for 2,155 yards while aver­ag­ing 10.6 yards per carry, scor­ing 40 times on rushes … He also caught 16 passes for 383 yards and four TDs, then added 523 yards and another six scores on returns. … Fin­ished his three-year var­sity career with 100 touch­downs, 92 of them in his final two sea­sons. … Rated the ninth-best run­ning back and 47th best prospect in the senior class by Scout.com.

Tim Gard­ner, OL, 6–5, 320,

Indi­anapo­lis, Ind. (Lawrence Cen­tral HS)

Gard­ner was a 2012 AP first-team all-state per­former for Lawrence Cen­tral, the Indi­ana Class 5A state cham­pion, and he was also named to the Indi­ana Foot­ball Coaches Association’s Top 50 all-state team . con­sid­ered the top offen­sive line­man in the state by the Indi­anapo­lis Star and he was also named to that publication’s “Super Team” . Gard­ner helped his unde­feated (15–0) Bears team aver­age 328.5 rush­ing yards and 38.5 points per game in 2012 . was rated as the No. 5 prospect in Indi­ana as a senior and the No. 24 offen­sive tackle prospect by 247Sports . a three-year starter, he also helped Cen­tral to the 2010 Class 5A state final before los­ing to Fishers.

Michael Hill, DL, 6–2, 305,

Pendle­ton, S.C. (Pendle­ton HS)

U.S. Army All-America Bowl invi­tee . a con­sen­sus four-star prospect by (ESPN, 247Sports, Scout, Rivals) and one of the Top 20 defen­sive tack­les in the nation by Scout (No. 16) . listed on the ESPN 300 (216) . named to the South Car­olina Shrine Bowl this year and the No. 6 player in the state by 247Sports, Hill had an unfor­tu­nate end to his senior sea­son, injur­ing a hand in the eighth game that caused him to miss the remain­der of the sea­son and all post-season all-star games . Pendle­ton fin­ished 8–4 on the year . Hill was dom­i­nant as a junior play­ing in the mid­dle of Pendleton’s line for coach Paul Suther­land . he recorded 25 tackles-for-losses and 81 total tack­les despite per­sis­tent double-teams against him . he also had six sacks as a junior and had four as a senior before his injury.

Trey John­son, LB, 6–2, 220,

Lawrenceville, Ga. (Cen­tral Gwin­nett HS)

Com­mit­ted on Jan. 4 on national tele­vi­sion while play­ing at the Under Armour All-American Bowl . a con­sen­sus four-star prospect (ESPN, Scout, Rivals and 247Sports) and one of the top senior prospects in Geor­gia, John­son is rated as high as the No. 3 inside line­backer prospect in the nation (Rivals and 247Sports) and he is the No. 48 over­all player on the ESPN 150 . Scout listed him as the No. 16 out­side line­backer . John­son recorded 456 career tack­les for Cen­tral Gwin­nett and was coached by Todd Wof­ford . as a senior he had 140 tack­les and four sacks and as a junior he had 164 tack­les, includ­ing 25 tackles-for-loss . named first-team all-state by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a senior and second-team 6A all-state by the Geor­gia Sports­writ­ers Association.

Dar­ron Lee, ATH, 6–2, 205,

New Albany, Ohio (New Albany HS)

Played quar­ter­back, wide receiver, safety and returned punts and kick­offs as a junior for the New Albany Eagles and he played pri­mar­ily in the sec­ondary and at quar­ter­back as a senior . Lee was named a first-team AP Divi­sion II all-state cor­ner­back as a senior after record­ing five inter­cep­tions with three punt return TDs, and account­ing for over 1,700 yards of offense and 21 TDs . he helped New Albany advance to the Divi­sion II state semi­fi­nals and to a 11–3 over­all record as a senior . Lee did it all in a third-round win over Marion-Franklin, throw­ing for two TDs, rush­ing for a 36-yard score, return­ing a punt 82 yards for a touch­down and mak­ing the game-clinching inter­cep­tion in the final minute . team was 9–3 and a state qual­i­fier in 2011 . Lee is con­sid­ered a four-star prospect (Scout) and the No. 29 safety prospect by Scout . ESPN ranks him the No. 28 prospect over­all in the state of Ohio . orig­i­nally from Chat­tanooga, Tenn., Lee moved to Ohio as an eighth grader . Mom, Can­dice, is a news anchor for the local NBC affil­i­ate WCMH.

Tyquan Lewis, DE, 6–3, 223,

Tar­boro, N.C. (Tar­boro HS)

Enrolled at Ohio State in Jan­u­ary … is a four-star defen­sive end prospect (Rivals, Scout, 247Sports) . a Top 25 DE … HS team won three con­sec­u­tive North Car­olina Class 2A state cham­pi­onships and had won 21 con­sec­u­tive games before falling in the 2012 state cham­pi­onship to East Lin­coln . Lewis was injured in the title game but still played and earned defen­sive player of the game hon­ors . he fin­ished his senior sea­son with 13 sacks and was named to the AP all-state team . he had 12 sacks among his 63 tack­les as a junior.

Evan Lisle, OL, 6–6, 290,

Cen­ter­ville, Ohio (Cen­ter­ville HS)

Lisle is a mem­ber of the ESPN 150 (No. 106) and is rated by ESPN as a Top 5 player in Ohio by ESPN, Scout and 247Sports . also regarded as the top offen­sive line­man in the state and a Top 10 prospect nation­ally by Scout, Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN . a con­sen­sus four-star player (ESPN, Rivals, Scout, 247Sports) and a spe­cial men­tion AP Divi­sion I all-state hon­oree in 2012 . only Ohioan named to the 2012 USA Today All-America team . Cen­ter­ville went 6–4 in 2012 . selected for the 2013 U.S. Army All-American Bowl . father, Steve, went to West Point and brother, Nick, is in the Army.

Jalin Mar­shall, WR, 6–0, 190,

Mid­dle­town, Ohio (Mid­dle­town HS)

Mar­shall was con­sid­ered the No. 1 prospect in Ohio by 247Sports and the No. 2 prospect as a senior by ESPN and Rivals . a skilled quar­ter­back who rushed for a school-record 4,759 yards dur­ing his career, includ­ing more than 1,400 yards as a senior with 14 TDs scored, Mar­shall is being looked at as a wide receiver for the Buck­eyes . a five-star prospect by Scout, he played receiver in the 2013 Under Armour All-America game and had a 44-yard recep­tion . as a quar­ter­back, he passed for 2,240 yards as a senior . also totaled 4,929 all-purpose yards dur­ing his career and scored 52 rush­ing TDs and 54 total TDs (two receiv­ing) . one of the Top 50 prospects in the nation (ESPN, Rivals, Scout) . had a 56-yard touch­down rush on his first var­sity carry as a fresh­man, and rushed for a career-high 312 yards as a senior vs. state cham­pion Cincin­nati Moeller . 2012 state Divi­sion I long jump champ (23.00).

Mike Mitchell, LB, 6–4, 225,

Plano, Texas (Pre­ston­wood Chris­t­ian HS)

Is one of only two mid­dle line­back­ers nation­ally to receive a five-star rat­ing by Scout . also a five-star prospect by Rivals . Scout’s No. 2 mid­dle line­backer announced Jan. 5 on national TV, and while play­ing in the U.S. Army All-American game, that he would be attend­ing Ohio State . the No. 10 over­all player in the state of Texas, Mitchell is rated as high as the No. 26 over­all prospect (Rivals) and No. 28 by Scout . also a mem­ber of the ESPN 150 (No. 128) . grew up in Win­ter Park, Fla., but spent final three years in Texas . played for Pre­ston­wood Chris­t­ian as a sopho­more and senior, and for Plano West as a junior . he recorded 151 tack­les and 11 sacks as a junior and then totaled 186 tack­les, 32 tackles-for-loss (11 of them sacks), seven forced fum­bles and even returned a kick­off for a touch­down as a senior . father (Ken Mitchell) played two sea­sons in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons.

Dono­van Munger, DL, 6–4, 290,

Shaker Heights, Ohio (Shaker Heights HS)

Con­sen­sus four-star prospect (Rivals, Scout) … Was a two-way line­man and was recruited by the Buck­eye coaches to play along the defen­sive line . is con­sid­ered among the Top 25 tack­les (Scout, 247Sports, ESPN) nation­ally with a No. 18 rank­ing by 247Sports his high­est . he helped Shaker Heights to a six-win improve­ment from 2011 to 2012 — the team went 8–2 this sea­son — by record­ing 70 tack­les, includ­ing 14 tackles-for-loss with six quar­ter­back sacks and 23 pres­sures . named second-team AP Divi­sion I all-state in 2012.

Billy Price, DL, 6–4, 305,

Austin­town, Ohio (Fitch HS)

Price was the AP’s 2012 Divi­sion I co-defensive player of the year in Ohio (along with Gareon Con­ley and Tracy Sprin­kle) and a first-team all-state pick . a con­sen­sus four-star prospect (ESPN, Rivals, 247Sports, Scout) . rated among the top 200 play­ers in the Rivals 250 and a mem­ber of the ESPN 300 . rated as the No. 17 defen­sive tackle nation­ally by 247Sports and No. 21 by Scout . helped Fitch to a 9–2 record in 2012 and to the state play­offs . also helped Fitch to the state play­offs in 2010 with a 10–2 record and again in 2011 . was named first-team all-state as a junior when he recorded 40 tack­les with three sacks, 10 TFLs and an inter­cep­tion . placed sev­enth in the dis­cus at the 2012 Ohio out­door state track and field meet after plac­ing sixth in the shot and sec­ond in the weight throw indoors.

Corey Smith, WR, 6–1, 190,

Akron, Ohio (East­ern Mis­sis­sippi CC)

The first junior col­lege prospect to sign with Ohio State since Larry Grant (a mem­ber of the San Fran­cisco 49ers’ Super Bowl team) signed out of Com­mu­nity Col­lege of San Fran­cisco in 2006 . Smith, from Akron Buch­tel High School, played on an unbeaten (10–0) Grand Rapids (Mich.) CC team in 2011 before the col­lege dis­con­tin­ued the pro­gram after 80 years . Smith had 28 recep­tions for 438 yards and two TDs for Grand Rapids . played at East­ern Mis­sis­sippi CC, located in Scooba, Miss., in 2012 . he recorded 51 recep­tions for 733 yards and nine TDs for the Mis­sis­sippi Asso­ci­a­tion of Com­mu­nity and Junior Col­leges’ north divi­sion cham­pion . caught 11 passes for 113 yards vs. North­west C.C. and seven passes for 158 yards vs. South­west C.C. . named the No. 9 junior col­lege prospect in the nation by 247Sports and the No. 3 receiver . Smith will have three sea­sons to com­plete two years of ath­letic eli­gi­bil­ity at Ohio State.

Tracy Sprin­kle, DE, 6–2, 241,

Elyria, Ohio (Elyria HS)

The 2012 AP first-team all-Ohio selec­tion and Divi­sion I co-defensive player of the year, Tracy Sprin­kle recorded 19 sacks and 30 total tackles-for-loss among his 103 tack­les as a senior . dom­i­nant games included five sacks against Amherst Steele and four sacks (and 12 tack­les) against Hud­son . also named the AP North­east Ohio All-Lake Dis­trict Defen­sive Player of the Year as a senior . Elyria was 7–3 in both 2012 and 2011 . Sprin­kle, a Top 30 strong side defen­sive end by 247Sports, had 27 sacks his final two sea­sons of play . he was a third-team all-state pick as a junior after mak­ing 94 tack­les and eight sacks . Elyria High’s Chase Far­ris is a third-year sopho­more offen­sive line­man at Ohio State . Sprin­kle enrolled at Ohio State in January.

Jayme Thomp­son, DB, 6–2, 185,

Toledo, Ohio (Cen­tral Catholic HS)

Thomp­son is a con­sen­sus four-star prospect (ESPN, Rivals, Scout, 247Sports) and among the top 250 prospects in the nation (No. 204 on the Rivals 250 and No. 218 on the ESPN 300) . con­sid­ered the top safety in Ohio (ESPN) and the No. 12 prospect in the state . played in the All-American bowl Dec. 27 in Hous­ton . helped lead his Cen­tral Catholic Fight­ing Irish, coached by Greg Dempsey, to the 2012 Divi­sion II state title and a 14–1 record . Cen­tral defeated defend­ing state cham­pion Trotwood-Madison, 16–14, in the title game for the sec­ond state title in school his­tory (2005) . Thomp­son was an AP all-state pick as a senior when he had 48 tack­les, an inter­cep­tion and two fum­ble recov­er­ies . he also helped Cen­tral to the state play­offs in 2011 and was a second-team AP all-Ohio pick . played at St. Fran­cis DeSales in Toledo prior to attend­ing Cen­tral Catholic as a junior and senior . moved to Toledo from Wash­ing­ton, D.C.

Don­tre Wil­son, RB, 5–10, 174,

DeS­oto, Texas (DeS­oto HS)

Announced Feb. 4 live on TV that he would accept his Ohio State schol­ar­ship offer . Wil­son is the No. 5 player in Texas and con­sid­ered one of the Top 100 play­ers in the nation and a con­sen­sus four-star prospect (ESPN, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports) . rated as the No. 5 all-purpose back by Rivals . ranked over­all as high as No. 50 and the nation’s No. 10 run­ning back by Scout) . also rated No. 55 on the ESPN 150 and No. 100 on the Rivals 250 . led DeS­oto to the Texas Class 5A Divi­sion I state semi­fi­nals as a senior by rush­ing for 1,895 yards and 37 TDs and catch­ing 37 passes for 750 yards and nine scores . Wil­son fin­ished his high school career with over 3,200 rush­ing yards, 1,200 receiv­ing yards and 81 TDs.

Christo­pher Wor­ley, S, 6–3, 195,

Cleve­land (Glenville HS)

A spe­cial men­tion AP all-state pick as a senior, Wor­ley led Glenville to an 8–2 record this sea­son by record­ing 89 tack­les with nine sacks, five inter­cep­tion returns for TDs and five forced fum­bles . for his career he had 161 tack­les, 13 sacks, eight inter­cep­tions and seven forced fum­bles . a Top 25 senior prospect in Ohio (No. 20 by 247Sports and No. 25 by ESPN) . extends a streak of Glenville Tar­blood­ers sign­ing with Ohio State to 12 con­sec­u­tive years.

Posted by Jon Kleinknecht on Feb 6 2013. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.