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Toledo RB Ray Williams (official thread)

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Buckskin86

Buckskin86

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What do you guys think?? Do you think we can convince him to go to prep school for a year before coming to tOSU? He has some nice offers that he would be passing up. We couldn't convince Wheelwright and lost him. Do we take the chance and lose Williams.
scUM2 has accepted quite a few borderline grade kids like Devin Hester. He had to sit out his first year until he qualified and now in his 2nd year seems worth the risk.
Is Ray Williams someone we want to risk losing?

Any thoughts??
 
This is a tough call b/c you are never garunteed that I kid is going to go anywhere after a year at prep school. I don't think that this idea is bad but maybe there is still time for him to see how close he is to qualifying. Also we would be wise to watch out for that because with Pittmann and Haw coming in next year if we take Williams, if he quailfies, that would give us 3 so we would probably be out of the question for some others the following year. Does any of that make sense? I don't think that it is worth the risk myself I just hope the best for him where ever he goes.
 
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I'd like to see more film on Williams before I could say what I hope the coaches do. Gary loves the kid and Duane doesn't seem all that enamored with him. As far as talent evaluators go I'm not sure there are many better than Duane. With Pittman and Haw on board it certainly does give the coaches more flexibility with Williams. If Walker or Jones(we have no chance, I know) were to sign I don't think we take the chance. If he has an unconditional offer from Nebraska like Wheelright did from Minnesota there is a good chance he doesn't go the FUMA route. If he is not able to qualify I hope he goes that route. There are definitely tough decisions to make in the recruiting game and the Williams situation is certainly one of them.
 
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With such a large class of recruits this year, I wouldn't mind seeing OSU take a chance on Ray, even though there's very slim chance he qualifies. What I would like to see is for the OSU coaches to build up a good relationship with Ray, have him go to FUMA for a year, get his academics in order, and enroll at OSU in 05 with full eligibility. Eddie went to FUMA, look how his career went.

When I first saw Ray play in HS, I was blown away by his vision and his shiftiness. He wasn't big at all back then. He's built himself up fairly well, and I think he'll have a good chance at hitting around 195 by the time he's in college. Get him on a college S&C program, and his size will not be a problem. His vision more than makes up for it.
 
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I'm leaning towards the offer Ray Williams camp. I read today that he has a Florida offer. I'm pretty sure Zook wouldn't come all this way to recruit a marginal player. I'd like to see more film on Williams to see what all the fuss is about. For the reasons Cleve gave I think he's worth the risk and at worse he commits, doesn't qualify and goes the FUMA route. Everything I have read leads me to believe he wants to be a Buckeye. I hope that happens. Maybe they want to hear from Jones and Walker before they offer?
 
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They could be waiting on Jones and Walker to make their move... but, Williams is basically a member of the next (05) recruiting class anyways, so their decision doesn't necessarily impact RW's.

I think they're waiting for the end of RW's first semester of his senior year to see where his grades stand. Just a hunch, but I bet Coach Tressel told RW that if he shows progress and improves his grades, an offer will be forthcoming, even if they know he won't qualify. Again, I think he's worth it.
 
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Coach Tressel and his staff seem to have a pretty good track record with offering kids who are right on the fence academically. I would think if he gets an offer it means that he has a good chance of qualifying. Of course, I do not think he will get an offer if the coaching staff does not think the talent is there.
 
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Tough question... he is a heck of a talent, but without grades he's worthless (ie can not be on the team) as far as football is concerned...

I hope the staff keeps in contact with him and gets him to go to FU, then we get him next year...
 
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He had a another great playoff game last night in Benedictine's 44-0 win

And then there was Williams, who wasted little time making mincemeat of the Preppers' defense. The 5-11, 185-pound senior gained 249 of his 288 yards, and scored three of his four touchdowns in the first half in helping give the Bengals a 23-0 lead by intermission.

"I'm the defensive coordinator, and I have no idea how to stop Williams," Stephens said. "He's a great player, but their line is good too."

Williams scored his first touchdown when Benedictine took the game's opening possession 68 yards on four plays. All those yards were made by Williams, who capped the drive with a 29-yard scoring run. Sam Koyl's extra point gave the Bengals a 7-0 lead 1½ minutes into the game.

Williams also made his presence felt in the Bengals' secondary. He put an end to a US threat by intercepting a Mike Nieser pass in the end zone midway through the first quarter.
Click to expand...
 
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'04 OH RB Ray Williams to WVU

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/107710048689090.xml

The months of speculation concerning the future of Benedictine tailback Raymond Williams came to an end Tuesday when the 5-11, 185-pounder signed a national letter of intent with West Virginia.

"I know he's glad he's signed and this whole thing is over because I'm glad it's over, too," Benedictine coach Art Bortnick said. "The decision to go to West Virginia came from Raymond Williams and nobody else."

Williams' decision came after speculation that the Cleveland resident was destined to go to Ohio State.


"Raymond received national letters of intent from almost every major college except Ohio State," Bortnick said. "He narrowed his choices to Nebraska and West Virginia because both schools came after him early, came after him hard and stayed after him.

"I think the [travel] distance between Cleveland and Nebraska kind of scared him off."

Williams' only visit was to WVU.

"Raymond liked it there and I really think he's going there in honor of his late grandfather," Bortnick said. "His grandfather grew up in Morgantown [W.Va.] and he was very close to his grandfather."

Williams gave every major college program a number of reasons to seek his services.

The All-Ohio choice will graduate as the Bengals' all-time leading rusher with 7,045 yards, touchdown-maker with 89 and scorer with 538 points. The 40 touchdowns Williams scored this season in leading the Bengals to the Division III state crown are a single-season record at the school, and the 3,250 yards he gained as a junior are a school record.

Williams was named Ohio's Mr. Football and was a member of the Parade All-American Team this season. Williams also is a two-time Offensive Player of the Year on The Plain Dealer's Best of the Best and All-Cuyahoga County All-Star Teams.

"Raymond was recruited as a running back and the spread offense West Virginia plays will also allow him to come out of the backfield and catch passes," Bortnick said.

However, since his ACT score and grade-point average are not finalized, Bortnick admitted Williams could be a Proposition 48 victim next season.

"Is there still an outside chance he could play next year?" Bortnick said. "Sure, but if he doesn't meet the [academic] standards, he'll be a Prop 48.

"Regardless of what happens, I still feel Ray made the right decision."
Click to expand...
 
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Makes getting Ringer that muc more important IMO... too bad he didn't wait for the Bucks next year, however prob. better for him to take a scholie while one is on the table... WVU might have stole one from us, if he can get/stay eligable....
 
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That is two of Ohio's better players that have gone elsewhere due to grades. Williams being the other to MSU. Add that with Morgan and we lost 3 very talented players to academic issues.

While I think that this hurts initially in terms of these recruits, I think it will pay dividends in the future. OSU is definitely making a stand regarding its stature as an institution of higer learning as opposed to being a football factory. Future recruits will know that they will have to have game and grades to be a Buckeye....
 
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