'06 OH SF Josh Chichester (Louisville Verbal)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

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Lakota West HS (West Chester, OH)
Ht: 6-7
Wt: 200

Ranked #32 Strong Forward by Rivals.com. Great athlete who has offers in both football and basketball and will need to decide between the two sports. Could grow into a TE if he chooses football but is a WR right now. He had 27 catches for 603 yards and 11 TDs during the 2004 regular season.

"I think the sky's the limit for him if he chooses basketball, but he's got schools likes Ohio State, Michigan and Notre Dame telling him he's got an NFL future.

Chichester is also a star football player who caught 11 touchdown passes as a junior.

Interested in Notre Dame, Wake Forest, tOSU and Xavier

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

RIVALS

Josh Chichester attend tOSU Junior Day as a wide receiver prospect. He has said he is currently looking for a school who will allow him to play in both basketball and football. tOSU has reportedly offered.

[Bestbuck36]

Coaches need to get together and let Josh play both sports.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

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2/14/05

Hoop Scoop Ohio Editor Chris Johnson thinks that Chichester's stock has gone up the most since the start of the season.

[Honor&Glory]

Honestly,


I think the kid is going to outgrow football. Somebody in Cincinnati reported that the kid is not finished growing and could wind up at 6-10...I see basketball in his future.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

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3/2/05

Josh wants to play close to home. He has taken visits to Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Illinois, Kentucky, and Ohio State. He likes Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio State.

Cincy has offered him a scholie to play both basketball and football.

RIVALS$

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

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3/4/05

Josh has five official offers for football, Boston College, Iowa, Miami (Oh.), and Bowling Green.

Josh is expected to be ranked as a top prospect in basketball and football.

[wadc45]

another Josh photo...

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

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3/7/05

This two sport star has amazing athletic ability. BN has posted some football videos of Josh.

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top bgColor=#ffffff>
Josh Chichester

</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top> Prospect Video - Josh Chichester
By Bucknuts.com Staff
Date: Mar 7, 2005

Josh Chichester of West Chester (Oh.) Lakota West has emerged as one of Ohio's best athletes. Chichester is a two-sport star who could play either basketball or football for major college programs. We have a look at him today on the gridiron in these football highlight clips.
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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

OHIOPREPS.COM

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>Two sport star could fill tall order <HR width="100%" noShade SIZE=1></TD></TR><TR><TD>Brian Shacochis
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Two-sport college athletes are a rare breed, but every once in a while there comes a player who can pull it off. Perhaps the most prolific prospect to balance a mix of basketball and football is Florida State's Charlie Ward, who won the Heisman Trophy (collecting the 4th most Heisman votes ever along the way) in 1993, proceeded to go undrafted by the NFL, and went on to have a successful career as a point guard in the NBA.


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The next great two-sport stud might be emerging in the Cincinnati area this summer as West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West star Josh Chichester continues to earn interest and rake in offers from elite basketball and football schools.

Chichester has reportedly been offered basketball and/or football scholarships by Purdue, Xavier, Dayton, Cincinnati, Iowa, Miami (Ohio), and Bowling Green, but he recently added an east coast offer to his midwest collection.

"BC offered me," Chichester said. "I don't know too much about their football team, but their basketball team looks great."

Both squads could use Chichester's contributions as they acclimate themselves to the ACC starting next season, but they need not worry too much about which coach would win out for Josh's services.

"I see myself as a two-sport player in college," Chichester said, and while balancing the two Division 1 sports is an ambitious goal, Chichester has the ability to excel in both.

On the gridiron, Chichester helped his team make the state playoffs for the first time ever last season, catching 27 passes for 603 yards and 11 touchdowns along the way and breaking the school record for receiving yardage.

"I'm taller than most receivers, so I can go up and get the ball," said Chichester, and he can do more than that too.

Chichester could conceivably be the tallest punt returner in the history of the game at 6-8, but he more than held his own in that special teams role last season.

With Chichester's imposing height, some have speculated that a share of prospective football programs might be looking to ultimately groom Josh into a tight end, but Chichester debunked that notion, claiming that all interested schools are recruiting him as a wide receiver.

On the basketball side of Chichester's life, he's good enough to have attracted Illinois head coach Bruce Weber and Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith to swing by Josh's home court to catch one of his games.

"I'm faster than most big men," Chichester says when asked what trait separates him from other prospects.

That quickness helped him to block 47 shots this season, breaking his own previous school record he had set as a sophomore. His agility and speed make him a versatile player, but he feels most at home in the paint.

"I will step out [to take shots] sometimes," he says, "but I like to play down low because it's easier to score down there."

Chichester figures to have a complicated decision ahead of him, as he needs to find two coaches at one school who can commit to finding a balance that will allow Josh to contribute in both sports. As a result, an early commitment is not likely in Chichester's case.

"I see myself taking my visits," he says.

It remains to be seen where he will take those visits, but Josh has an early list of schools that he finds most attractive.

"Ohio State, Notre Dame, Illinois, and Cincinnati, those are the ones right now," Chichester says of his early favorites.

However, that doesn't necessarily nix Boston College from the process altogether.

"I'd like to stay close to home, but if going away is the right thing I'm up for it," Chichester says.

Chichester's stock is really on the rise.

[Mothra]

question: hypothetical situation here, let's josh signs w/ us. wouldn't his scholarship count towards the 85 count football scholarship limit, therefore allowing us to "sign" another basketball prospect? or i am not remembering that rule correctly? regardless, of that possible benefit or not, he would definetly be a welcome addition to both squads.

[Xevious]

Originally Posted by Mothra

question: hypothetical situation here, let's josh signs w/ us. wouldn't his scholarship count towards the 85 count football scholarship limit, therefore allowing us to "sign" another basketball prospect? or i am not remembering that rule correctly? regardless, of that possible benefit or not, he would definetly be a welcome addition to both squads.

I was under the impression that he would count against both sports, but I looked at the NCAA regulations and it looks like he would only count against the football scholarship limit.

15.5.8.2 Basketball. A counter who practices or competes in basketball and one or more other
sports (other than football) shall be counted in basketball.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

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3/15/05

Illinois is the latest school to offer Chichester. They are offering him the chance to play both sports.

[wadc45]

While the WR talent in Ohio this year may not be spectacular, I think we need to get on the bandwagon here. I have only seen a few WRs interested in OSU that look like they are worth an offer. Ausberry, Hagans, Summers, Kilpatrick, and maybe Lyons. With the exception of Ausberry, I think I would take Josh as a WR in this class over all of them.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

SCOUT.COM

3/21/05

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top bgColor=#ffffff>
Josh Chichester

</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top> 2006 Focus: Josh Chichester
By Jeff Goodman National Recruiting Analyst
Date: Mar 21, 2005

Josh Chichester was also a football guy growing up, but that's changed and the 6-8 junior is looking to play two sports in college.
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Chichester is a 6-foot-8, 210-pound junior at Lakota West High (Ohio) who averaged 14 points and 8 boards per game this season. Josh is listing Cincinnati, Ohio State, Illinois and Notre Dame as his top four. He wants to try and play both football and basketball at the next level.