Get Familiar: Ohio State verbal Ezekiel Elliott
June, 18, 2012
By Jon Mahoney | ESPN.com
Tom Hauck/ESPNHS
John Burroughs (St. Louis) running back and Ohio State commit Ezekiel Elliott earned one of five invitations to The Opening at the Champaign NFTC.
Ezekiel Elliott was a relative unknown heading into 2012.
Last season, the 6-foot, 200-pound running back rushed for 1,802 yards and 34 touchdowns on 211 carries (8.5 yards per carry) and scored 42 total touchdowns while leading John Burroughs (St. Louis) to a Class 3 state runner-up finish.
Yet, Elliott was barely a blip on the national radar. A big reason why is that Elliott had never attended a national combine or camp, choosing instead to focus on his other passion during the offseason ? track.
But it all started to change this spring when Elliott began to receive serious football interest from big-time college programs. And on April 1, he committed to Ohio State over Missouri, where his dad played football and his mom ran track, and Notre Dame.
The No. 255 recruit in the ESPN 300, Elliott followed his commitment by attending his first major football camp, the Nike Football Training Camp in Champaign, Ill. There, Elliott was named running back MVP and earned invitations to both The Opening and Champion Gridiron Kings.
So what?s this Buckeyes commit got planned for the rest of the summer? Get Familiar with Ezekiel Elliott.
ESPNHS: Why did you never attend a football camp before this spring?
Elliott: It?s something I didn?t think was very important. I could have went to some if I wasn?t getting the looks I was getting. Also, I?m a track guy, so I?m competing at meets every weekend. I went to Champaign because of The Opening. I had seen it on TV and I was hearing about it from the other recruits. And then I heard from all the Ohio State guys who were going. It?s a great chance to go out and compete. I?m not necessarily ranked among the top guys in the country. It?s a great way to improve my ranking, compete and have fun.
ESPNHS: What did it feel like when you received The Opening invite?
Elliott: It felt great. Last summer, I wasn?t on anybody?s radar. To think in a year?s time that I?d be invited to The Opening and Gridiron Kings is incredible. It just shows that hard work pays off.
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KVIDAHL: Elliott, Burroughs prepare for grueling summer
By David Kvidahl | [email protected] | Posted: Friday, June 22, 2012
RICK GRAEFE / JOURNAL Ezekiel Elliott of John Burroughs clears the second to last hurdle in the 110 meter High Hurdles at Saturday's Skippy Keefer Relays. Elliott won the event in a time of 14.1.
Ezekiel Elliott?s junior year at John Burroughs was almost perfect. The key word in that sentence is almost. As in the Bombers almost won the Class 3 state football championship in the fall, but Elliott was stripped as he was headed for the game-winning score in the waning moments.
In the winter the Burroughs basketball team almost beat eventual Class 3 semifinalist Lutheran North in the district title game at Whitfield, falling 51-49. Instead of taking their shot at top-dog Cardinal Ritter, the Bombers were handed another runner-up trophy.
Elliott almost toppled Grandview?s electric, record setting sprinter Dapo Akinmoladun this spring. Instead, he watched as the Nebraska-bound powerhouse eked in front of him to bring home state titles in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, leaving Elliott with two of the fastest times in the state but only runner-up medals to show for it.
There are a lot of athletes that would kill to be the runner-up in anything. For Elliott, a 6-foot, 200-pound lightning bolt of a young man, coming so close to victory time and again was just plain painful. To be on the cusp of something so grand and to come within a whisker not once, not twice but three times in three different seasons can play with your mind. It can wear you down. It can break you.
?Junior year was very humbling,? Elliott, 16, said. ?There were a lot of little things that could have happened to make it perfect.?
Elliott did what he could to make it perfect. On the gridiron he scored 42 touchdowns, rushed for 1,802 yards and caught 23 passes for 401 yards. In the winter he averaged 10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists per game while hitting over 56-percent of his shots. In the spring he was among the top sprinters in the state, besting a loaded field of locals in the 110s at Henle Holmes but then succumbing to Akinmoladun on the last day of the season.
So what do all those runner-up trophies, medals and heartbreaks add up to this summer?
?Motivation,? Elliott said.
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