A day after losing in the Orange Bowl, Ohio State scored a pair of significant victories in recruiting.
Giving verbal commitments to play at Ohio State during the Army All-American Bowl were Cleveland Glenville wide receiver Marshon Lattimore and defensive back Erick Smith.
Both are four-star prospects by Scout.com and listed among the top 10 players nationally at their positions.
Before Glenville's Div. II state championship game last month, longtime Glenville coach Ted Ginn said Lattimore was one of the "top five" most athletically gifted players he'd ever coached and said Lattimore's early-season blocked field goal to preserve a Glenville victory was "a gift from God."
Though Glenville players in recent years have chosen USC, Michigan and Illinois, among others, and Alabama was heavily recruiting Lattimore and Smith, Ohio State enters these battles with the advantage of having won such battles before. The Glenville-Ohio State connection started more than a decade ago with Jim Tressel and then-assistant Mel Tucker, a Cleveland native. Since 2002, every Ohio State recruiting class has included at least one Glenville player.
The most notable Glenville players at Ohio State were 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and top-10 NFL draft picks Ted Ginn Jr. and Donte Whitner. 2013 team captain Christian Bryant and starting offensive lineman Marcus Hall are Glenville alums, too.
A third Glenville player in the class of 2014, offensive lineman Marcelys Jones, previously gave Ohio State a verbal commitment.
National Signing Day is Feb. 5. Scout.com rates Ohio State's class as the sixth-best nationally to this point.
????? this crazy! pic.twitter.com/0CxEKJnIw9
— SHON (@_Shon2) September 9, 2013
