BuckeyeWire

January 2008 - Posts

Terrelle Pryor Owns the World

I remember when I started working for Scout.com a few years ago, I was surprised by all the buzz about "LOI Day".

Honesty, I had no clue what it was. I loved my OSU Buckeyes, but never really sweated recruiting. All I knew is that the Buckeyes loaded up on good players every year, either squandering their skills (Cooper) or something weaving them together into a cohesive unit (Tressel).

For the uninitiated, LOI day means "Letter of Intent", or "signing day" when high school recruits have to declare which school they will attend. This year, it falls on February 6th.

And the associated web traffic makes the OBR's biggest day of the year, draft day, look like a Saturday afternoon in early June. It's insane.

The biggest name up for grabs this year is the #1 recruit as ranked by Scout.com, QB Terrelle Pryor of Jeannette,Pa., and he's spending a lot of time thinking about both Michigan and Ohio State.

Pryor just spent the weekend up in Michigan getting feted by the School Up North, and couldn't seem more blasé about the experience.

“We went to the basketball game and the fans were all cheering my name and everything like they have at the other schools,” he told Scout's Bob Lichtenfels.

While Pryor seems non-plussed and appears to be enjoying himself, the frenzy around his selection process couldn't be crazier. The Detroit Free Press covered his visit to Ann Arbor as if Pryor were the Pope, and there have been breathless daily updates based on the least of Pryor's remarks.

The latest: Penn State isn't entirely out of it. Pitt's attempt to get Pryor disappeared when their head coach headed to other climes.

If you want to catch up with the weirdness, here are some recent articles. Keep in mind that anyone with an OBR subscription can get into all of Scout's premium recruiting articles:

Scout.com: Terrelle Pryor Profile - BuckeyeSports.com