Buckeyes Sign Fifteen To National Letter of Intent – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 7, 2007
All-Ac cess Signing Day Press Conference
COLUMBUS, Ohio: Fifteen of the nation’s top high school football players have signed on the dotted line to attend Ohio State.
“We lost a significant amount of speed this past year, but we feel as though we were able to replace that speed with this class,” said Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel. “That was a high priority for us.”
This year’s class includes 10 players from Ohio, two from Florida and one each from the states of Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
“We like the blend of in-state and out-of-state players,” said Tressel. Anytime you can sign 10 players from Ohio, you have a tremendous nucleus to build upon down the road.”
Broken down by position, there are 10 defensive and five offensive players. The defensive contingent includes six defensive backs, two linebackers and two defensive linemen. On offense, there are two wide receivers, two running backs and one offensive lineman.
“This is a group of young men who are excited to be at Ohio State, and it will mean a lot to them to represent this university and play in Ohio Stadium,” said Tressel. “I like the potential of this class a lot.”
| Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown/High School |
| Evan Blankenship | OL | 6-3 | 300 | Monaca, Pa./Center Area |
| Eugene Clifford | DB | 6-2 | 190 | Cincinnati/Colerain |
| Donnie Evege | DB | 5-11 | 185 | Huber Heights/Wayne |
| Daniel Herron | RB | 5-10 | 200 | Warren/Harding |
| Cameron Heyward | DT | 6-6 | 280 | Suwanee, Ga./Peachtree Ridge |
| Jermale Hines | LB | 6-2 | 205 | Cleveland/Glenville |
| Nate Oliver | S | 6-0 | 195 | Lakewood/St. Edwards |
| Rocco Pentello | S | 6-0 | 195 | Westerville/South |
| Brian Rolle | LB | 5-11 | 210 | Immokalee, Fla./Immokalee |
| Brandon Saine | RB | 6-1 | 205 | Piqua/Piqua |
| Dane Sanzenbacher | WR | 5-11 | 175 | Toldeo/Central Catholic |
| James Scott | DB | 5-10 | 165 | Daytona Beach, Fla./Seabreeze Senior |
| Solomon Thomas | DE | 6-5 | 225 | West Chester/Lakota West |
| Devon Torrence | S | 6-1 | 190 | Canton/South |
| Taurian Washington | WR | 6-2 | 180 | Orchard Lake,Mich./St. Mary’s |
Press Conference Quotes
Jim Tressel, Ohio State Head Coach
On signing day
“This is always an exciting day for the program. This is a year-round operation for us and we always have certain parameters when we go about recruiting. We want good people who want to earn a degree from The Ohio State University. These kids want to have success and be a part of a team. Obviously we recruit on football skills, but we look at their character, too.”
On positions
“We’re not always on target with these recruits. Guys like Ted Ginn and Anthony Gonzalez came in as cover corners on defense. Chris Gamble came in as a wide receiver but as you have seen on Sundays the last couple years he’s pretty good on defense.”
On academics
“The thing that really stuck out was the wish to excel academically by this recruiting class. And with that, it takes a total team effort throughout The Ohio State University and we had tremendous assistance from academic counselors and housing.”
On the recruiting class and winning
“There is no question that this recruiting class is used to winning and excellence. Of the 15 guys in the class, 14 of them played on playoff teams. The one that wasn’t was on an undefeated team whose team wasn’t eligible for the playoffs.”
On team speed
“We lost a tremendous amount of speed this past season and the extraordinary speed displayed by this class is going to be a great asset to our program.”
