ESPN Midwest recruiting Blog

Posted by Bill Kurelic

Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan have traditionally been the big three among Midwest college football. Over the years they have battled it out on the field but even more on the recruiting front.

For the most part, the recruiting battles between the three are over for the Class of 2009. Ohio State already has 25 class of 2009 verbal commitments, while Michigan and Notre Dame each have more than half of their 2009 classes filled.

However battles are already brewing for a number of Class of 2010 prospects. Two such prospects are linebacker Jamel Turner (Youngstown, Ohio/Ursuline) and safety/linebacker Marvin Robinson (Eagle Lake, Fla./Lake Region).

The 6-foot-2 and 215-pound Turner, who recorded 23 sacks during his sophomore season, recently received scholarship offers from Michigan, Notre Dame, Stanford and Nebraska. He already had offers from Ohio State, Michigan State, Illinois, Wisconsin and Akron.

Turner is not close to selecting a college and says he has no leader, but it would not be surprising to see his decision come down to Ohio State, Notre Dame or Michigan. Turner plans to attend the Penn State-Ohio State game in Columbus. He also says he will attend a Notre Dame game and possibly a game at Michigan.

"I really didn't have a favorite school growing up," Turner said. "All of this recruiting stuff is new to me."

The 6-foot-2 and 195-pound Robinson has been a varsity starter since his freshman year when he made 35 tackles and had two interceptions. Turner made 45 tackles and intercepted three passes during his sophomore season.

Turner has scholarship offers from Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska, Florida, Florida International, Tennessee and Boston College.

"Right now he is interested in Michigan, Ohio State and Georgia," Lake Region Coach Stephen Reynolds said. "But he's warming up to Florida."

Midwest Notes
• Tight end Dion Sims (Orchard Lake, Mich./St. Mary's), one of the top uncommitted Class of 2009 prospects in the Midwest, has scholarship offers from his top five choices for football -- Ohio State, Tennessee, Miami, Georgia and UCLA. He also has offers from Michigan and Michigan State.

Sims has basketball offers from Iowa, Penn State and Kent State. He is looking at those three as well as Illinois, Michigan State, Louisville and Syracuse.

Sims is leaning towards basketball at the next level but has definitely not ruled out football or giving both sports a try. Sims will likely attend the Michigan State-Notre Dame football game.

Sims was injured in St. Mary's first game of the season, sustaining a sprained MCL in his right knee. He has missed St. Mary's last two games, but expects to return to the lineup in the next two or three weeks.

• Class of 2010 defensive end Derrick Bryant (Columbus, Ohio/Brookhaven) recently received a scholarship offer from Illinois. Bryant is one of the top ten juniors in the Buckeye State.

Another Class of 2010 prospect to recently land a scholarship offer is quarterback/athlete Derek Roback (Waverly, Ohio). Roback received a scholarship offer from Ohio University.