02/04 Morning Minute: We’ll Get ‘Em Next Year
February 4, 2008Cavs still trying to add a piece
February 4, 2008Georgia DL Keith Wells Expected To Announce Decision Today
UPADTE: It is official. Keith Wells has verbally commited to Ohio State this afternoon.
Keith Wells, a 4 star defensive lineman from Gainesville, Georgia, could be the latest Wells to commit to The Ohio State University when he announced his decision later today. Wells’ recruitment trail has been a pretty wild ride, to say the least. He verbally commited to Florida State very early in the process. Despite the verbal, several schools were still talking to him, and after taking official visits to Auburn and Ohio State, he officially decommited from Florida St. He then took official visits to Tennessee, Florida, and Miami (FL). After his in house visits from coaches, including a visit from Ohio State coach Jim Tressel which reportedly went very well, Wells was expected to be choosing between Ohio State and Tennessee (with a slight lean towards Ohio State), and a decision was believed to be coming in late January.
That all changed, though, when Charlie Weiss and Notre Dame got involved. Wells, who is very high on academics at the school he plans to go to, was intrigued by Notre Dame, and Charlie Weiss told him that a scholarship would be offered only if Wells took an official visit. So over the weekend, Wells visited Notre Dame.
What’s fascinating is that there were whispers and rumors that a soft, silent verbal was given to OSU before he left for Notre Dame. Rumor had it that Wells was simply doing his due dilligence and checking out the mystique of Notre Dame. However, yesterday Wells told Scout.com that he had a great trip to South Bend and that OSU, Notre Dame, and Tennessee were all even, and that he planned to think about it over night, and a decision is expected to be announced today around 5:00 pm.
Wells is a lightning quick defensive lineman. He’s listed as being 6’5″ 207 pounds, although in recent interviews he has said he’s up around 230 lbs right now. He is listed by Scout.com as the #16 defensive end in the country. He would be a great addition to Ohio State and could be the next in the line of great pass rushers at Ohio State.
He would also represent the latest shift in Jim Tressel’s recruiting strategy. In terms of midwest football, Ohio is the key state for recruiting. You have California in the west, Texas in the southwest, Florida in the southeast, and Ohio in the midwest. Upon arriving in Columbus, Tressel’s first priority was re-establishing the wall around the state of Ohio. He knew that turning the OSU program around would be keeping these kids in state and bringing them to OSU. He succeeded better than anyone thought, keeping more and more key players from Ohio in state. It’s interesting to look at the lines of success at both Ohio State and Michigan since Jim Tressel arrived. Before, Ohio was pretty well cut up, with huge chunks of the state being Michigan hotbeds of recruiting. As Tressel has cut off those pipelines, to an extent, and kept Ohio’s best talent away from Michigan, the fates of the two universities have somewhat swapped. Ohio State has become a much larger national presence in recent years.
Tressel has been able to use this presence to his advantage, as he has now started taking his recruiting onto a national stage. This year’s class is filled with kids from all over the country. Should Wells choose OSU, you’d have Georgia covered. Terrelle Pryor is from Pennsylvania, you have Josh Jenkins from West Virginia considering OSU, along with Brandon Harris of Florida. Look at the kids who have already verballed to OSU. Michael Brewster (Orlando, FL), Etienne Sabino (Miami, FL), J.B. Shugarts (Klein, TX), Garrett Goebel (Lombard, IL), Andrew Sweat (Washington, PA), Lamaar Thomas (Fort Washington, MD), Willie Mobley (Eden Prairie, MN), and Travis Howard (Miami, FL). There’s a real national presence in this class, with kids from 3 of the 4 key states included.
After Wells’ decision today, we will all be waiting and watching Wednesday (National Signing Day) to see what Josh Jenkins and Terrelle Pryor decide to do, but regardless of what happens, this recruiting class is an epic one for Jim Tressel and staff. I’ll go into more details on this year’s class on Wednesday once the decisions are final, but this class has all the looks of being a very special one for more than one reason. For now, though, all eyes are on Gainesville, Georgia as we wait to see what Keith Wells has decided to do.
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3 Comments
Good news, and helps feed the pipeline of D-linemen. I think Wells has a shot to see playing time this year with the way we like to rotate pass rushers.
I would expect him to see the field, without a doubt. The latest reports now have him at 235 lbs. He keeps gaining weight, which will give him the versatility to play multiple positions on the line, along with the speed to drop back in zone blitzes. This is a great kid and an absolutely great pickup for OSU.
Not only that, but we have to have at least one ‘Wells’ on the roster at all times, and Beanie and Mo will more than likely both be gone after this season.