Another local talent gone

[TOTALZIP]

Sutton picks Northwestern

Friday, July 30, 2004

Tim Rogers

Plain Dealer Reporter

Archbishop Hoban's Tyrell Sutton, who has an opportunity to become one of Ohio's all-time leading ball carriers, said he has made an oral commitment to attend Northwestern University.

Sutton, a 5-9, 190-pound tailback, said he called Northwestern assistant coach Jack Glowik, a former standout at Benedictine, on Thursday with his decision. "He was pretty happy," Sutton said of Glowik. "I told him I was happy, too."

Sutton, lacking the size to be a prototypical Division I tailback, has combined speed, balance, strength and instincts to accumulate 6,197 yards rushing on 732 carries in his three-year career. That total is sixth on the unofficial list of Ohio's all-time leading ground gainers posted on the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association Web site.

"Tyrell has a desire and the intensity to excel," said Hoban coach Ralph Orsini. "He is so strong with his legs, and he has the ability to accelerate once he gets to the open field."

Williamsburg's Jason Bainum is recognized as the all-time leader with 8,216 yards from 1998 to 2001. Sutton, who rushed for 2,524 yards in 11 games last season while earning All-Ohio honors in Division III, would need to gain 2,020 yards this season.

Sutton, a two-time Plain Dealer all-star, said he chose Northwestern over Illinois and several Mid-American Conference schools, including Can't State.

"First, Northwestern is great academically," said Sutton, whose older brother, Tony, is a Division III preseason All-American at Wooster College. "That was important to me. Second, I really love the campus and the coaches. The coaches made me feel like I was right back at Hoban. I was real comfortable."

Sutton had said that he doubted he would commit before the season, but changed his mind. "I felt comfortable with it and kind of wanted to get it done," he said before participating in a seven-on-seven passing scrimmage at Revere on Thursday.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

trogers@plaind.com, 800-683-7348

© 2004 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission

[TOTALZIP]

I don't know what to say really. Looks like Brookhart might not be the great recruiter we thought he could be. He couldn't even get Sutton to give Akron a second glance, even with the new facilities. Instead, we lose him to the worst team in the Big 10. It looks like he was considering freakin Cant State over the Zips. Step it up JD, or you'll flounder just like LO.

[GoZips]

TOTALZIP no way can this be laid at the feet of JD. The seeds for Sutton's decision were

sown long before JD arrived at Akron. Its not about nice facilities. Its more about the respect the kid perceives he is getting or not getting. Lee was the very first coach to offer Sutton a "ride". Owens staff worked long and hard on Sutton. He made his choice. Its a good one. More power to him. As for Can't, all you have there is a beat writer who may have changed "Akron" to "Can't" or selected one school when the kid mentioned both. We don't know at this point.

Sutton probably doesn't measure up to Kennedy or some of the other incoming RBs. Kids love to play. At Akron he may have had to sit. At NU he'll probably play a lot or he'll be calling JD.

It will take JD three years of recruiting before we can evaluate his success or lack of it in recruiting. Thus far, with Kennedy and Tuzze I am pleased with what he has done.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I don't know what to say really. Looks like Brookhart might not be the great recruiter we thought he could be. He couldn't even get Sutton to give Akron a second glance, even with the new facilities. Instead, we lose him to the worst team in the Big 10. It looks like he was considering freakin Cant State over the Zips. Step it up JD, or you'll flounder just like LO.

I don't think you can say the kid "didn't give Akron a second look" based solely on this column. Keep in mind that, to a man, every local scribe was a buddy of Lee Owens and Paul Winters. They will take advantage of every opportunity they have to slant their columns against the Zips, even if it is something subtile like mentioning a local HS star was recruited by Can't while conveniently omitting his recruitment by the Zips. That's been proven in about 20 PD/Beacon/Repository columns since Owens November dismissal, (most of those columns were posted on this board.)

An Ellen Alexander column written only a few days ago stated "New Akron coach JD Brookhart is expected to improve on the 7-5 record posted by former coach Lee Owens last season." Yeah...everyone is expecting more wins...even though we replaced 2 1-AA non-conf games with Virginia and Middle Tennessee, and replaced Eastern Michigan with Northern Illinois. Oh...and we lost our top 4 receivers and 85% of our running game due to graduation. F Ellen in the skull.

As far as losing Sutton...the conspiracy theorist in me says the timing between Kennedy's signing and Sutton's commitment to Northwestern is curious, to say the least. Northwesten is a great academic school, so you can't fault the kid for going there. If it was Indiana or Minnesota I'd probably be a little miffed.

In general, we got a kid that OSU felt was worthy of a scholarship...and lost a kid that really wasn't even on their radar. I think Tressel's recruitment of Ohio talent has been pretty impressive. If he felt Kennedy was good and Sutton (Ohio kid) wasn't...I gotta believe we'll be just fine without Sutton.

Who knows...maybe in a season or two he shows up in NE Ohio looking to complete his final 2 or 3 years of elegibility?