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DT Dexter Larimore (official thread)

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12/19/05

It's Columbus day for Larimore

Merrillville standout will play football at Ohio State

BY BRIAN WADDLE
Times Correspondent


This story ran on nwitimes.com on Monday, December 19, 2005 12:04 AM CST

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Dexter Larimore wants to major in business. Over the weekend, he took care of some major business.
The Merrillville standout defensive tackle, ranked No. 58th in the nation at his position according to Scout.com, has accepted a scholarship to Ohio State University. Larimore gave a verbal commitment to the Buckeyes over the weekend, and will put his name on the dotted line in February.

"It's nice to finally have this off my chest," said the 6-foot-3, 265-pound Larimore, also the state's top-ranked heavyweight wrestler.

"I know I'm going to Ohio State and now I can sit back and relax a little."

That might not be possible for the two-time defending state runner-up at heavyweight, who's also a standout thrower in track. While most major colleges might not approve of a top recruit competing in other sports with a chance for injury, Larimore said the Buckeyes coaching staff gave him the green light to do everything he can.

"They told me to do it all," Larimore said. "They told me to win state in wrestling, win nationals (in wrestling), win state in the shot put and go to prom.

"They said, 'It's your senior year, enjoy it, because next football season we'll see you and you'll start playing football.' "

Larimore, the state's No. 6 overall prospect by Scout.com, said he was going back and forth with Ohio State and Michigan, but finally decided Columbus is where he wanted to be for the next four or five years.

"I was always a fan of Michigan, but I think Ohio State is a better fit," Larimore said. "Coach (Jim) Tressel, I think, is a great man. I love his composure. He's not all about football, either. He's a very religious man, and a family man. He's all about family and I like that."

Larimore is the 10th recruit to give a verbal to the Buckeyes for the 2006 season. He's also set his sights on redshirting his freshman year.

"I definitely want to redshirt," Larimore said. "I think at the Division-I level, it's important, especially for a defensive lineman. Why have a mediocre freshman year when you could have a great fifth year?"

Larimore, who also had wrestling scholarship offers from Iowa State and Michigan State, is 90-5 over the past two seasons. He said he hasn't ruled out wrestling at Ohio State, but will likely do so for fun. He plans to train whenever he can with the team.

"If I get the wrestling bug, we'll see what happens," Larimore said. "But right now I'm focused on playing football at Ohio State. We'll see where it goes, but football will be my priority."
 
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"I definitely want to redshirt," Larimore said. "I think at the Division-I level, it's important, especially for a defensive lineman. Why have a mediocre freshman year when you could have a great fifth year?"

Wow, what a great attitude to have! Anyone think he will be leaving school early for the NFL?? :osu:
 
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welcome aboard dex! happy to have you on board. also...am i the first to say that this kid...as kind and collected as he seems has the look to really intimidate some o-linemen in the near future. the jawline suggests superhero status :) now i can't wait to see him play like it.
 
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Wow, what a great attitude to have! Anyone think he will be leaving school early for the NFL??

A lot of things can be said about Coach T as a recruiter...not a great salesman, doesn't take enough risk, does not concentrate on a enough recruits, not enough visits, etc. This may be all well and good but one thing he does that I love and that is bring in unbelievably quality young men and DL is another great example to go along with Connor, CW, Ballard, etal. Just sounds like a great kid and those are the type of young men that sell all out in the GAME!!
 
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A little off topic: Those of you that know wrestling, a scholarship offer from Iowa State is no small thing. To have Cael Sanderson in attendance at one of your wrestling matches would be like a preacher having Jesus come to watch one of his sermons. Cael is a quickly becoming a legendary figure in the sport of wrestling (a la Dan Gable) as he finished his NCAA career undefeated (159-0 IIRC) and is an Olympic gold medal winner. Sanderson is going to be a fantastic head coach somewhere when his competition days are behind him.

I'm ecstatic that Dex is going to be wearing Buckeye colors come fall.

Great get by Ohio State.
 
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A little off topic: Those of you that know wrestling, a scholarship offer from Iowa State is no small thing. To have Cael Sanderson in attendance at one of your wrestling matches would be like a preacher having Jesus come to watch one of his sermons. Cael is a quickly becoming a legendary figure in the sport of wrestling (a la Dan Gable) as he finished his NCAA career undefeated (159-0 IIRC) and is an Olympic gold medal winner. Sanderson is going to be a fantastic head coach somewhere when his competition days are behind him.

I'm ecstatic that Dex is going to be wearing Buckeye colors come fall.

Great get by Ohio State.

Excellent point on the wrestling ysu. That's two wrestlers that we've gotten away from the Cyclones now, as James Aston had an offer from them last year as well.
 
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Forgot all about Aston.

Hellickson may want to think about adding Coach Tressel to his recruiting payroll. If these guys decided to wrestle as well as play football, Ohio State may get to the level that they SHOULD be in collegiate wrestling.

Ohio State should be in the top three EVERY YEAR when March comes around, yet they consistently underperform, and that's unforgivable with the pool of in state athletes that Ohio State has to draw from. Ohio is the top state in the nation for producing elite wrestlers, yet Ohio State annually loses those athletes to other programs. It's a crime :pissed: .

Sorry, I'll go and take my meds now.
 
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Post Tribune

Football: Merrillville’s Larimore chooses Ohio State<!--ENDHEADLINE--> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Dec. 19, 2005​
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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=380 border=0><TBODY><TR bgColor=#003399><TD>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]By Mark Lazerus / Post-Tribune staff writer[/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--COPY-->
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Dexter Larimore’s workday lasted all of 50 seconds on Wednesday. That’s how long it took him to record a pin in Merrillville’s wrestling victory over Crown Point.
But wrestling legend and Iowa State assistant coach Cael Sanderson came all the way out to see it. So did Michigan’s head football coach, Lloyd Carr. And half of Columbus, Ohio, seemed to visit the Larimore household in the past few weeks.
It was time.
“It got nuts; I was cooking every third or fourth night for some coach coming over,” said Theresia Larimore, Dexter’s mother. “I told him, 'Oh, Dexter, you need to make a decision soon.’ ”
He finally did. Larimore made it official late Saturday night, accepting a scholarship offer from Ohio State. The Post-Tribune Defensive Player of the Year and first-team offensive lineman will be a defensive linemen for the Buckeyes next fall.
The 6-3, 285-pound Merrillville senior already had narrowed it down to Michigan and Ohio State — each of which offered scholarships back in September — and he had long since settled on football over wrestling (not that it deterred wrestling recruiters from wooing him further).
Larimore made his official visit to Michigan the weekend of Nov. 18. He visited Columbus three times, with his official visit coming two weeks ago.
When it came down to it, Larimore said Ohio State was simply a better fit than Michigan.
“I like both schools obviously,” he said. “But at Ohio State, I think the coaches, the school itself, the campus, the players on the team — I just like everything about it.”
Larimore — a lifelong Michigan fan, by the way — made the team he grew up rooting against squirm a bit first. When he called Ohio State’s Doc Tressel — his recruiting coach and the older brother of head coach Jim Tressel — at about 10 p.m., Larimore somberly told him he had decided to attend Michigan.
“Oh, that’s a heartbreaker,” the elder Tressel said. “Really?”
Then Larimore let him off the hook.
“He thought it was funny,” Larimore said. “It was a good laugh.”
Larimore then spoke with Ohio State defensive line coach Jim Heacock. By then, it was too late to talk with Jim Tressel, but Larimore expects to do so soon.
Larimore broke the news to his recruiting coach at Michigan on Sunday afternoon.
“They really thought I was going to go there, but they respected my decision,” he said. “They didn’t try to push me.”
While she liked Carr, Theresia Larimore said Jim Tressel’s “moral values” won her over.
“He’s a very religious man,” she said. “I felt like trusting him with my son five hours away was something I could do with him. A lot of times with parental decisions, it just comes down to instinct.”
Larimore will likely redshirt next year as he gets acclimated to life in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes have authorized him to continue wrestling and to participate in the track season and the IFCA All-Star Football Classic in July.
For now, the most immediate impact will come in the form of gifts — “I guess I’ll get a lot of Ohio State stuff for Christmas,” he said — and rest.
“I think I’ll get more sleep now,” he said. “It’s been a tough time. It was pretty intense. Coaches coming in and visiting and talking — now I’ll know what I’m doing and I can call my coach and get my workout regimen and all that good stuff. It’s more focused now.” Contact Mark Lazerus at 648-3140 or [email protected]
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