DE Melvin Fellows (official thread)

[matcar]

Originally Posted by wadc45

Scout $

4/1

By The Bank...more of the usual...committed to Illinois but is looking at OSU and USC and talks about what he likes about OSU and how he likes that Illinois is not pressuring him to not take visits. Says his five officials could be to USC, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Illinois.

Wash, rinse, repeat...wash, rinse, repeat...

I know this is listed as a soft commit, but since he's an early commit, is there any word that he might be doing some recruiting for his current commitment team like many of our early recruits have?

[wadc45]

Melvin doesn't strike me as the type to get too wrapped up in that stuff...piecing together bits of information I don't think he has concerned himself with that too much so far.

[wadc45]

Since it's been spilled to most free boards now, no harm in stating that according to several insiders and OSU recruits, Melvin will be attending the OSU spring game this weekend instead of the Illinois spring game. Waiting to hear it from Melvin's mouth...

Scout.com: Illinois Forums List

Scout.com: Ohio State Forums List

The OSU scout guys were the first to break the news...credit to them.

[Buckskin86]

No such thing as a gentlemen's agreement
Individual circumstances outweigh unwritten code in applying recruiting etiquette in Big Ten
Thursday, April 17, 2008 By Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Last December, Melvin Fellows orally committed to play football for Illinois, declared his decision final and said, "This is the end of the process for me."

According to a vague, unwritten Big Ten code of conduct, at that point Fellows was off limits to other league coaches. That's how it is supposed to work, at least -- once a kid commits, back off.

Far from backing off, though, Ohio State came after him hard. Just weeks after his Illinois commitment, the Buckeyes offered Fellows a scholarship. And on Saturday, the big defensive end from Garfield Heights will stand on the Ohio Stadium sidelines, watching the Buckeyes' spring game instead of the Illini's game, as he had originally planned.

The high school junior once was rock-solid in the Illini camp, but he now says, "I'm pretty up on Ohio State. I like Ohio State."

This appears to be a classic case of recruit-poaching, and a contradiction to the stated philosophy of Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel. In reality, though, it's more complex, both in the Fellows case and in the recruiting business as a whole.

BuckeyeXtra - The Columbus Dispatch : No such thing as a gentlemen's agreement

[OregonBuckeye]

Nice job of spinning that, Ken.

[osugrad21]

Originally Posted by OregonBuckeye

Nice job of spinning that, Ken.

I don't see any spin...he gave the other side of the perspective later on and defended JT's recruiting.

JT did not clarify his quote and that leaves it open to interpretation.

[OregonBuckeye]

Originally Posted by osugrad21

he gave the other side of the perspective later on and defended JT's recruiting.

So he did. That's what I get for not clicking the link.

[akgoel77]

Originally Posted by osugrad21

I don't see any spin...he gave the other side of the perspective later on and defended JT's recruiting.

JT did not clarify his quote and that leaves it open to interpretation.

Yes I agree...I thought it was fair

[KittnertoLloyd]

When he committed to Illinois in early December, he was not highly touted. His team was coming off a 2-8 season and his film had not been widely circulated. Illini coach Ron Zook gave Fellows his first big-time offer, and he jumped at it.

When Fellows committed to Illinois we were 9-3 during the current season and on our way to the Rose Bowl. So I take a little bit of issue with this paragraph but other than that it's a fair article.

As Fellows states Zook is comfortable with his commits taking other visits. He would be doing the same thing Tressel is.

[Bucky Katt]

Originally Posted by KittnertoLloyd

When Fellows committed to Illinois we were 9-3 during the current season and on our way to the Rose Bowl. So I take a little bit of issue with this paragraph but other than that it's a fair article.

As Fellows states Zook is comfortable with his commits taking other visits. He would be doing the same thing Tressel is.

I think they were saying that Fellows' high school team went 2-8.

[sandgk]

Right BK - CPD - NEO River Conference 2007 Standings

[KittnertoLloyd]

Yeah after I posted that I though it might hve been his HS. I'm just used to opposing fans particularly ND ones pointing out our 2-10 record the past two seasons. I think Fellows ends up at OSU personally, but Zook has been very succesful holding onto commitments even when they visit other schools.

[MD Buckeye]

Rivals $

4/19

Talks about his experience at the Spring Game. Plans on visiting Illinois in two weeks. Wants to see if he's 100% percent to Illinois still.

Only time will tell.

[crazybuckfan40]

Originally Posted by MD Buckeye

Rivals $

4/19

Talks about his experience at the Spring Game. Plans on visiting Illinois in two weeks. Wants to see if he's 100% percent to Illinois still.

Only time will tell.

To tell zook he is going elsewhere??

[MD Buckeye]

Originally Posted by crazybuckfan40

To tell zook he is going elsewhere??

Hopefully