eScoutRoom

The Iron Fist of the NCAA

srpatterson — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:04:00 GMT

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) logo. Source: http://www1.ncaa.org/eprise/main/Public/mlp/promotions_special_events/pe_web/promo_manual/memos/identity.pdf Converted by User:King of Hearts from :Image:National Collegiate Athletic Association logo.png using Inkscape. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Iron Fist of the NCAA

Collegiate athletes "enjoy" amateur status and are compensated by the universities they represent with scholarships or reduced tuition. While this may seem like a fair trade on the surface, athletes may spend up to six hours a day on the practice field, in the weight room or in the film room. Athletes then must find time to complete their studies to maintain their eligibility. Athletes do not have time for a part time job to help cover the bills, yet they are not paid by the university for their services that bring in large dollars for the school.

2012 Alabama Crimson Tide Football Schedule Rundown

srpatterson — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:11:00 GMT

2012 Alabama Crimson Tide Football Schedule Rundown

Alabama's 2012 schedule is typical of how Nick Saban has been scheduling since he has been in Tuscaloosa. The Tide's schedule is filled with plenty of tough opponents with a few cream puffs in between. Here are just a few highlights from the Crimson Tide's upcoming season.

Sept 1 - Michigan
The Tide opens the 2012 season in Cowboys Stadium against quarterback Denard Robinson and the Michigan Wolverines, who took home a BCS Bowl victory last year against Virginia Tech. With the exception of last year, the Tide has opened up its season with a tough opponent and this year it's the Wolverines. As good as they were on offense with Robinson at QB, Michigan didn't improve that much on defense. Robinson is a good QB, but the Tide's defense has been known to shut down good quarterbacks (see Jordan Jefferson and Tyler Wilson).
Sept 8 - vs. Western Kentucky

AAU Basketball - Good or Bad for the Sport?

srpatterson — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 13:37:00 GMT

Image via Wikipedia

AAU Basketball took over the air waves of the sport about the dawn of the 21st century. Of course, AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) isn't the only travel league for basketball these days. There's the AYBT, the YBOA and so and so forth - but AAU is the foundation that gets the most attention, is the most renowned, and is also the most expensive when it comes to dolling out money (at every level from the players to the corporations).

This arises a very interesting point: There is so much money involved in AAU basketball that the whole "summer" sport becomes extremely political. Players are forced out, forced in, and paid to play. Nike, and the bigger players that run whole tournaments in places like Las Vegas doll out massive amounts of money to these AAU events because it offers great advertising. That means that they want the best players on the best teams, and there is a lot of lockout of other players.

Kyle Dodson Loves Urban Meyer and Ohio State

srpatterson — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:46:00 GMT

Kyle Dodson Loves Urban Meyer and Ohio State

Making the switch from Wisconsin to Ohio State was the right decision for Kyle Dodson who likes everything about the Buckeyes. Dodson fell in the love with the school, the football program and the coaches during the late stages of the recruiting process as the new coaches took over the program that struggled during the 2011 season. If Urban Meyer had been the coach the entire year or the 2011 season for the Buckeyes had turned out better, a late change of commitment might not have been needed. Yet everything came out perfect in the end with the in-state prospect staying close to home and loving his college selection.

Defensive Highlights of 2012 CB Armani Reeves

srpatterson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:43:00 GMT

Defensive Highlights of 2012 CB Armani Reeves

In this highlight film of 2012 DB Armani Reeves, we get to see the Ohio State commit’s skills playing cornerback, kick return defensive and kick return. He utilizes his speed on interceptions to put his team in great field position on turnovers. He is a nice tackler rushing the quarterback or bringing down a receiver. His great closing speed allows him to get in front of the receiver and knock down passes. On kick returns, Reeves is hard to bring down with slight contact and then outruns everyone in the open field. Ohio State plans to use Reeves on defensive and also on punt returns possibly as a freshman.

Armani Reeves 8 CB–KR Defensive & Returns.

Camren Williams Catholic Memorial HS West Roxbury MA

srpatterson — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:05:00 GMT

Camren Williams Catholic Memorial HS West Roxbury MA

This Camren Williams highlight film from 247SportsStudio is pretty much the same video material from BlueCarolina.com but shows how Williams can clog up space in the middle not allowing running backs any room to get up field. He has great speed and is a great tackler. Ohio State was lucky to get him late in the process as Penn State had trouble keeping their recruits without a coach on hand. After committing to the Nittany Lions in March of 2011, two visits to Columbus Ohio in January led the nationally ranked linebacker to change his verbal. He signed with OSU on February 1st.

Camren Williams Highlights

David Perkins Fell in Love with Ohio State

srpatterson — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:12:00 GMT

David Perkins Fell in Love with Ohio State

Ohio State had a major recruiting weekend in the middle of January which focused on a position of need for 2012, linebackers. David Perkins came away from the weekend in Columbus, Ohio very impressed with the football program and the coaching staff. He met players, coaches, and saw the facilities which are some of the best in the country. Luke Fickell was instrumental in landing Perkins official as the position coach spent the most time with him on the visit.

Ohio State Grabs Offensive Tackle Taylor Decker from Notre Dame

srpatterson — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:20:00 GMT

Ohio State Grabs Offensive Tackle Taylor Decker from Notre Dame

Taylor Decker made a switch over the weekend from Notre Dame to Ohio State after a visit to Columbus. At 6’8” 315lbs. Taylor has great size and many recruiting agencies have rated him in the twenty's nationally at the offensive tackle position for his performance on the field. Decker had been committed to Notre Dame from the spring but Urban Meyer’s interest and two Notre Dame assistants being hired at Ohio State led to the change in commitment. Most commits will sign letters of intent at the beginning on February.

Noah Spence Commits to Ohio State and Urban Meyer

srpatterson — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:49:00 GMT

Noah Spence Commits to Ohio State and Urban Meyer

Noah Spence wasn’t talking about Ohio State prior to Urban Meyer joining the Buckeyes this past month, but now he is firmly committed even after OSU was restricted from playing in a bowl game in 2012. The Buckeyes beat out Penn State, Florida, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame and a host of others for the best defensive end in the 2012 recruiting class. The Ohio State class has vaulted to the top of the team rankings on Rivals.com since Urban Meyer has taken over the 2012 class.

Se’von Pittman Switches from Michigan State to Ohio State

srpatterson — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:36:00 GMT

Se’von Pittman Switches from Michigan State to Ohio State

After much speculation, Canton McKinley star defensive end Se’von Pittman switched is verbal commitment from Michigan State to Ohio State recently. The 6’5” 240 lbs end is considered the 8th best weakside defensive end in the country for the 2012 class and 3rd best recruit in Ohio this year, according to Rivals.com. He made the move as he heart was with the home state Buckeyes.

Tommy Schutt Commits to Ohio State for 2012

srpatterson — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:41:00 GMT

Tommy Schutt Commits to Ohio State for 2012

Tommy Schutt had between 30 and 35 scholarship offers when he made the selection to play from Penn State over the summer of 2011. But plans changed with the firing of Joe Paterno after a child sex scandal within his program was exposed. And with a visit over the weekend to Ohio State to meet the new Buckeye coach, Urban Meyer, Schutt has decided to switch his verbal commitment to OSU.

Sports Carnival Ecstasy - December 8, 2011

srpatterson — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Image via Wikipedia

Welcome to the December 8, 2011 edition of Sports Carnival Ecstasy. In this edition we have a number of great stories including a couple from SteveR, one on Dwane Wade and Lebron James appearing at the recent Ohio State v Duke basketball game in Columbus. And another on Adolphus Washington from Cincinnati Taft High School, showing some Junior Highlights. Finally we have a look at the issues surrounding Tim Tebow from Christopher Benek. I hope you enjoy the articles, bookmark, share, tweet, like on Facebook, Stumble, and come back soon.

2012 Wide Receiver Ricquan Southward Switches to Ohio State

srpatterson — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:35:00 GMT

2012 Wide Receiver Ricquan Southward Switches to Ohio State

Ohio State football recruiting is picking up with the announcement that Urban Meyer is going to be taking over as head coach next season. Just this past week 3 star wide receiver prospect from Lakeland Florida, Ricquan Southward, switched his verbal commitment from Miami (FL) to Ohio State. He made the 2012 class of OSU a 16 recruit class that is expected to grow bigger as National of Intent letter signing day approaches.

Adolphus Washington Likes the Academics at Ohio State

srpatterson — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:52:00 GMT

Adolphus Washington Likes the Academics at Ohio State

A star recruit nationally and the top recruit in Ohio normally doesn’t say that academics are what set his college selection apart, but Taft High School defensive end Adolphus Washington stated this recently to a number of news outlets. He hopes to make it to the NFL first but his plan after football includes becoming a nurse. In regard to his recruitment and friendship with Taft standout Dwayne Standford, Washington still hopes that his long time friend and teammate will change his oral commitment to Oregon and becomes a Buckeye.

Taft Ohio Top Recruits Split College Decisions

srpatterson — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:31:00 GMT

Taft Ohio Top Recruits Split College Decisions

Many believed that Taft High School stars Dwayne Standford and Adolphus Washington would attend the same college, and the players themselves set that as their goal. But the draw of the Oregon Ducks was too much for Standford as he explained at his high school this month during their announcement ceremony. He had considered Cincinnati, Ohio State and Oregon. Defensive end Washington had considered Ohio State, Cincinnati and Michigan State. Washington choose the Buckeyes.

Safety Demetrious Cox on What He Is Looking For

srpatterson — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:46:00 GMT

Safety Demetrious Cox on What He Is Looking For

We had an opportunity to contact Demetrious Cox from Jeannette Pennsylvania recently. He told us about his best attributes on the field, the highlight of his high school career so far, the college visits he has taken, what he likes about his top 10 schools, and what will set his college choice apart from the others.

Highlight film: #2 Demetrious Cox- Jeannette - Defensive Film

Offensive film: #2 Demetrious Cox- Jeannette

Michael Thomas Looks to Contribute after Semester at Fork Union

srpatterson — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:49:00 GMT

Michael Thomas Looks to Contribute after Semester at Fork Union

Michael Thomas was a premier receiver in the class of 2011 out of California Taft and remains a prime target out of prep school in 2012. He has spent the past Semester at Fork Union Military Academy with Ohio State quarterback recruit Cardale Jones as a roommate. Now he is looking to join Jones at Ohio State in January and begin to prepare to contribute in 2012, according to rumors.

How To Plan Your Pre-Season Training

host — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 11:54:00 GMT

Image via Wikipedia

How To Plan Your Pre-Season Training

No matter what standard of football you play; whether you are a youth player, amateur, semi-professional or a pro, it is important that you are in the best condition possible for the new season. By putting in some serious work during the summer months before the season kicks off you will give yourself and your team the best chance possible as once the fitness levels are there then you are free to work on tactics and the technical side of the game. Here are some tips for coaches to follow to help get the most out of pre-season training.

Canton GlenOak RB Brionte Dunn Looks Around

srpatterson — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:49:00 GMT

Canton GlenOak RB Brionte Dunn Looks Around

With Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel retiring/resigning in late May 2011, one of the top recruits in his 2012 class began to look around at other programs. Canton GlenOak running back Brionte Dunn is still committed to Ohio State but has taken visits to Michigan and Penn State. At 6’2” 215 lbs, he has great size and speed that reminds many of Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells who excelled in his time at Ohio State at tailback.

Najee Murray 2012 Ohio State Corner Back Scholarship Commitment

host — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 17:57:00 GMT

Najee Murray 2012 Ohio State Corner Back Scholarship Commitment

Najee Murray from Steubenville, Ohio was the eighth commitment for Ohio State for their 2012 recruiting class. The 5’1” defensive back has great speed, clocked at 4.41, and excellent tackling skills. He joins De’Van Bogard and Tyvis Powell in the defensive backfield for the Buckeyes in 2012. Recruited by a number of Mid-American Conference schools, the offer from Ohio State was too much to overcome for any other program.