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2008 Ball State Cardinals Football Recruiting

Overview
Ball State signed 21 players and in typical Brady Hoke fashion, concentrated mainly on Ohio and Indiana. Seven prospects are from the Buckeye state and five from the Hoosier state. Three are from Michigan, two each from Texas and Georgia and one from Illinois. Four prospects are listed as either OL or WR and three each are listed as RB, DL or DB. There was one each from the following positions signed as well; K, P, PB and QB.

Top Players

• Kelly Page, 6-3, 210 Sunnyvale ( Mesquite) TX – Rated as the 12 th best QB in the nation by ESPN.com and #25 by Rivals.com; reported offers from Oregon, Utah & Tulsa.
• Briggs Osborn, 6-0, 185, Convoy (Crestview) OH – Multi position football player who excelled at three sports in high school; had over 2,000 all-purpose yards as a senior; has reported 4.4/40 speed and received offers from almost every MAC school.
• Joshua Smith, WR/DB, 6-2, 190 Cincinnati (Withrow) – Rated the #79 player in Ohio by Ohio High and the #119 DB nationally by ESPN.com; recruited by Louisville, Minnesota and Indiana and received reported offers from most of the MAC.

Sleepers

• Jeff Barker, DE, 6-5, 215 Lowell IN – Speed DE prospect who is also one of the state’s top sprinters; rated as a top-25 player in Indiana.
• Torieal Gibson, WR, 5-9, 165 Cleveland (Glenville) – A ‘Donte Love’ type of speedy and diminutive athlete from a powerhouse high school program; all-state accolades as a senior.
• Steve Yoder, OL, 6-3, 300 Massillon (Washington) OH – All area performer who was selected to play in the state’s annual North/South Classic; rated by ESPN.com as the 169 th DL prospect in the nation.
• James Cravens, RB/FB, 5-11, 210 Centerville (OH) – A top-100 recruit according to Ohio High and listed as the #12 FB prospect in the nation by ESPN.com; known as a punishing physical runner.

Final Analysis
Coach Brady Hoke continues to land solid talent year in and year out. Taking the program to the first bowl appearance in eleven seasons certainly elevated their status among recruits and landing QB Kelly Page was a major coup. In December, he was listed by most recruiting publications as going to either Oregon or Tulsa. Within this class are two solid specialists as well; punter Scott Kovanda and PK Steven Schott. Is there a program anywhere that identifies and develops kickers better than Ball State? I do now know of any. This class rates as VERY GOOD compared to other MAC schools this year but make no mistake, there are some real gems in this class.

Of Note:
Briggs Osborn at just 6-feet can dunk a basketball…Kyle Hoke is the nephew of Coach Brady Hoke…Austin Holtz was the #45 rated prospect in Michigan…Joshua Howard owns a 4.0 GPA…Cameron Lowry’s uncle played for the Washington Redskins while Adam Morris’ uncle played for the New Orleans Saints…Steve Yoder is one of the state’s top heavy-weight wrestlers.

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