ESPN Midwest recruiting Blog

Posted by Bill Kurelic

On Monday morning Under Armour All-American linebacker Jordan Hicks (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) participated in a teleconference, answering questions from recruiting analysts and media from across the country.

Lakota West athletic director Todd Hummer, coach Larry Cox and Hicks decided to begin holding a teleconference every Monday because of the high volume of requests to interview Hicks.

For good or bad, depending on how you look at it, recruiting has truly come a long way. I have covered prep football recruiting for close to 25 years and this is the first time I can recall a weekly teleconference being set up.

To say interest in prep football recruiting has never been higher might be an understatement.

Hicks has narrowed his list of dozens of scholarship offers down to six schools, Ohio State, Texas, USC, Florida, Alabama and Georgia. On the conference call there seemed to be at least one person asking questions in regards to each of the six schools Hicks is considering, and in some cases multiple persons.

Hicks said his reported official visits to Ohio State the weekend of Sept. 12 and Texas the week of Oct. 10 have not been finalized. Whether or not he makes an official visit to Ohio State on Sept. 12, Hicks said he will be in Columbus that day to watch the Buckeyes play USC. He will be joined by almost every other top prospect the Buckeyes are recruiting.

Written offers arrive today

Sept. 1 is the first day college coaches can extend written scholarship offers to juniors. Some prospects that are virtually certain to receive written offers today include quarterback Braxton Miller (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne), defensive end Steve Miller (Canton, Ohio/McKinley), linebacker Trey DePriest (Springfield, Ohio) and tight end Ben Koyack (Oil City, Pa.).

Braxton Miller has over a half dozen verbal offers. His list includes Ohio State, Michigan, West Virginia and Cincinnati.

Steve Miller's list of offers includes Michigan State, Florida, West Virginia, Purdue, UCLA, Stanford and Syracuse.

DePriest has verbal offers from Michigan, West Virginia and Cincinnati.

Koyack's list of verbal offers is almost off the charts for this early point in the recruiting process. Penn State, Ohio State, Pitt, Florida, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Maryland and North Carolina State are just some of the offers Koyack has.

All of those prospects have been told by college coaches to expect the written offers to begin arriving today.