[Buckskin86]

Tri-Valley's Spiker drawing serious D-I football interest
By SAM BLACKBURN
Staff Writer

DRESDEN - Tri-Valley's Ryan Spiker played in the shadow of All-Ohio teammate Adam Bice last season, when the Scotties rolled into the Division II Region 7 semifinals.

If recent weeks are any indication, he'll soon be leaving his own impressive legacy.

Spiker, a 6-4, 295-pound two-way lineman, recently received Division I scholarship offers from West Virginia and Indiana, and visited Ohio State for its junior day last weekend.

Scotties' coach Justin Buttermore said Spiker has also drawn interest from other BCS programs, including Notre Dame and South Carolina.
It has been a whirlwind three weeks for the junior, who wasn't sure what his college plans would be before the recent turn of events.

"We're getting a lot of stuff at once," Spiker said. "Because of NCAA rules they can't call me which is probably a good thing. I'd be getting 1,000 calls a day."

Like many recruits around Ohio, Spiker would love an offer from Ohio State, "because obviously it would be great to be able to go there. I think every kid in Ohio wants to play there."

But Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel told Spiker and other line recruits that they will be competing for scholarship offers. He met Tressel and spent time with incoming freshmen Mike Adams and Michael Brewster, both blue chip line recruits already enrolled at OSU.

"There are five other guys and only three scholarships," Spiker said. "A lot will depend on what happens at their summer camp. We're already working hard to get ready for next year."

Buttermore said it's a common theme with big-time programs.

"(OSU) obviously has a lot more people they can offer being Ohio State," Buttermore said. "That will be something that happens late (in the process) if it happens."

Times Recorder - www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com - Zanesville, Ohio