BuckeyeGrove.com - Top Ohioan Not Ready To Proclaim A Leader

August 5, 2004

Eric Loughry
Staff Writer

As he prepares for his final high school season ? and first at Columbus (Ohio) Brookhaven after transferring from nearby Marion Franklin ? Alex Daniels would like to have his mind made up as to what school he will be attending next.

Daniels has listed Ohio State and Oklahoma at the top of his list since the spring, but he just isn?t ready to verbally commit to one over the other. For that matter, he is not closed off to other schools.

?I don?t know what I want to do yet,? Daniels said. ?I could get it all over with, but I don?t really know what I want to do yet with the college thing, because this recruiting thing is very, very crazy right now.?

Daniels said he called Oklahoma defensive coordinator Bo Pelini, a former OSU player, Aug. 3. He hasn?t had any contact with the OSU coaching staff since attending the Buckeyes? senior advanced camp June 27.

Still, he wasn?t ready to say Oklahoma was his favorite.

?I don?t know, man, I don?t know,? Daniels said with a laugh when asked if he was leaning towards the Sooners. ?This recruiting thing is crazy ? a lot of misleading things going around.

?It?s not really that I?m leaning towards Oklahoma, it?s that me and my mother have been talking about what she thinks is best for me.?

Which is leaving Columbus, Daniels said.

Originally from Cleveland, Daniels moved downstate with his mother prior to high school. Regardless of where he attends college, Daniels? mom is heading back to Cleveland to care for her mother.

?So she doesn?t want me to stay down here when she?s not around for some guidance,? Daniels said. ?She wants me to go start a new life.?

Daniels, a safety throughout high school, has been projected as a linebacker at the college level. He has been told he could get a look at safety at Oklahoma, but OSU is looking at him almost exclusively as a linebacker.

At OSU?s senior advanced camp, he was grouped with linebackers coach Luke Fickell and admitted he would have liked to work with the defensive backs and coach Mel Tucker.

But Daniels, listed at 6-2, 219 in the Rivals.com database, said his weight is now up to 230. He also said position will not be a factor in his choice.

?It?s not that,? he said. ?I realize that (as I) keep going, I?m going to play linebacker anyway, so that?s not even an issue any more. I just want to get on the field. It doesn?t even matter where they put me at no more, so I?m just trying to play.

?It?s a tough decision. It doesn?t really matter where I?m going to play at. I can play defensive end, I can play whatever ? linebacker, safety, special teams ? it doesn?t really matter anymore. It?s just me thinking what?s really best for me and my family.?

Though he?s not sure when he?ll decide, Daniels did offer that a visit to Norman, Okla., to check out the Oklahoma campus and program are a must before he commits.

?I want to take a visit to Oklahoma before,? Daniels said. ?I?ve already been to Ohio State. I already know I?ve been to all those classes and whatever, and I know that it?s one of the best places I?ve ever been. But I?ve never really been anywhere, so I want to take a visit (to Oklahoma) before I make a decision.?

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