Ohio State Now Recruiting Monty Madaris?

Monty Madaris, a four star wide receiver recruit on Scout.com, holds offers from Midwestern schools Michigan State, Michigan, and Nebraska, but has received little interest from Ohio State throughout the last six months. That has apparently changed now that Urban Meyer is Ohio State's head coach. Madaris's high school coach informed Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Mike Dyer that the Buckeyes have opened contact with Madaris recently and that the Buckeyes are "back in the picture."

As far as we know, Madaris does not hold an offer from Ohio State yet. If he does receive one, we can infer a few things. First, that Meyer is looking to clear space with the current roster of wide receivers to make room for this year's class. Ohio State already has four wide receiver commitments--Frank Epitropolous, Roger Lewis, Mike Thomas, and Ricquan Southward--but Meyer is aggressively pursuing a number of others, including Davonte Neal, Joel Caleb, Stefon Diggs, and now Monty Madaris. A transfer or two at the position is not unlikely over the next few months.

Second, it means Meyer thinks higher of Madaris than the previous staff, which oddly ignored the Cincinnati Moeller product despite his rise in the recruiting ranks following a productive summer of camp tours. Madaris so impressed talent evaluators that many had him ranked ahead of Dwayne Stanford, an Oregon commit, who was long been seen as the top receiver in the state. After camping at Florida State this summer, the Seminole staff elected to offer Madaris even though they rarely recruit Ohio and are located within a state known for abundant receiver talent.

In other recruiting news, Bill Greene broke the story that Dalton Santos, a linebacker commitment to Tennessee, will visit Ohio State in January. Santos is concerned with the turmoil on the Volunteer coaching staff after defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox and linebackers coach Peter Sirmon left Knoxville to join Steve Sarkisian at Washington.