Toledo's 1st in their class

TOLEDO, Ohio - Toledo officials cannot remember when the Rockets last received this much national attention over its college football recruiting.

Rivals.com ranks Toledo's football class of 2010 tops in the MAC, 67th overall and one of the top five surprises in the entire nation. The 26-member class includes a transfer from Illinois, two players who originally committed to BCS schools (James Green to Tennessee and Taikwon Paige to Auburn), two four-star athletes and 12 three-star athletes, as ranked by Rivals.com.

"The coaching staff did a good job recruiting me," said Paige, one of eight early enrollees in the group. "I mean, they were on me the whole time, so just the coaches and meeting the players when I came on my visit, I felt right at home."

Home was where the heart was for Toledo recruiting. 17 of the signees came within a four-hour radius, including two Rogers Rams, EJ Tucker and Ray Bush.

"Coach (Tim) Beckman's a real, real comfortable dude to be around," Bush said. "And Coach (Mike) Ward's always, like, pounding the linebackers, 'Rogers Pipeline!' We stay at home. We stay home."

"It is our goal to recruit the Toledo area and Northwest Ohio," said Tim Beckman, Toledo's head coach. "So to have an EJ Tucker and a Ray Bush from Rogers High School that played for Rick Rios - that does wonders for you.

"The facilities in this program that Mike O'Brien built, it shows that we're looking for the future. We're building for the future.

"When you show a young man this, it's just an eye-opening experience."

Beckman tossed out some other notable numbers about his 2010 class. He said that 25 of the 46 players offered ended up signing with UT. 15 members of the class had participated in Toledo summer camps. A UT-record seven incoming players participated in the Ohio North-South All-Star game. Two more played in the Big 33 game. Last but not least, there's one valedictorian in the group.

He also mentioned how freshmen contributors like Austin Dantin and Eric Page were essential in attracting more talent.

"When a young man comes to our campus and sees that Coach Beck and the staff aren't just playing seniors, but playing whoever EARNS that opportunity to play, they can see that and that's why they chose to play here."

With this class all set and ready to go, the attention now shifts to the next year. Toledo hosts junior day this Saturday.

"That's recruiting in today's age. It's already started. It's already been going through, and we're already involved with juniors and trying to get those young men to see what these young men just saw."

And these young men of 2010 are seeing unprecedented expectations, not just from the local area, but from the rest of the nation as well.

University of Toledo recruiting class of 2010

Atkins, Gerard TE 6-5 250 Fr. St. Petersburg, FL-Dixie Hollins
Bush, Ray LB 6-3 220 Fr. Toledo, OH-Rogers
Elliott, Jayrone DE 6-3 220 Fr. Cleveland, OH-Glenville
Fluellen, David RB 6-0 200 Fr. Lockport, NY-Lockport
Foster, Toney WR 5-8 175 Fr. Cleveland, OH-Glenville
Gibbs, Keenan DL 6-3 270 Fr. Cincinnati, OH-LaSalle
Gordon, James LB 6-3 210 Fr. Cleveland, OH-Glenville
Green, James WR 6-3 200 Fr. Tallahassee, FL-Leon
Hendershot, Josh OL 6-4 275 Fr. Newark, OH-Catholic
James, John CB 5-11 163 Fr. Cleveland, OH-John Adams
Jones, Elijah DL 6-2 285 Fr. Indianapolis, IN-Warren Central
Lewis, Phil DL 6-3 285 Jr. Grosse Pointe, MI-South/Grand Rapids C.C.
Lisowski, Robert OL 6-4 305 Fr. Union, NJ-Union / Fork Union (VA) Military Academy
Macon, Dwight QB 6-0 194 Fr. Steubenville, OH-Steubenville
Madison, Ross DB 6-1 195 Fr. Leesburg, VA-Heritage/Hargrave (VA) Military Academy
Mancz, Greg OL 6-5 280 Fr. Cincinnati, OH-Anderson
McDowell, Cassius WR 5-9 170 Fr. Deerfield Beach, FL-Deerfield Beach
Myers, Jeff OL 6-3 280 Fr. Weston, OH-Massillon Washington
Paige, Taikwon CB 5-11 175 Jr. Aiken, SC-Aiken / Georgia Military College
Pleasant, Grant DE 6-3 230 Fr. Columbus, OH-Dublin Scioto
Rancifer, Charles LB 6-3 215 Jr. Brookhaven, MS-Brookhaven/Copiah-Lincoln (MS) C.C.
Reedy, Bernard WR 5-9 170 Fr. St. Petersburg, FL-Lakewood
Rosenbauer, Zac DL 6-2 255 Fr. Lima, OH-Shawnee
Suggs, Keith CB 5-10 175 Fr. Indianapolis, IN-Ben Davis
Tucker, E.J. QB 6-3 200 Fr. Toledo, OH-Rogers

Transfers Eligible to Play in 2011

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown-High School / Transfer or Prep
Scott, Cordale WR 6-3 215 Jr. Cleveland, OH- Glenville / Illinois