Jaamal Berry, Couldn’t Wait to be a Buckeye

Florida high school running back prospect Jamaal Berry, a senior at Miami's Palmetto High, was in attendance at Ohio State's season-opening game against Youngstown State on Saturday, along with his mother Eartha, a teammate and a friend.

By Steve Patterson

Weekend Commit

The best senior running back in the country wants to attend Ohio State in 2009 and committed to the Buckeyes over the weekend during the unofficial visit. He now can focus on his grades and his senior season in football. Stories have the four Florida visitors flying into Atlanta and driving to Columbus to be able to afford the unofficial trip.

Berry has offers from some of the best programs in the country including LSU, Ole Miss, Florida, Florida State, and Michigan.  He may still visit Ole Miss and several of these colleges to fulfill promises he has made to coaches and recruiting coordinators. He will also make an official visit to Ohio State for the Michigan game along with many of his 2009 Ohio State classmates.

2009 Tailbacks

A superfast runner, Berry was recently clocked at 4.43 in the 40 yard dash with a laser timer and also ran 4.3 in the 40 according to a hand timer. He is joining a rather large backfield group in 2009 including Jordan Hall, Carlos Hyde, and Adam Homan. Homan is the only one likely to be a fullback with the other three coming in as tailbacks.

2009 Class

The Ohio State class is now full at 25 commits but might allow a couple more recruits to squeeze in with winter enrollments in either 2008 or 2009. Cleveland Glenville offensive line prospect Marcus Hall is expected to join the class. He is one of the best tackles in the country. Also Tennessee wide receiver Marlon Brown is considering Ohio State and is too good to pass up if he wants to become a Buckeye.