Here is the thing, what you are saying is completely hypocritical. You say it is pointless for people to try and a piece together the scholarship puzzle and then proceed to cite an example where you know a piece of that puzzle, stating where someone was wrong as proof. I see that as the exact opposite and one of the reasons people come to read forums like these, We have a lot of people on this forum from every corner of the country. When a lot of people share the various tiny pieces of the puzzle they know or hear about, the picture becomes more clear and can help people to figure out future recruiting options.
A prime example would be Penn State and Nico Megalugis. Penn State was loaded, but was still bringing in top recruits. Then it came out that Nico's parents were footing the entire tuition despite having some dollars offered, because they were quite well off financially. That one piece of the puzzle goes a long way in making sense of their recruiting at the time.
Now, Looking at the topic of this thread with Rocky Jordan and the perceived favorite to land his services Ohio State. Looking at the availability of money is worthwhile and could have an impact on his recruitment. Ohio State has ZERO senior starters with eligibility expiring, they do have backup heavyweight, whose career ended in 2015 due to serious injury, Nick Tavanello's (285), eligibility expiring. While it is highly doubtful he was on a full 1.0 ride, even if he was they have some big time recruits coming in. Ohio State has a top 10 overall recruit coming in, Chris Singletary (285), and a top 20 recruit coming in, Kaleb Romero (174). They also have three other top 100 recruits in Erick Smith (160), Ryan Feero (157), and Zach Steiner (184). Ohio State is also bringing is Campbell, a NCAA qualifier from Pitt, who was granted his release. It doesn't take a genius to look at this influx of talent without much coming off the books and see the imbalance. Well, a piece of the puzzle is that Singletary's family is quite well off financially. Blair Academy costs $53,600 for boarders and $37,500 for "day students only." This is more expensive than Ohio State, and apparently Singletary made his decision based solely on training and I was told "money was not a concern", similar to Niko choosing Penn State. Now, unlike Niko, I have not seen any public statements from Singletary's father, but that is what I have heard. Could that be incorrect? Yes. However, I think there is some fire under the smoke to this rumor. Again, this is unsubstantiated and just a rumor at this point until someone makes a public statement, which may never happen. Romeo is a A+ student, per the Ohio boards, I don't know what he qualified for academically, if anything what so ever, but that is a piece to the puzzle. Of the other recruits; Smith is a 3X State Champ, Feero is a 2X State Champ, and Steiner is a 2X State Champ (High School training partner of Kolin Moore, at a tiny rural HS), it is doubtful that any of those three are getting too much $$$, based upon what is likely available. Then you have Campbell, he was ranked as high as 7th in the country at one point and did win the ACC. However, that was a high water mark as his NCAA performance was quite flat. I don't know what his scholarship situation was at Pitt or what restrictions might be in place for him because of the transfer to Ohio State, but again, not much could be available in terms of athletic money no mater what.
In the 2018 class, Ohio State has some serious studs whose eligibility is expiring. You have to figure significantly more dollars will be available than in the 2017 recruiting cycle. They have Synder, Tomasello and, Bo Jordan all moving on. As for recruits committed; they have top 15 overall in the class, Jaden Maddox (157) and top 50 Malik Heinselman (125), he is #1 ranked 106 in the country as a Junior in HS, I don't know how he will translate to a 125 in college, he has a lot of credentials, but he is tiny as a Junior.
Now what about Rocky?? They are rumored to be recruiting David Carr in 2018 as well as Rocky Jordan, both 152's this year, along with the committed Maddox. Interestingly enough, Rocky Jordan is the #14 ranked 152 in the country, but he is the 4th ranked 152 in Ohio, 1-Jaden Maddox, 2-David Carr, 3-Connor Brady, 4-Rocky Jordan. NOTE: I mentioned several months ago that Connor Brady likes Iowa and I believe is much more likely to end up in Iowa than Rocky Jordan. Brady is also only a Sophomore and is ranked 12th in the country by IM, Oklahoma might be major threat to land him as he is a High School teammates with Roselli's son. Carr should be 1st in these rankings soon, if not already on some rankings, as he avenged his previous losses to Maddox in the State finals, quite convincingly I should add. Connor Brady took 3rd after losing to Carr in the Semi's. I also believe Brady will be a 170 next year and could easily be a 174/184 in college.
So, money wise it would appear that Ohio State might be able to bring in Maddox, Carr, Rocky, and Heinselman, but it would be much more likely to only see 2/3 of the current 152's. Now, perhaps someone has a tiny piece of the puzzle that might help some of this become more clear. Carr's dad is Nate Carr, the Iowa State legend, are they in play? Rocky's father, uncle, and cousins went to Wisconsin, are they in play?
I personally think this is very valid when discussing and making predictions on recruiting and very far from POINTLESS. Rant over!
