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Midwest recruiting Blog - ESPN

Posted by Bill Kurelic

Ohio State's coaching staff used the USC game as part of a huge recruiting weekend. The Buckeyes hosted six Under Armour All-Americans and nine prospects from the ESPNU 150.

Before the weekend was over, the Buckeyes had made their first score on the recruiting front.

Under Armour All-American running back/wide receiver Corey Brown (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) committed to the Buckeyes before leaving Columbus. He picked Ohio State over scholarship offers from Miami, Rutgers, West Virginia and Pitt.

Tressel's success from the weekend probably won't include just Brown. Before all is said and done on national signing day, the Buckeyes' boss seems likely to have landed others who were in Columbus over the weekend.

Under Armour All-American linebacker Jordan Hicks (West Chester, Ohio, Lakota West) was also on an official visit to Ohio State and it would certainly not come as a shock if Hicks eventually ended up at Ohio State.

The country's No. 1 offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham) also said he "loved it" at Ohio State.

"I could definitely see myself out there," Henderson said.

Punter Will Hagerup (Whitefish Bay, Wis./Whitefish) visited Wisconsin the weekend of Sept. 5 and Ohio State this past weekend. He still has trips set to Florida this coming weekend and Michigan the weekend of Sept. 26. But Hagerup left no doubt he was impressed after attending the Ohio State-USC game.

"It was incredible," Hagerup said. "I didn't know it would be as fun as it was. I've been to other college games before. Those were fun. But (Saturday) night was at a completely different level. I don't know that a sporting event could get much better than that."

The Buckeyes also hosted Under Armour All-American defensive backs LaMarcus Joyner (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) and Josh Shaw (Palmdale, Calif./Palmdale).

When asked about the atmosphere at the Ohio State-USC game on Saturday night, Shaw said, "It was 10 times better than anything I've ever experienced before. Ohio State is definitely my favorite. I would say I'll know more after I take my other visits."

Shaw has official visits set to Florida Sept. 19 for the Florida-Tennessee game, LSU Oct. 10 when the Tigers play Florida and Notre Dame Oct. 17 when the Irish play USC.

Offensive lineman Chaz Green (Tampa, Fla./Catholic) is perhaps the least-likely prospect to end up a Buckeye who made an official visit to OSU this past weekend. Green has had the Buckeyes, Florida and USC as his top choices, but beating out the Gators will likely prove difficult for either the Buckeyes or Trojans.