Toledo Central Catholic wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher committed to Ohio State Sunday. He picked the Buckeyes over Iowa, Toledo, Miami (Ohio) and several others.
"I called Coach Tressel today and committed," Sanzenbacher said. "Just growing up in Ohio, obviously that's who I grew up watching and rooting for. My family is mostly Ohio State fans.
"It's close. It's only two hours away and I liked how they treated me when I was there."
Sanzenbacher caught Tressel in a strange place on Sunday -- the golf course.
"He was golfing," Sanzenbacher said. "He was out on the course, I guess. But he was pretty excited about it."
He becomes OSU's fourth verbal for 2007, joining Piqua RB Brandon Saine, Huber Heights Wayne DB Donnie Evege and Lakewood St. Edward DB Nate Oliver. They all figure to sign letters of intent for OSU in February. The class figures to number close to 17 or 18 signees by that point.
Sanzenbacher burst on the scene when he had four grabs for 140 yards that included touchdown catches of 39 and 60 yards, three rushes for 22 yards, a couple of key tackles and an interception in his team's thrilling 31-29 Division II state championship win over Canfield.
A first-team all-state pick, Sanzenbacher finished with 65 receptions for more than 1,500 yards and 16 touchdowns. He added 60 tackles and 11 interceptions.
He had offers from a handful of MAC schools until he participated in the Ted Ginn Foundation Bus Tour. Iowa offered and Ohio State followed suit, contacting Sanzenbacher via text message after he attended the second senior advanced camp on June 23.
When asked if he felt he proved himself at the camp, Sanzenbacher said, "It wasn't so much any of that stuff. They said they liked how I ran routes and they liked how I carried myself on the field."
Sanzenbacher said he enjoyed working with OSU receivers coach Darrell Hazell.
"I like him," he said. "He's a very good guy and a good coach."
Sanzenbacher is looking forward to his senior year as he hopes Central Catholic can repeat.
"I think the only thing we can do is to repeat," he said. "The only thing to do is line up and do it again.
"I will be playing both receiver and defensive back this year. I am just going to try and lead. We had some great senior leaders last year. All I had to do was fill my role and make plays. I know this year I have to be more of a leader of the team."
There is one other thing Sanzenbacher would like to do this fall -- get to an Ohio State football game.
"I still haven't been to Ohio State for a game," he said. "Most of our games are on Fridays, so I am hoping to get down there this season."
Sanzenbacher holds a 3.3 GPA and scored a 27 on the ACT.
Talk about this verbal on our Football Recruiting message board:
Football Recruiting Message Board
Staff member Gary Housteau filed a great profile on Sanzenbacher earlier this month. We invite you to check it out:
Sanzenbacher Profile