Congrats to Elyria's Tracy Sprinkle

Elyria High School's Tracy gave a verbal to Ohio State University last night. Really glad for him. Listed at 6'4-270, he is really athletic and stays on his feet. Playing DE at Elyria, but I would hope that he moves inside for the Buckeyes. With the spread offense, quick and fast tackles are imperative.

When I watched him play last fall, I was impressed most of all that he played every play. Elyria was getting beaten by a good Hudson team, but Tracy took no plays off. Also liked the way he encouraged his teammates. Comes off the edge well. Changes direction. Relentless on pursuit.

Also in the article were some comments made by his head football coach. "He was a virtual unknown until he had 80 tackles, eight sacks, and 25 QB hurries as a junior." He went on to say, "He had no recognition until the end of his junior year. He had no rating at all. The only rating he had was after Ohio State offered. Then it was like, 'Who is this guy?'"

Rivals.com and Scout.com rated him a three star, but his coach said that was misleading, because he was not recognized until after his junior year. By the way, I believe you get two stars on who has offered a prospect.

Point One - His coach was wrong about being unknown, because on my 2013 list that went out a year ago, he was rated a 1-01A, which is about as high as he can be rated. My evaluation to the colleges last fall was that he could be a "top guy." Now this is in print, not just talk. I like his coach alot, and I am sure that he got caught up in the excitement. But , "No," he was not a "virtual unknown" to the college coaches. Maybe to recruiting sites, but not to the college coaches.

Point Two - The "Star Rating System" makes for enjoyable reading and helps players get recogntion. Most of the time they are sound. But, please do not evaluate a college's recruiting success on the number of four and five star players. Do you know that many of the people who give the "stars" do not see all of the players, personally, or some have not even watched video. How can you rate someone whom you have never seen?

The "Star Rating System" is a whole different blog for me. I do not want to take away "giving it up" to Tracy Sprinkle. He has worked hard and, hopefully, he will continue to do so the rest of his high school career. Quickness and relentlessness are his strengths.