Michigan and Ohio State Recruiting: Has T-M Pipeline Dried for OSU?

Well, the short-lived Trotwood-Madison pipeline may have desiccated. Alex Gleitman of Eleven Warriors has written that Michael McCray, an Ohio State legacy, has committed to Michigan. McCray’s father, Mike Sr., played for Ohio State in the 80’s and was a team captain in 1988. 

Gleitman writes, "Trotwood Madison LB Mike McCray chose Michigan today over Oklahoma and Tennessee. OSU never offered and wanted to see him come to camp.” 

He goes on to write, “Not a huge loss here as OSU likes Courtney Love and Alex Anzalone more and I think both will be Buckeyes. They also have a good shot with Jaylon Smith and are in it for Ben Gedeon, although 2 is the likely number IMO."

McCray may have been able to receive an offer had he gone to summer camp coupled with primary LB targets Jaylon Smith, Courtney Love and Ben Gedeon going elsewhere. But with five linebackers in the 2012 class, there are likely only two or three spots at best for 2013. 

Last season, there was talk of a new pipeline to Ohio State that may rival Cleveland-Glenville, but it looks like the pipeline has run dry. Bam Bradley committed to Pittsburgh, and now, McCray has followed Roy Roundtree to UM. This all happened after one of the top players in Ohio, Cam Burrows, committed to OSU.

De’van Bogard from Cleveland-Glenville was one of the first commitments to the 2012 class after the Jim Tressel scandal took center stage in the media. In our interview with Cardale Jones, he mentioned that OSU has offered LB Chris Worley, who would play DB if he committed to OSU. Look for the Glenville pipeline to continue pumping recruits to OSU in Worley for 2013.

With Ohio State’s class likely no bigger than 20, there is not enough room to offer players OSU is not totally sold on. The Buckeyes already have five top recruits committed to the 2013 class and have offered over 65 others, though not all of them are committable offers.